Place:Isabela, Puerto Rico

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source: Family History Library Catalog

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Isabela is a town and municipality of Puerto Rico located in the north-western region of the island, north of San Sebastián; west of Quebradillas; and east of Aguadilla and Moca. It is named in honor of Isabella I of Castile. Isabela is spread over 13 barrios and Isabela Pueblo, which is the downtown area and administrative center. It is a principal part of the Aguadilla-Isabela-San Sebastián Metropolitan Statistical Area.

History

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Foundation

The chief Mabodamaca, one of the most important chieftains of the island of Borinquen (Taíno for Puerto Rico) during the first decades of the 16th century, ruled the region of the 'Guajataca' (Taíno name for the northwestern region of Puerto Rico) where Isabela was founded. Although the actual date of the origins of the first Spanish settlement is not precisely known, a small settlement/hermitage is known to have existed by the end of the 17th century or beginning of the 18th century in a great extension of land into what encompass today the municipalities of Isabela, Camuy and Quebradillas. The settlement was bordered to the east with the shoreline of the Guajataca River and was located on the grounds of an earlier Taíno settlement.

Around 1725, José Antonio de Mendizábal y Azares, Governor of the Island of Puerto Rico granted authorization to base a population on the existing hermitage/village. Its given name, San Antonio de La Tuna, derives from the avocation of the Spanish settlers to the saint Anthony of Padua and in honor of a wild cactus growing in the region (Tuna is the Spanish term for cactus). At the end of the 18th century San Antonio de la Tuna had a church, more than sixty houses, and almost 1,200 inhabitants, which was a considerable population for those times.

Relocation

Prompted by economic and health factors, the decision to relocate the hermitage to a more favorable location was pursued. Around 1818, the village obtained authorization from then Governor Salvador Meléndez to transfer the population to a new location closer to the coast. Meléndez approved the transfer request and a new town was founded the following year on May 21, 1819. In the same year the construction of the church began, and was finished in 1824. In 1918 the church was damaged during a strong earthquake that affected the western region of the island, it was rebuilt soon after.

Hurricane Maria

In September 2017 thousands of people were evacuated from their homes in Isabela when Hurricane Maria caused structural damage to the nearby Guajataca Reservoir.

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