Las Piedras, Puerto Rico


Las Piedras is a municipality in east Puerto Rico located in the center region of the island, north of Yabucoa; south of Canóvanas and Río Grande; east of Juncos and San Lorenzo; and west of Naguabo and Humacao. Las Piedras is spread over 7 wards and Las Piedras Pueblo. It is part of the San Juan-Caguas-Guaynabo Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Las Piedras has many natural attractions such as La Cueva del Indio which is a place that has original Indian playgrounds, caves and paintings that denote some characteristics of the ancient island's natives. Las Piedras is located about 45 minutes from San Juan, Puerto Rico's capital and 5 minutes from Palmas del Mar, Humacao which is one of the biggest resorts in the Caribbean.

History

Las Piedras was founded in 1793.
When after the Treaty of Paris, the U.S. conducted its first census of Puerto Rico, it was called Piedras and its population was 8,602.

Hurricane Maria

on September 20, 2017 triggered numerous landslides in Las Piedras with the significant amount of rainfall.

Geography

Las Piedras is on the eastern side of Puerto Rico but not on the coast. According to the 2010 U.S. Census Bureau, the municipality has a total area of, of which is land and is water.

Barrios

Like all municipalities of Puerto Rico, Las Piedras is subdivided into barrios. The municipal buildings, central square and large Catholic church are located near the center of the municipality, in a small barrio referred to as "el pueblo".
  1. Boquerón
  2. Ceiba
  3. Collores
  4. El Río
  5. Las Piedras barrio-pueblo
  6. Montones
  7. Quebrada Arenas
  8. Tejas

    Sectors

Barrios in turn are further subdivided into smaller local populated place areas/units called sectores. The types of sectores may vary, from normally sector to urbanización to reparto to barriada to residencial, among others.

Special Communities

Of the 742 places on the list of Comunidades Especiales de Puerto Rico, the following barrios, communities, sectors, or neighborhoods were in Las Piedras: Quebrada Grande neighborhood, Rivera neighborhood, Boquerón, Cinco Cuerdas, El Cerrito, Fondo del Saco, Lijas and Pueblito del Río.

Demographics

Tourism

Landmarks and places of interest

Industry

Festivals and events

Las Piedras celebrates its patron saint festival in December. The Fiestas Patronales Nuestra Señora de Asunción is a religious and cultural celebration that generally features parades, games, artisans, amusement rides, regional food, and live entertainment.
Other festivals and events celebrated in Las Piedras include:
Like all municipalities in Puerto Rico, Las Piedras is administered by a mayor. The current mayor is Mickey Lopez, from the New Progressive Party. Lopez was elected at the Puerto Rican general election, 2008 -present general election.
The city belongs to the Puerto Rico Senatorial district VII, which is represented by two Senators. In 2012, Jorge Suárez and José Luis Dalmau were elected as District Senators.

Transportation

There are 24 bridges in Las Piedras.

Symbols

Flag

The flag of Las Piedras has three horizontal stripes of equal width, the stripe at the top is colored white, the center stripe is colored green and the bottom stripe is colored blue. In the middle of the flag rests an image of the Taíno sun in yellow.

Coat of arms

In a silver field resides a blue monogram of the Holy Virgin, topped by a blue crown. Seven silver stones border the silver field and at the tip of the shield resides the Taíno sun in gold denominated as the "Sun of Las Piedras".

Notable natives