San Lorenzo, Morovis, Puerto Rico

Barrio in Morovis, Puerto Rico

San Lorenzo

Barrio

Puente La Esperanza over Morovis River in San Lorenzo

Location of San Lorenzo within the municipality of Morovis shown in red

San Lorenzo

Location of Puerto Rico

Coordinates: 18°18′22″N 66°26′33″W﻿ / ﻿18.30613°N 66.442623°W﻿ / 18.30613; -66.442623[1]
Commonwealth|  Puerto Rico
Municipality|  Morovis
Area

[1]

• Total| 3.14 sq mi (8.1 km2)
• Land| 3.09 sq mi (8.0 km2)
• Water| 0.05 sq mi (0.1 km2)
Elevation

[2]

| 239 ft (73 m)
Population

(2010)

• Total| 1,209
• Density| 391.3/sq mi (151.1/km2)
| Source: 2010 Census
Time zone| UTC−4 (AST)
Zip code|

00687

San Lorenzo is a barrio in the municipality of Morovis, Puerto Rico. San Lorenzo has six sectors and its population in 2010 was 1,209.[3][4][5]

## History[edit]

San Lorenzo was in Spain's gazetteers[6] until Puerto Rico was ceded by Spain in the aftermath of the Spanish–American War under the terms of the Treaty of Paris of 1898 and became an unincorporated territory of the United States. In 1899, the United States Department of War conducted a census of Puerto Rico finding that the population of San Lorenzo barrio was 884.[7]

Historical population Census| Pop.| Note| %±

|
|
|

1900| 884| | —
1910| 920| | 4.1%
1920| 1,124| | 22.2%
1930| 1,266| | 12.6%
1940| 1,678| | 32.5%
1950| 1,304| | −22.3%
1960| 1,228| | −5.8%
1980| 1,047| | —
1990| 1,427| | 36.3%
2000| 844| | −40.9%
2010| 1,209| | 43.2%
U.S. Decennial Census
1899 (shown as 1900)[8] 1910-1930[9]
1930-1950[10] 1980-2000[11] 2010[12]

Clandestine car races took place in San Lorenzo for many years until an accident on July 18, 1998, claimed the lives of five people. Legal action was taken against police for not having stopped the races from occurring. The races had been very popular, with 5,000 to 6,000 spectators on hand, until they were ended.[13]

San Lorenzo in Morovis was one of the areas of Puerto Rico heavily impacted by Hurricane Maria on September 20, 2017, with washed away bridges and loss of power for months.[14]

San Lorenzo was left isolated when Hurricane Maria washed away their main bridge with the PR-567 highway, into and out of the barrio. An old highway which sits directly on the waters of the river is sometimes passable albeit dangerous. The old road always being washed by the river, was at times passable and was being used by residents, (including school buses), until the construction of a temporary bridge was completed in April, 2018. The alternative to traversing the bridge, or the old highway over the river, is an hour-long drive.[15][16][17]

The construction of a bridge for the isolated community was completed in April 2018 and the bridge was named La Esperanza (Hope) in 2019.[18][19]

## Geography[edit]

San Lorenzo barrio is south of Torrecillas, west of Morovis Sur and Río Grande and north of Pasto and Vaga barrios. San Lorenzo's west border is with the municipality of Ciales.

## Sectors[edit]

Further information: List of barrios and sectors of Morovis, Puerto Rico

Barrios (which are, in contemporary times, roughly comparable to minor civil divisions)[20] in turn are further subdivided into smaller local populated place areas/units called sectores (sectors in English). The types of sectores may vary, from normally sector to urbanización to reparto to barriada to residencial, among others.[21][22][23]

The following sectors are in San Lorenzo barrio:[24]

Parcelas San Lorenzo, Sector Berio, Sector El Rayo, Sector El Salto, Sector La Prá, and Sector Marrero.

## Gallery[edit]

* Barrios of Morovis

* Racetrack in San Lorenzo where clandestine car races took place until July 18, 1998

* Old racetrack tower in San Lorenzo

* Bridge destroyed by Hurricane Maria in 2017

## See also[edit]

* Puerto Rico portal

* List of communities in Puerto Rico

## References[edit]

1. ^ a b "US Gazetteer 2019". US Census. US Government.
2. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: San Lorenzo barrio
3. ^ Picó, Rafael; Buitrago de Santiago, Zayda; Berrios, Hector H. Nueva geografía de Puerto Rico: física, económica, y social, por Rafael Picó. Con la colaboración de Zayda Buitrago de Santiago y Héctor H. Berrios. San Juan Editorial Universitaria, Universidad de Puerto Rico,1969.
4. ^ Gwillim Law (20 May 2015). Administrative Subdivisions of Countries: A Comprehensive World Reference, 1900 through 1998. McFarland. p. 300\. ISBN 978-1-4766-0447-3. Retrieved 25 December 2018.
5. ^ Puerto Rico: 2010 Population and Housing Unit Counts.pdf (PDF). U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Economics and Statistics Administration, U.S. Census Bureau. 2010.
6. ^ "Anuario del comercio, de la industria, de la magistratura y de la administración. 1881". Biblioteca Nacional de España (in Spanish). p. 1614. Retrieved 4 April 2023.
7. ^ Joseph Prentiss Sanger; Henry Gannett; Walter Francis Willcox (1900). Informe sobre el censo de Puerto Rico, 1899, United States. War Dept. Porto Rico Census Office (in Spanish). Imprenta del gobierno. p. 161.
8. ^ "Report of the Census of Porto Rico 1899". War Department Office Director Census of Porto Rico. Archived from the original on July 16, 2017. Retrieved September 21, 2017.
9. ^ "Table 3-Population of Municipalities: 1930 1920 and 1910" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. Archived (PDF) from the original on August 17, 2017. Retrieved September 21, 2017.
10. ^ "Table 4-Area and Population of Municipalities Urban and Rural: 1930 to 1950" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. Archived (PDF) from the original on August 30, 2015. Retrieved September 21, 2014.
11. ^ "Table 2 Population and Housing Units: 1960 to 2000" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. Archived (PDF) from the original on July 24, 2017. Retrieved September 21, 2017.
12. ^ Puerto Rico: 2010 Population and Housing Unit Counts.pdf (PDF). U.S. Dept. of Commerce Economics and Statistics Administration U.S. Census Bureau. 2010. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2017-02-20. Retrieved 2019-08-02.
13. ^ "2016 DTS 232 COLON CHEVERE V. CLASS OTERO, ELA, POLICIA Y OTROS, 2016TSPR232 -Jurisprudencia del Tribunal Supremo de P.R." LexJuris (Leyes y Jurisprudencia) de Puerto Rico (in Spanish). Retrieved 24 June 2020.
14. ^ Tama, Mario (October 17, 2017). "Puerto Rico's long road to recovery". Getty Images. CBS News. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
15. ^ "Aislado el barrio San Lorenzo". El Nuevo Dia. 25 October 2017.
16. ^ Maldonado, Francisco Quiñones. "Abren puente del barrio San Lorenzo en Morovis". Jornada Noticiosa.
17. ^ "Un puente caído empeora la situación de los residentes de Morovis en Puerto Rico [A fallen bridge worsens the situation for residents of Morovis, Puerto Rico]". YouTube (in Spanish). Univision Noticias. 17 September 2017. Retrieved 15 June 2020.
18. ^ "Develan puente 'La Esperanza' en Morovis". La Perla del Sur (in Spanish). 17 March 2019. Retrieved 15 June 2020.
19. ^ "Abren puente en Morovis". Jornada PR. 5 April 2018. Retrieved 15 June 2020 - via YouTube.
20. ^ "US Census Barrio-Pueblo definition". factfinder.com. US Census. Archived from the original on 13 May 2017. Retrieved 5 January 2019.
21. ^ "Agencia: Oficina del Coordinador General para el Financiamiento Socioeconómico y la Autogestión (Proposed 2016 Budget)". Puerto Rico Budgets (in Spanish). Retrieved 28 June 2019.
22. ^ Rivera Quintero, Marcia (2014), El vuelo de la esperanza: Proyecto de las Comunidades Especiales Puerto Rico, 1997-2004 (first ed.), San Juan, Puerto Rico Fundación Sila M. Calderón, ISBN 978-0-9820806-1-0
23. ^ "Leyes del 2001". Lex Juris Puerto Rico (in Spanish). Retrieved 24 June 2020.
24. ^ "PRECINTO ELECTORAL MOROVIS 020" (PDF). Comisión Estatal de Elecciones (in Spanish). PR Government. 8 October 2019. Retrieved 24 June 2020.

## External links[edit]

* Media related to San Lorenzo (Morovis) at Wikimedia Commons
* San Lorenzo, Morovis, Puerto Rico on Facebook

*[Pop.]: Population
*[%±]: Percent change