Old Urban Cemetery

Old Urban Cemetery, also known as Cementerio Municipal, in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, is a cemetery with burials dating back to 1813 or 1814. Near the town of Aguadilla's north entrance, it spreads between the beach and the foot of the mountain, and is enclosed by mortar and stone walls. It is located at the foot of Cuesta Vieja, a sector of Aguadilla barrio-pueblo. Many of its older tombs, made of brick, stone and mortar, were damaged in a 1918 earthquake (presumably the 1918 San Fermín earthquake).[2]

Old Urban Cemetery
Locator map
Locator map
Location of Aguadilla and the Old Urban Cemetery in Puerto Rico
LocationAt the foot of Cuesta Vieja
Aguadilla, Puerto Rico
Coordinates18°26′16″N 67°09′22″W
Built1813
ArchitectSpanish Corps of Engineers
NRHP reference No.85000042[1]
Added to NRHPJanuary 2, 1985

Use of the cemetery began when burials were no longer allowed in the churchyard. Graves include that of poet-laureat José de Jesús Esteves, painter Rafael Arroyo Gely, and Luis R. Esteves (the first Puerto Rican graduate of West Point).[2]

The cemetery was originally divided into sections for Catholics and non-Catholics.[3] It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.[1]

See also

References
  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  2. Jose Rafael Bourdony (1984). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Old Urban Cemetery / Cemeterio Municipal". National Park Service. Retrieved December 24, 2016. with eight photos from 1984
  3. "Los Cascos Urbanos Hablan: Aguadilla 2/3". florida.pbslearningmedia.org/ (in Spanish). Puerto Rico National Endowment for the Humanities. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
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