The Impact on Cayey, Puerto Rico of the Spanish American War: The Evolution of a Place Called Henry Barracks

Abstract

Introduction: This paper presents the results of a desk study of original documents on the impact of the development of a track of land for military use in Cayey, Puerto Rico. The paper is divided in four major segments: the Spanish Barracks (1897-1898), Camp Henry (1898-1909), The Cayey Naval Radio Station (1914-1932), and Henry Barracks Army Post (1910-1962). Desk Study: The investigators relied on interviews, pictures, and narratives of key informants that either lived, grew-up, or used the facilities of the Henry Barracks Army Reservation. This paper is a summary of approximately three thousand pages, pictures, and maps located in the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) as well as documents from the Library of Congress of the United States and the Museo de Historia Militar, Madrid, Spain, and Army and Navy reports, general and specific orders, and Order of Battle documents archived in the libraries of the United States War College, Carlisle, PA., West Point Military Academy (New York) and the Naval Academy (Annapolis). Limitations: Most of the original materials such as logs, order of battle, and other original information was found in repositories in the United States, and dated from 1898 to 1967. A search of the Museo de Historia Militar in Madrid, Spain only had available information on the Spanish conquest of San Juan, and only rudimentary maps were found about the rest of the island of Puerto Rico. Summary of Findings: The study concludes the Spanish Government constructed a Barracks in Cayey in 1897. The Spanish troops remained in their Barracks until they were repatriated to Spain on October 18, 1898. The original reservation was set apart by Executive Order on July 7, 1903. An additional 372 acres were purchased in December 1903. The study concludes that the geographical evolution of this land has had a marked impact in the development of the town of Cayey and the Central Mountain Region of Puerto Rico.