San Juan, Puerto Rico

A trip to San Juan for the American Studies meeting.  Gorgeous beaches and pool at the Caribe Hilton (where the Pina Colada was invented, so they say) and great if not the healthiest food (tostones, mofongo, etc. etc.)

Highlight for me was tracking down the army base where my father was posted in the mid-1950s. We spent a year there, I was 3 and my sister barely 1 year old.  I have only dim memories of that time, but between google and emails with my mother, I found it:  Rodriguez Hospital, part of Fort Brooke, which was housed in El Morro -- the famous Spanish fort built to protect San Juan in 1540.  The Spanish beat back Sir Francis Drake there in 1595; then lost the island to a second attack from the British in 1597 (they took it back after 3 months).  Later in the 19 century the Spanish used it to house military engineers and generals. The Americans took it over in 1898 but did not establish Fort Brooke until 1943, during World War II.  It was used to process Puerto Ricans going to fight in the Korean and Vietnam Wars and was closed in 1973.  My father worked at Rodriguez Hospital, which was in the old barracks that had formerly been occupied by the Spanish engineers.

Here is El Morro, seen from the sky and sea. The old Ballaja Barracks buildings are at top left. The yellow building on the left was the hospital; the white building to the right was the command headquarters. Behind it is Casa Blanca, the residence of the general, formerly the house of Ponce de Leon in the 16 century, of which more soon.

The hospital barracks is now the Museum of the Americas.  The HQ barracks is now an art school. How did I figure this out.  Well I found this photo online, taken in 1962:

The caption to the old photo indicates that it is the entrance to Fort Brooke; the building on the left is the hospital, directly in front is the PX, and to the right is the drive-in movie theater.  I read, but could not find photos, that the green expanse between there and the fort was used as a golf course.

Below are photos of the Museum of the Americas as seen today.

Museum of the Americas, formerly Rodriguez Hospital, formerly Ballaja Barracks

old front entrance

the interior courtyard

Here is Casa Blanca.  It was originally one room, 12x24 feet, built as the residence for Ponce de Leon as part of his grant from the king of Spain in the 1520s.  His family and descendants lived in it for two hundred years and then it was used by the Spanish military, and then the U.S. military. It reverted to Puerto Rican control in 1967.  Apparently the US command had lavish parties here.

a postcard from the 1930s

present day entrance to Casa Blanca. The house winds around in a charming way,
from additions that were made over the years

Main salon, of which half was the original house of Ponce de Leon

The next challenge was to find the spot where we lived, the officers housing.  Everyone said it had been torn down.  I found a website with a photo of El Morro that had prompted many comments from "army brats" who lived at Fort Brooke in the 1950s and 1960s.  From these I learned that the officers housing was in the area called La Princesa.  La Paseo de la Princesa is a wide boulevard in Old SJ near the bay; it turns north and runs all the way along the old city wall to El Morro. I found a group of men on a corner, all wearing yellow tag.  I asked if they were tour guides and I was right! An older man said there were two places where American army officers lived, both torn down.  He said nothing else in Old SJ can be torn down because it is a heritage site.  He directed me to the large parking lot on the boulevard, across from an elegant old building that now houses the PR Tourist Bureau.

Here is a view of La Paseo de la Princesa as it winds around the city wall, and the old gate to the city.

Farther down, the Paseo takes a 90% turn.  Here is what's left from the 1950s:

The Puerto Rico Tourism Bureau, on La Paseo de la Princesa

I guess this is the street corner where we lived. (now a parking lot for the SJ municipal government complex).
My mother said that from the balcony she could see the ships come from the sea into the bay, and also could see El Morro. Of course, she took us to the beach, and my dad started his seashell collection here.

Because you have been so patient with my genealogy quest, here are some photos of the lovely colonial buildings of Old San Juan.  It's very hilly, the streets are narrow lanes, and are paved with blue cobblestones.

and the ocean front at the Caribe Hilton...