a Bit of History
Want to know more about Vieques? Here’s a brief timeline to whet the appetite of the history buff in you.
2145 BCE - 1700's
2145 BCE Archeological findings in Puerto Ferro date back to Pre-Arawak period.
1100 CE Taino culture abounds in Esperanza.
1493 Columbus lands on the south side of Borinquen (now Puerto Rico) and claims it for Spain.
1508 Ponce de León initiates colonization of Puerto Rico.
1514 Taíno Chiefs Yaureibo and Cacimar from Bieke fight Spanish forces on the east side of Puerto Rico.
1683 British settlers from Anguilla invade Vieques. Danish forces from St. Thomas drive invaders away.
1698 Scottish settlers from Nevis, Anguilla and Tortola invade Vieques. Spanish forces drive invaders away.
1718 British settlers from Anguilla come to Vieques to establish a colony on two different occasions. Both times Spanish forces drive invaders away.
1800's
1811 The Spanish colonization of Vieques begins.
1815 Royal Decree of Graces allows other Europeans who swear loyalty to the Spanish Crown to remain in Puerto Rico. French settlers develop Vieques’ agrarian economy.
1816 Simón Bolivar, Latin America’s Great Liberator, comes to Vieques.
1822 The Spanish commence construction of a town, eventually called Punta Mulas (Isabel II today), on the north side of the island.
1832 Teófilo José Jaime María Le Guillou, a French emigre, is appointed military governor of Vieques.
1844 The municipality of Vieques is formally established; construction of original Catholic Church gets underway.
1845 Construction of Fortín Conde de Mirasol (the Fort) begins.
1863 Britain formally renounces all claims to Vieques.
1873 Abolition of slavery in Puerto Rico (March 22, 1873); Manuel E. Benitez is elected Vieques’ first mayor when municipalities are extended the right to vote.
1893 All Saints Church is officially consecrated. Vieques and Ponce were the first places in Puerto Rico under Spanish Monarchy allowed to set up non-Catholic churches.
1896 Punta Mulas lighthouse (north side) is completed.
1898 Spanish-American War. Treaty of Paris gives United States temporary control of Cuba and ownership of Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippine islands.
1899 Puerto Ferro lighthouse (south side) is completed.
1900's
1917 Jones Act grants United States Citizenship to all Puerto Ricans.
1925 On March 19, a powerful earthquake causes major structural damages to the Puerto Ferro lighthouse. The lighthouse is closed.
1941-49 The United States Navy expropriates nearly two thirds of Vieques for military maneuvers.
1948 Luis Muñoz Marín becomes 1st democratically elected governor of Puerto Rico.
1952 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is established on July 25.
1961 The film Lord of the Flies is shot in Vieques.
1965 Osvaldo “Val” Gonzalez-Duriex provides air transportation to Vieques and registers his enterprise as Vieques Air Link.
1976 Water from El Yunque (Puerto Rico’s rain forest) via underwater pipeline becomes the main water supply for Vieques.
1977 - 1988 “Vieques Pony Express”— Ventura the post office to initiate island-wide delivery of mail. For the next 11 years, Ventura Camacho does his job on horseback.
1978 “Fishermen’s War”: An international NATO backed training military exercise on Vieques is stopped by fishermen who position themselves in the direct line of fire.
1989 Hugo, since upgraded to a category 5 hurricane, devastates Vieques.
1991 Restoration of Fortín Conde de Mirasol is completed.
1999 David Sanes is killed by a bomb from U.S. Navy military exercises. The tragic death serves as the catalyst for a peace protest that galvanizes all of Puerto Rico. The ‘Paz Para Vieques’ movement garners international support and becomes instrumental in pressuring the United States Navy to end military exercises on the island.
2000's
2001 Vieques National Wildlife Refuge is established (3,100 acres on the western end of Vieques).
2003 U.S. Navy leaves Vieques; 14,573 acres of land on the east end are added to the Vieques National Wildlife Refuge. The Refuge
is operated under the U.S. Department of Interior and becomes the largest wildlife refuge in the Caribbean.
2005 U.S. Congress designates parts of Vieques as a Superfund.
2006 Montessori Education arrives in Vieques; Guinness World Records names Mosquito Bay the brightest Bio-bay in the world; MANTA, the educational outreach program of the Vieques Conservation and Historical Trust (VCHT) wins EPA’s highest award two years in a row.
2007 Comunidad Verde Vieques is established. This is the first re-settlement inside former NAVY land.
2009 First Bio-luminescent Symposium in Puerto Rico is held in Vieques and hosted by the VCHT.
2011 White House report issued by the Vieques Task Force recommends military clean-up, a solid waste strategy, health care, renewable energy, protection of the BioBay and “green” tourism.
2016 VCHT signs an agreement with the Department of Environmental and Natural Resources to co-manage the Mosquito nature reserve.
2017 Hurricane Maria devastates Puerto Rico and Vieques with Category 5-force winds. Communication to the outside world is severed, and it takes 7 months to restore power. Numerous on- and off-island organizations form to provide help.
2019 The death of 13-year old Jai Ventura sparks island-wide grief and a peaceful protest (justiceparajai) about the Vieques hospital.
Destroyed in Hurricane Maria, the hospital or CDT (Center for Diagnoses and Treatment) is in the process of being rebuilt.
2019 The Covid-19 pandemic magnifies the island’s humanitarian crisis after the devastation of Hurricane Maria and several earthquakes. Fortunately, response to the virus is rapid and thorough and controls the spread.
2019-20 Puerto Rico experiences an unprecedented series of shock swarms. Over 9,000 earthquakes and aftershocks damage thousands of homes and buildings and closes schools.
2025 The newly built hospital opens the doors to the dialysis center.
