Notes on Vieques Historic Architecture
back
The architecture of Vieques reflects the historic processes of the Island's social,
cultural and economic development since the mid 19th century. The principal historic
monuments of Vieques and places of historic interest include: Fort Count Mirasol (Fortn
Conde de Mirasol), built between 1845 and 1855; the Puerto Mulas Lighthouse (1896)
overlooking the dock at Isabel Segunda; Puerto Ferro Lighthouse (1896) inside Camp Garca
on the south coast; the Frenchman's House (La Casa del Francs) built in Esperanza at the
turn of this century by the French sugar planter don Vctor Mourraille; the tombs of
Teophile Le Guillou, the "Founder" of Vieques, in Santa Mara, adjacent to the
ruins of the Santa Mara sugar mill; ruins of the Playa Grande sugar central inside
Navy's west end base (NAF); and the old cemetery in town. Several of these pieces of
Vieques historic-architectural patrimony are on the Federal Register of Historic Places
and the Puerto Rican Institute of Cultures Register of Historic Monuments. A recently
completed study of Vieques historic-architectural resources of Vieques carried out with
the help of the State Office for Historic Preservation in Puerto Rico resulted in the
nomination of thirteen new sites and the compilation of new documentation and materials
for our museum. The presence and influence of French landowners during colonization; the
growth and development of Vieques' sugar economy, from slave days to the industrialization
in the post-abolition years; an increasing commercial sector, serving the needs of the
local population, the sugar "haciendas", and with significant connections in the
nearby Danish Virgin Islands; a continuing influx of black, English speaking workers from
the British Leeward Islands and wealthy British and Danish merchants from neighboring
areas; and the greater interaction with Puerto Rico during the twentieth century, are all
significant elements of Vieques' history, documented in the nineteenth and twentieth
century rural settlements, in the urban economical development of Isabel Segunda and in
the architectural expression of residential, industrial and commercial buildings
throughout the Island of Vieques.
back