There is a fine line between historical facts; truthful and popular rumors; that pass from generation to generation, being taken over the years as reliable facts. Such has been the case of a controversial land property, located at 308 Fortaleza Street in Old San Juan, which is the epicenter of a historical debate about its original façade and its former use.
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According to popular belief, the original building had a line of bells on its front portico that - rumor has it - belonged to a dairy that rang them every time the supply of fresh milk arrived on the islet of Old San Juan. However, this assertion almost always lacks a fundamental piece of information since it does not indicate exactly in what period of the extensive history of the Walled City it was used for that purpose.
The only evidence known about the history of the structure is found in the archives of the Built Historical Heritage Program (PPHE) of the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture (ICP), a government agency that serves as custodian and is in charge of the preservation of historic structures in the old city.
Architect José C. Silvestre, ICP conservationist, explained to El Nuevo Día that the agency’s records show evidence of the use of the structure only since the 1950s, when the government entity was founded. Through photographs of the structure’s façade, taken during the creation of a photographic inventory two years before the founding of the government agency, it can be seen that it did not show the bells; supposed evidence that a dairy operated there.
“Our records date back to 1955, which is the date the ICP was founded,” explained Silvestre. “We have an inventory of photos taken between 1953 and 1954 of the facades in Old San Juan and for that inventory a photo was taken of that building that does not show the bells that were allegedly originally on the front portico.”
“An update of that photographic inventory was made in 1982 and it did show bells installed on the front of the façade, on the cornice, diagonally. We have photos that even show that the installation of the bells was done in a careless manner,” added the expert.
The conservationist also indicated that the ICP files only shed light on the use of the structure from 1953 to the present. The expert pointed out that, if the structure was used as a dairy, it was possibly sometime in the first half of the 20th century or the second half of the 19th century.
However, there is no historiographic evidence to corroborate this statement. At least not in the hands of the ICP.
“Not having found historical evidence of this use, the uses that we can confirm from the 1950s until now, is that it has been a jewelry store, it has been a souvenir store and it has been a house. In other words, it has had a mixed use, between commercial and residential, which does not include a historical use as a dairy,” he said, urging anyone who has evidence of the use of the building for this purpose to contact the ICP so that the data can be included in the agency’s historical archive.
History of non-compliance
There is ample evidence in the ICP archives that, over the decades, the structure has been owned by several private owners who, according to Silvestre, remained in non-compliance with ICP’s structural preservation regulations.
The best documented of these is the installation of bells on the façade of the structure in the late 1970s or early 1980s.
The preservationist shared with El Nuevo Día a copy of a communication written by the then director of the PPHE, Héctor Darío Pérez, in 1984, pointing out to the then owner of the building, José A. Marín, a series of infractions, including the installation of the bells.
“The communication issued to him by the PPHE director at the time, dated May 31, 1984, clearly indicates that the owner was instructed to correct several infractions, among them, ‘the removal of bells installed on the roof,’” Silvestre said, citing the missive.
“Also, on August 15, 1985, one year later, the executive director of the ICP at that time, Elías López Sobá, issued a written communication indicating that this property had a frequent history of infractions and revocations of exemption benefits. In other words, it is a property with a history of non-compliance by different owners,” the architect added.
Interruption of the historic line
Silvestre assured that, even if the bells really existed on the facade prior to the 1950s and were used by a dairy to announce the arrival of fresh milk to the islet, having been removed, this constitutes a problem of historical continuity.
“With those bells not being there in the 1950s, as shown by the photographs we have in our file, the historic line of the building was interrupted, and with no evidence known about the use of that facility at the turn of the century or during the 19th century, it is simply speculation,” he said.
One of the controversies surrounding the controversial San Juan building are the accusations against the ICP for allegedly failing in its ministerial duties for not having conserved the bells of the structure; allegations that take for granted the origin of the bells without offering historical evidence of their original existence.
“Unfortunately, this is yet another case of information being disseminated without the correct evidence and information, making our work to preserve and document these structures more difficult,” Silvestre said.
“At PPHE, our records are the living memory of the course of the use and management of each building in Old San Juan, among them, the one at 308 Fortaleza St., and the evidence we have on record is that, between the 1950s and the 1970s, the bells were not part of the structure and for that reason it was pointed out on several occasions to the owner that he was in violation of the norms,” he concluded.
The architect pointed out that it is not known with certainty when the bells were removed, although he speculated that it could have happened in the late 1990s or early 2000s, since there is photographic documentation of the bells during that period.
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This content was translated from Spanish to English using artificial intelligence and was reviewed by an editor before being published.
