Architect Multiple NRHP Reference # 94000084 Added to NRHP 16 February 1994 | Architectural style Colonial, Other Area 15 ha | |
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Location | ||
The San Germán Historic District is a 36 acres (15 ha) historic district located in the western section of the town of San Germán, Puerto Rico. The district was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1994. The district contains more than 100 significant buildings, including the Church San Germán de Auxerre and the Convento de Porta Coeli.
History
Spanish colonists established La Villa de San Germán de Auxerre, also known as Nueva Salamanca, in the early years of the 16th century. The town of San Germán grew out of the settlement formally established in 1573, and it is this original urban core, transformed by rapid growth from the 1830s to the 1940s, that comprises the San Germán Historic District.
The district includes numerous homes, among these the noted Victorian-style Juan Ortiz Perichi House on Luna Street, which architect Jorge Rigau once called "one of the best developed spatial sequences in residential architecture in Puerto Rico." Many notable Puerto Ricans came from the San Germán Historic District; among them was Lola Rodríguez de Tió, the well-known poet and pro-independence leader who wrote the lyrics to the revolutionary version of Puerto Rico's national anthem "La Borinqueña".
The San Germán Historic District is roughly bounded by Luna, Estrella, Concepción, Javilla, and Ferrocarril Streets in the western section of the town.