Toa Baja barrio-pueblo
{{Short description|Historical and administrative center (seat) of Toa Baja, Puerto Rico}}
{{Infobox settlement
| official_name = Toa Baja barrio-pueblo
| native_name = Pueblo de Toa Baja
| native_name_lang = es
| settlement_type = Municipality Seat
| image_skyline = Iglesia Parroquial de San Pedro Apostol de Toa Baja.JPG
| image_caption = {{lang|es|Parroquia San Pedro Apostol}} in Toa Baja barrio-pueblo
| image_map = Toa Baja barrio-pueblo, Toa Baja, Puerto Rico locator map.png
| map_caption = Location of Toa Baja barrio-pueblo within the municipality of Toa Baja shown in red
| pushpin_map = Caribbean
| pushpin_map_caption = Location of Puerto Rico
| coordinates = {{coord|18.442348|-66.253965|region:US-PR|format=dms|display=inline, title}}
| coordinates_footnotes = {{cite web |title=US Gazetteer 2019|url=https://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/gazetteer/2019_Gazetteer/2019_gaz_cousubs_72.txt |website=US Census |publisher=US Government}}
| subdivision_type = Commonwealth
| subdivision_name = {{flag|Puerto Rico}}
| subdivision_type1 = Municipality
| subdivision_name1 = {{flagicon image|Flag of Toa Baja, Puerto Rico.svg}} Toa Baja
| unit_pref = Imperial
| area_total_sq_mi = 0.05
| area_land_sq_mi = 0.05
| area_water_sq_mi = 0
| population_as_of = 2010
| population_footnotes =
| population_note = Source: 2010 Census
| population_total = 565
| population_density_sq_mi = 11300
| timezone = AST
| utc_offset = −4
| elevation_footnotes = {{GNIS|2416064|Toa Baja barrio-pueblo}}
| elevation_ft = 23
| postal_code_type = ZIP Codes
| postal_code =
| area_code = 787/939
}}
Toa Baja barrio-pueblo is a barrio and the administrative center (seat) of Toa Baja, a municipality of Puerto Rico. Its population in 2010 was 565.{{cite book|title=Puerto Rico: 2010 Population and Housing Unit Counts.pdf | url = https://permanent.access.gpo.gov/gpo35934/cph-2-53.pdf|year=2010|publisher=U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Economics and Statistics Administration, U.S. Census Bureau}}{{cite book |last1=Picó |first1=Rafael |last2=Buitrago de Santiago |first2=Zayda |last3=Berrios |first3=Hector H. |title=Nueva geografía de Puerto Rico: física, económica, y social, por Rafael Picó. Con la colaboración de Zayda Buitrago de Santiago y Héctor H. Berrios. |url=https://archive.org/details/nuevageografad00pic/page/247|publisher=San Juan Editorial Universitaria, Universidad de Puerto Rico,1969}}{{cite book|author=Gwillim Law|title=Administrative Subdivisions of Countries: A Comprehensive World Reference, 1900 through 1998| url =https://books.google.com/books?id=nXCeCQAAQBAJ|accessdate=25 December 2018|date=20 May 2015|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-1-4766-0447-3|page=300}}{{cite web |title=US Census Barrio-Pueblo definition |url=https://factfinder.census.gov/help/en/barrio.htm |website=factfinder.com |publisher=US Census |accessdate=5 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170513190743/https://factfinder.census.gov/help/en/barrio.htm |archive-date=13 May 2017 |url-status=dead }}
As was customary in Spain, in Puerto Rico, the municipality has a barrio called pueblo which contains a central plaza, the municipal buildings (city hall), and a Catholic church. Fiestas patronales (patron saint festivals) are held in the central plaza every year.{{cite book |last1=Pariser |first1=Harry S. |title=Explore Puerto Rico, Fifth Edition |date=2003 |publisher=San Francisco: Manatee Press |pages=[https://archive.org/details/explorepuertoric0000pari/page/52 52]–55 |url=https://archive.org/details/explorepuertoric0000pari |url-access=registration |accessdate=10 February 2019}}
{{US Census population| align= center
| 1900= 1300
| 1910= 1759
| 1920= 1559
| 1930= 1896
| 1940= 2015
| 1950= 1824
| 1960= 1084
| 1970= 0
| 1980= 892
| 1990= 1099
| 2000= 722
| 2010= 565
|align-fn=center
|footnote=U.S. Decennial Census
1899 (shown as 1900){{cite web|url=https://archive.org/stream/reportoncensusof00unitiala#page/n245/mode/2up|title=Report of the Census of Porto Rico 1899|publisher=War Department Office Director Census of Porto Rico|access-date=September 21, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170716033905/https://archive.org/stream/reportoncensusof00unitiala#page/n245/mode/2up|archive-date=July 16, 2017|url-status=live}} 1910-1930{{cite web|url=https://www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/documents/00476569ch4.pdf|title=Table 3-Population of Municipalities: 1930 1920 and 1910|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=September 21, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170817181600/https://www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/documents/00476569ch4.pdf|archive-date=August 17, 2017|url-status=live}}
1930-1950{{cite web|url=https://www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/documents/23761117v1ch12.pdf|title=Table 4-Area and Population of Municipalities Urban and Rural: 1930 to 1950|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=September 21, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150830033735/http://www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/documents/23761117v1ch12.pdf|archive-date=August 30, 2015|url-status=live}} 1980-2000{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/prod/cen2000/phc-3-53-eng.pdf|title=Table 2 Population and Housing Units: 1960 to 2000|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=September 21, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170724061852/https://www.census.gov/prod/cen2000/phc-3-53-eng.pdf|archive-date=July 24, 2017|url-status=live}} 2010{{cite book|title=Puerto Rico: 2010 Population and Housing Unit Counts.pdf|url=https://permanent.access.gpo.gov/gpo35934/cph-2-53.pdf|year=2010|publisher=U.S. Dept. of Commerce Economics and Statistics Administration U.S. Census Bureau|access-date=2019-08-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170220183043/https://permanent.access.gpo.gov/gpo35934/cph-2-53.pdf|archive-date=2017-02-20|url-status=live}}}}
The central plaza and its church
The central plaza, or square, located in Toa Baja barrio-pueblo is a place for official and unofficial recreational events and a place where people can gather and socialize from dusk to dawn. The Laws of the Indies, Spanish law, which regulated life in Puerto Rico in the early 19th century, stated the plaza's purpose was for "the parties" (celebrations, festivities) ({{langx|es|a propósito para las fiestas}}), and that the square should be proportionally large enough for the number of neighbors ({{langx|es|grandeza proporcionada al
número de vecinos}}). These Spanish regulations also stated that the streets nearby should be comfortable portals for passersby, protecting them from the elements: sun and rain.{{cite book|jstor=j.ctvbcd2vs.12|title=Mirada al Caribe|first=Luis A.|last=Santullano|chapter=La Plaza y la Calle |date=10 March 2019|publisher=Colegio de Mexico|volume=54|pages=75–78|doi=10.2307/j.ctvbcd2vs.12}}
Located across the central plaza in Toa Baja barrio-pueblo is the {{lang|es|Parroquia San Pedro Apostol}}, a Roman Catholic church.{{cite book | first=José A. | last=Mari Mut | title=Los Pueblos de Puerto Rico y Las Iglesias de Sus Plazas [The Pueblos of Puerto Rico, and the Churches of its Plazas] | date=2013-08-28 | url=http://edicionesdigitales.info/PueblosPR/pueblospr.pdf | language=es | access-date=2021-09-16 | archive-date=2020-12-14 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201214203116/http://edicionesdigitales.info/PueblosPR/pueblospr.pdf | url-status=live}} A historic and important church, it is listed on the US National Register of Historic Places.
History
Toa Baja barrio-pueblo was in Spain's gazetteers{{cite web | title=Anuario del comercio, de la industria, de la magistratura y de la administración. 1881 | website=Biblioteca Nacional de España | url=https://hemerotecadigital.bne.es/hd/es/viewer?id=9047075f-3c7e-411c-9e1e-41a2f650e1ba&page=1587 | language=es |page=1614| access-date=4 April 2023}} until Puerto Rico was ceded by Spain in the aftermath of the Spanish–American War under the terms of the Treaty of Paris of 1898 and became an unincorporated territory of the United States. In 1899, the United States Department of War conducted a census of Puerto Rico finding that the population of Toa Baja Pueblo was 1,300.{{cite book|author1=Joseph Prentiss Sanger|author2=Henry Gannett|author3=Walter Francis Willcox|title=Informe sobre el censo de Puerto Rico, 1899, United States. War Dept. Porto Rico Census Office|url=https://archive.org/details/informesobreelc00joangoog|year=1900|publisher=Imprenta del gobierno|page=[https://archive.org/details/informesobreelc00joangoog/page/n253 162]| language=es}}
Sectors
Barrios (which are, in contemporary times, roughly comparable to minor civil divisions) in turn are further subdivided into smaller local populated place areas/units called sectores (sectors in English). The types of sectores may vary, from normally sector to urbanización to reparto to barriada to residencial, among others.{{cite web|url=http://www.presupuesto.pr.gov/Presupuesto2015-2016/PresupuestosAgencias/229.htm|title=Agencia: Oficina del Coordinador General para el Financiamiento Socioeconómico y la Autogestión (Proposed 2016 Budget) |website= Puerto Rico Budgets|language=es|accessdate=28 June 2019}}{{Citation | author1=Rivera Quintero, Marcia | title=El vuelo de la esperanza: Proyecto de las Comunidades Especiales Puerto Rico, 1997-2004 | publication-date=2014 | publisher=San Juan, Puerto Rico Fundación Sila M. Calderón | edition=first | isbn=978-0-9820806-1-0 }}{{cite web|url=http://www.lexjuris.com/lexlex/Leyes2001/lex2001001.htm|title=Leyes del 2001|website=Lex Juris Puerto Rico|language=es|accessdate=24 June 2020}}
The following sectors are in Toa Baja barrio-pueblo:{{cite web |title=PRECINTO ELECTORAL TOA BAJA 014|url=http://ww2.ceepur.org/es-pr/Desglose%20de%20Sectores/014%20TOA%20BAJA.pdf |website=Comisión Estatal de Elecciones |publisher=PR Government |date=20 July 2019|access-date=26 June 2020|language=es}}
{{lang|es|Residencial Ángel E. Melecio,
Residencial El Toa,
Urbanización Rochdale,
Urbanización San Pedro}}, and {{lang|es|Urbanización Toa Ville}}.
See also
{{Portal|Puerto Rico}}
References
{{Reflist}}