Comerío, Puerto Rico: History
Comerío was founded on June 12, 1826. It was first named Sabana del Palmar, but later was renamed Comerío.
In 1854, nearly 1000 acres (1000 cuerdas) of land were being used for agriculture. In 1894, there was one sugar and two coffee plantations (estates) in Comerío. In the early 20th century, Comerio residents, had a short but legendary territory war with residents of the city of Barranquitas.
Don José Ramón Figueroa, a coffee planter, merchant and businessman who played a major role in the economic and agricultural development of the region, was from Comerío.
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 a territory of the United States. In 1899, the United States Department of War conducted a census of Puerto Rico finding that the population of Comerío was 8,249.
Hurricane Maria on September 20, 2017, triggered numerous landslides in Comerío. The flooded river went through the center of Comerío. A week later the hospital, trying to run via generator, was out of diesel but due to the landslides, travel and deliveries, into and out of Comerío was next to impossible. Over 4,000 homes were affected, and of those 1,537 completely destroyed. After the hurricane, the National Guard from Ohio were tasked with restoring water purification systems for the people of Comerío. Two months after the hurricane, the mayor of Comerío said no personnel had made it yet to attempt the restoration of electrical power to Comerío. On October 9, another landslide happened blocking transit on PR-167. On October 10, a group of doctors from New York announced they would travel to volunteer their services to Comerío and nearby mountain municipalities.