History Of Puerto Rico

Updated October 25, 2026. Key dates are checked against the National Park Service, the Library of Congress, the U.S. Code, the U.S. Geological Survey and the National Weather Service; some background figures, such as Taíno population estimates, come from Wikipedia's sourced history articles. Where historians disagree, we say so.

Puerto Rico's history in one paragraph: Indigenous peoples lived here for thousands of years before the Taíno, who called the island Borikén. Columbus claimed it for Spain in 1493, and Spain ruled for four centuries, building San Juan's fortresses and a plantation economy that relied on enslaved Africans until abolition in 1873. The United States took the island in the Spanish–American War of 1898, made Puerto Ricans U.S. citizens in 1917 and approved a local constitution in 1952. Puerto Rico remains a U.S. territory, and its political status is still debated.

Timeline at a glance

What was Puerto Rico called before? How the island got its name

• Borikén (Borinquen): the Taíno name for the island, which lives on in the word Boricua.
• San Juan Bautista (1493): the name Columbus gave it, after Saint John the Baptist.
• Puerto Rico, "rich port": at first the name of the harbor town. During the 1520s the two names traded places, so the town became San Juan and the island became Puerto Rico.
• Porto Rico: the spelling used in U.S. laws such as the 1917 Jones Act. A joint resolution of Congress made "Puerto Rico" the official form again from May 17, 1932 (48 U.S.C. § 731a).

When was Puerto Rico founded?

The island has no single founding date, since people had lived there for thousands of years. Spanish settlement starts in 1508, when Juan Ponce de León arrived to set up a town at Caparra, as the National Park Service puts it. In 1521 the settlers moved to the islet where Old San Juan stands, which makes San Juan the oldest European-founded city now under U.S. sovereignty. You can visit the Caparra ruins in Guaynabo; they are in our historical sites guide.

5 major historical events in Puerto Rico

1. 1493–1508, Spanish arrival and settlement. Columbus lands on November 19, 1493, and Caparra follows in 1508. Four centuries of Spanish rule begin, and Taíno society collapses within decades.
2. 1868–1873, Lares and abolition. The Grito de Lares revolt and the end of slavery five years later mark the island's late Spanish period.
3. 1898, the Spanish–American War. U.S. troops come ashore at Guánica in July, and the peace treaty signed in Paris that December hands Puerto Rico to the United States (Library of Congress).
4. 1917 and 1952, citizenship and the Commonwealth. The Jones Act makes Puerto Ricans U.S. citizens, and 35 years later voters approve the constitution of the Estado Libre Asociado.
5. 2017, Hurricane María. The September 20 storm left the island without power, water and phone service for months.

Puerto Rico history facts

• Work on El Morro began in 1539, and Spain kept repairing and enlarging it for about 250 years. From 1898 to 1961 it was part of a U.S. Army post, Fort Brooke (NPS).
• San Juan's masonry walls, begun in 1634, are about 20 feet thick. Of the four main gates, the San Juan Gate still stands (NPS).
• UNESCO named La Fortaleza and San Juan National Historic Site a World Heritage Site in 1983 (NPS).
• U.S. laws, including the 1917 Jones Act, spelled the island "Porto Rico" until Congress restored the Spanish spelling in 1932 (48 U.S.C. § 731a).
• Before dawn on January 7, 2020, a magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck about 4 km south-southeast of Indios on the south coast (USGS).
• Hurricane Fiona, on September 18, 2022, brought extreme rain to southern and eastern Puerto Rico and island-wide utility outages (National Weather Service, San Juan).
• Puerto Ricans have voted on the island's status in 1967, 1993, 1998, 2012, 2017, 2020 and 2024. The results are nonbinding, because a change of status would need action by the U.S. Congress (Ballotpedia).
• In the November 5, 2024 vote, statehood took 58.6% of valid ballots, free association 29.6% and independence 11.8% (Ballotpedia, from the Puerto Rico elections commission).

Before Columbus

People reached Puerto Rico thousands of years before Europeans, beginning with Archaic (Ortoiroid) groups, followed by Saladoid and later cultures. By the time Columbus arrived, an estimated 30,000 to 60,000 Taíno lived on the island in villages led by caciques. The chief cacique was Agüeybaná. They called the island Borikén, the source of the words Borinquen and Boricua. You can still see their ceremonial ball courts at Caguana (Utuado) and Tibes (Ponce); see our historical sites guide.

Spanish rule (1493–1898)

Columbus reached the island on November 19, 1493, and named it San Juan Bautista. Spanish settlement began in 1508, when Juan Ponce de León founded Caparra and became the first governor. In the 1520s the names flipped: the harbor town took the name San Juan, and the whole island came to be called Puerto Rico.

The Taíno were forced into labor under the encomienda system. In 1511 they rose up. According to the traditional account, they first tested whether the Spaniards were mortal by drowning a soldier, Diego Salcedo. The revolt was put down, and disease, war and forced labor devastated the Taíno population over the following decades.

San Juan became Spain's guard post at the gateway to the Caribbean. Work on El Morro began in 1539, followed by San Cristóbal and the city walls from 1634. The forts held off or survived attacks by the English (1598) and Dutch (1625). In the 1700s and 1800s the economy turned to sugar and coffee, worked in part by enslaved Africans.

In the 19th century, Puerto Ricans pushed for more rights. On September 23, 1868, hundreds rose up in the Grito de Lares, an independence revolt that Spain quickly put down. Slavery was abolished on March 22, 1873. In November 1897, Spain granted a Charter of Autonomy with a local government, but the change of sovereignty came months later.

The United States arrives (1898–1952)

During the Spanish–American War, U.S. troops landed at Guánica on July 25, 1898. Under the Treaty of Paris (signed December 10, 1898), Spain ceded Puerto Rico to the United States.

• 1900, Foraker Act: replaced military rule with a civil government appointed largely from Washington.
• 1917, Jones Act: made Puerto Ricans U.S. citizens. The date, March 2, is now American Citizenship Day.
• 1918: a magnitude 7.3 earthquake and tsunami struck the west coast on October 11.
• 1930s: the Depression hit the sugar economy hard, and nationalist politics grew. In 1937, police killed protesters during a march in Ponce, an event known as the Ponce massacre.
• 1948: Luis Muñoz Marín became the first democratically elected governor. He served from 1949 to 1965. Under a 1948 "gag law", displaying the Puerto Rican flag in public was a crime for several years.

The Commonwealth era (1952–today)

In 1952, voters approved a constitution, and Puerto Rico became the Estado Libre Asociado (Commonwealth). Operation Bootstrap, launched in 1950, brought factories and fast growth in the 1950s and 1960s. Many Puerto Ricans also moved to the mainland, building the diaspora in New York and elsewhere.

Decades later, debt and economic decline led to a crisis. In 2016, Congress passed PROMESA, which created a federal oversight board to restructure the island's debt. On September 20, 2017, Hurricane María hit the island directly, knocking out power, water and communications for months. In 2019, after leaked chat messages, massive protests led Governor Ricardo Rosselló to resign.

The status question, whether Puerto Rico should be a state, independent or stay a territory, is still open. The most recent plebiscite, on November 5, 2024, was the seventh since 1967; like the others it was nonbinding.

See the history for yourself

• Historical sites in Puerto Rico: forts, Taíno sites, haciendas and lighthouses
• Old San Juan things to do and El Morro
• The black flag door, a protest symbol from 2016
• Public holidays that mark many of these dates
• Is Puerto Rico part of the U.S.?

FAQ

When was Puerto Rico discovered? Columbus reached the island on November 19, 1493, on his second voyage. The Taíno and earlier peoples had lived there for centuries.

What was Puerto Rico called before? The Taíno called it Borikén. Columbus named it San Juan Bautista.

When did Puerto Rico become part of the United States? Spain ceded it under the Treaty of Paris, signed December 10, 1898, after U.S. troops landed in July.

When did Puerto Ricans become U.S. citizens? In 1917, under the Jones Act.

Who was Puerto Rico's first elected governor? Luis Muñoz Marín, elected in 1948.

When was Puerto Rico founded? Spanish settlement began at Caparra in 1508, and the settlers moved to the islet of San Juan in 1521.

Why is it called Puerto Rico? It means "rich port" in Spanish. It was first the harbor town's name; in the 1520s it swapped with San Juan Bautista and became the island's name.

Was Puerto Rico ever called Porto Rico? Yes, in U.S. laws such as the 1917 Jones Act, until Congress restored the Spanish spelling on May 17, 1932.

What are 5 major events in Puerto Rico's history? Spanish arrival and settlement (1493–1508), the Grito de Lares and abolition (1868–1873), the 1898 change to U.S. rule, citizenship (1917) and the 1952 Commonwealth, and Hurricane María (2017).

Originally published on PuertoRico.com (2022-12-19); last updated 2026-10-25.