Puerto Rico has seventy eight municipalities. Each on has its own unique history, and the town of Comerío has an interesting one. So, on a recent trip to Puerto Rico, some friends brought us to visit the town.
Comerío is in the Cordillera Central, the mountain range that runs through the center of the island. Comerío was founded in 1826 along the Rio de la Plata. It is 25 miles southwest of San Juan. Being in the mountains meant that for many years, the main industry were plantations that grew coffee, along with tobacco and some sugar.
Mountain towns in Puerto Rico are famously known as the home of the island jibaros. They even host a Festival of Jibaros every June. These are the poor, white farmers, similar in culture to the hillbillies of Appalachia. But just like Appalachia, the real history is much more complicated.
The presence of these historic plantations means that another cultural phenomenon also existed here - slavery. In fact these mountain towns still have Afro-latino populations.
One famous Afro-latino from Comerío was Juana Colón (1886-1967). Her parents were had been enslaved on a plantation in the area. She worked from an early age washing clothes, never having the opportunity to go to school. She spent most of her life organizing workers to fight against racism, for women’s rights and better lives. Even though she was illiterate for her entire life, she became a leader of the Puerto Rican Socialist Workers Party. She was also a curandera, a natural healer who used botanical medicine to treat injuries and illnesses for people living in a part of the island vastly underserved by “medical professionals.”
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| The Amazin Ms. D with artist and doll maker Teresa Melendez-Padilla |
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| Wilson Torres Rosario gave us the history of the town |
Comerío is also a place to come to enjoy a day looking at the scenery and sitting by a pool. The Media Luna Water Park sits in the river valley with beautiful views, a swimming pool and a great restaurant - Doña Elena, where you can have delicious BBQ pork and mofungo.
So, if you want to explore a part of the island, with interesting history but that is not well known, and not as crowded, a trip to Camerío is a great destination.
Nuts and Bolts
Media Luna Water Park is located just north of Comerío on route 167. It is open Wed-Sun from 10:00 - 6:00. Entrance fee is $5 per person for 2 hours at the pool.
This was my first trip to Comerio and won't be the last. I had no idea of its Afro-Boricua roots and it was wonderful being introduced to this community by one of its own historians. My work is all about filling in the spaces intentionally left blank by prevailing historians. In an era of institutionalized, state erasure and silencing of our voices, it is even more important that we excavate and give recognition to our authentic past and our continuing present.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing these outstanding photos and fascinating historical stories. The photos are very revealing of Comerio’s history. I plan to visit there because my maternal grandmother was born there and spoke so much about it.
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