Imagine Life Here
Imagine being a Spanish soldier stationed here 350 years ago. Your job was to guard the San Juan Harbor entrance and the mouth of the Bayamon River from enemy attack. But year after year no enemy came. Did soldiers welcome or dread duty here? We can only guess. We have no diaries that tell us how they felt.
Fort San Juan de la Cruz, commonly called “El Canuelo,” was more than a simple artillery battery. It was a fort surrounded by water, designed to sustain a garrison for many days. It had embrasures (gun ports) for six cannon, and could accommodate up to 200 men, through typically only a dozen or so were probably stationed here.
A vessel delivers supplies to El Canuelo, while others rest beneath the fort’s watchful eye. Until 1943, when the U.S. Army built up the island, El Canuelo was surrounded by water.
Marker is on Puerto Rico Route 870.
Courtesy hmdb.org
