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Coamo barrio-pueblo

Barrios of Coamo, Puerto RicoPuerto Rico senatorial district VI geography stubs
Ayuntamiento de Coamo
Ayuntamiento de Coamo

Coamo barrio-pueblo is a barrio and the administrative center (seat) of Coamo, a municipality of Puerto Rico. Its population in 2010 was 6,685.As was customary in Spain, in Puerto Rico, the municipality has a barrio called pueblo which contains a central plaza, the municipal buildings (city hall), and a Catholic church. Fiestas patronales (patron saint festivals) are held in the central plaza every year.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Coamo barrio-pueblo (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Coamo barrio-pueblo
Calle Rodríguez Hidalgo,

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Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 18.078375 ° E -66.360068 °
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Address

Calle Rodríguez Hidalgo 41
00769 (Barrio Pueblo)
Puerto Rico, United States
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Ayuntamiento de Coamo
Ayuntamiento de Coamo
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Coamo, Puerto Rico
Coamo, Puerto Rico

Coamo (Spanish pronunciation: [koˈamo], locally [ˈkwamo]) is a town and municipality founded in 1579 in the south-central region of Puerto Rico, located north of Santa Isabel; south of Orocovis and Barranquitas; east of Villalba and Juana Díaz; and west of Aibonito and Salinas. The municipality of Coamo is spread over 10 barrios and Coamo Pueblo – the town or downtown area and administrative center of the city. The Coamo municipality is also a Micropolitan Statistical Area and as such is part of the Ponce-Yauco-Coamo Combined Statistical Area. The town of Coamo and parts of its barrios are nestled in a valley about 20 miles (32 km) east of the town of Ponce (about 40 minutes by car). It was named San Blas Illescas de Coamo by Spanish settlers in 1579. Saint Blaise (San Blas) was designated by the Catholic Church as the patron saint of the town, and so it remains presently. Illescas is the Spanish town where some of the town founders originated (nowadays in Toledo province, Castile-La Mancha, Spain). There are several theories regarding the origin of the word Coamo. One theory is that it comes from an indigenous word that means "valley". Another theory is that Coamo derives its name from Coamex (or Coamey), who was a celebrated local cacique. Archeological digs in the municipality of Coamo have produced extensive evidence of pre-Columbian inhabitants of the area. Coamo is famous for its natural hot springs, Los Baños de Coamo, and for its annual San Blas Half Marathon. The Battle of Coamo was a decisive battle of the Spanish–American War (1898).

General Méndez Vigo Bridge
General Méndez Vigo Bridge

The General Méndez Vigo Bridge is a brick barrel vault bridge that brings what is now Puerto Rico Highway 14 across the Río Las Minas near Coamo, Puerto Rico. Also known as Bridge #173 and as Puente Rio las Minas, it was built in the year 1862 as part of Puerto Rico's Carretera Central. The bridge is historically significant for its association with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and its role in the Spanish–American War of 1898. It is also the only surviving masonry bridge in the southern section of the Carretera Central.In the Puerto Rican Campaign, American forces landed in the south of Puerto Rico and attacked up the Carretera Central. This bridge, like some others, was destroyed by Spanish troops under Commander Rafael Martinez-Illescas to delay the American troops, which worked; a battalion of the 2nd Wisconsin Volunteer Regiment, part of a U.S. Army column commanded by Major General James H. Wilson, approaching from Ponce, Puerto Rico, was held up. The Wisconsin troops subsequently participated in a pincer movement at the Battle of Coamo in which Martinez-Illescas was killed. The destroyed arch was rebuilt in 1898 by the US Corps of Engineers. Keystones of the arch "embody its history": one side shows a castle, the symbol of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the other provides inscription that it was reconstructed in 1898 by the First Regiment of the Fifth Battalion of the Corps. The arch is otherwise decorated by geometrical designs in relief. Abutments of the bridge are from the 1862 original construction.The bridge is named for General Santiago Mendez Vigo, who was governor of Puerto Rico, for Spain, during 1840 to 1844. It was designed by engineer Timoteo Luberza and cost 15,405 pesos.It is located near kilometer 30.4 of Route 14.