[10] The population in the town of Aguadilla continued to increase constantly mainly due to its excellent port and strategic location in the route of the boats.

In 1776, when Santo Domingo became independent for the first time, the loyalists of Spanish descent emigrated to Puerto Rico, mainly to Aguadilla, which caused the population to continue increasing significantly.

The early decades of the 19th Century brought with them several incidents that were a hindrance to the town economy, beginning with a large scale fire that destroyed most of the houses and had lasting repercussions.

At this time, the territorial organization of Aguadilla was as follows: Pueblo Norte (North Town), Pueblo Sur (South Town), Ceiba Alta, Ceiba Baja, Montaña, Malezas, Aguacate, Dos Palmas, Camaseyes, Plainela, Borinquen, Arenales, Higüey, Corrales, Victoria, and Mangual.

[12] Don Pedro Tomás de Córdova mentions the road of Aguadilla formed by Punta Borinquen and San Francisco, as the "anchorage of the ships that travel from Europe to Havana and Mexico".

[11] In the Census held that year, downtown Aguadilla appears constituted by Higüey, Iglesia, Nueva, Santa Barbara, and Tamarindo barrios.

The 1918 San Fermín earthquake, and the tsunami that followed, directly impacted Aguadilla, killing 40 and damaging or destroying several landmarks including the church and town hall.

A new school system was the pride of the village because it offered them the opportunity to give their children an education without having to go 9 miles (14 km) south downtown.

3's ride from Jiménez Station to Ponce was José Antonio Román, an experienced freight train engineer who had never worked in passenger travel.

Oscar Valle, an Aguadilla correspondent to El Mundo newspaper, summarized the scene with: "The locomotive suffered a terrible explosion as it derailed, and the impact was so strong that 3 passenger cars were converted into a fantastic mound of wreckage".

[17] During that decade, there had been a territorial dispute with Aguada, when that municipality claimed that the area belonging to Parque Colón was on their side of the Culebrinas river.

[18] The matter became contentious when a diversion was made of the original route in 1931, with Aguada mayor Julio César Román basing its complain on Law 60-1945, preparing a memorial with historical maps and other documents supporting its position that the old geographic divisions remained, which was presented before the board on September 20, 1946.

[18] The matter was contentious enough that it attracted parties from other places, such as a physician from Rio Piedras named Carlos González, who supported Aguada's claim.

[18] The Board ruled that Parque Colón belonged to Aguada, with mayor Alfredo González Pérez appealing the decision.

Activated in June 1952 as a Strategic Air Command very long-range reconnaissance unit at Ramey AFB, Puerto Rico, but not operational until October 1952.

Conducted global strategic reconnaissance 1953–1955, gradually shifting to a bombardment training mission beginning in 1954, being upgraded to B-36J and B-36J(III) Featherweights by 1955.

[22] Five years earlier, an agreement to establish a DeLorean Motor Company plant at Calero was publicly announced, but the facility was ultimately built at Northern Ireland.

The aerial facilities are now controlled by the Puerto Rico Ports Authority and comprise the Rafael Hernández International Airport.

The area which formerly housed Ramey also hosts the University of Puerto Rico at Aguadilla and the Friedrich Froebel Bilingual School (K-9).

There are also other government agencies based at Ramey, including the United States Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs & Border Protection's Office of Air and Marine and Office of Border Patrol, the Fuerzas Unidas de Rápida Acción (United Forces for Rapid Action) of the Puerto Rico Police Department and the Puerto Rico National Guard.

[28] The four radar systems used by the Federal Aviation Administration for flights in and around Puerto Rico were damaged by Hurricane Maria, and it took nearly two weeks to fix them.

[29] In recent years, the town has gathered some international celebrity due to the release of a Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP) footage captured by a Customs and Patrol aircraft near Rafael Hernández Airport on April 26, 2013, after the air traffic tower reported sighting a pinkish glowing orb flying near the facility.

The 5-minute long thermal sequence was captured with a FLIR camera and released by the agency in September 2023, one of several acknowledged by the government as filmed by an official source since 2018, becoming colloquially known as “The Aguadilla UFO Incident”.

[30] Initially sent to Homeland Security for analysis, the film was then remitted to the Air Force before ultimately being released to civilian groups interested in the topic.

[32] Debate remains ongoing, with Chinese lanterns, drones, birds and balloons being proposed as potential explanations by skeptics.

[40] The city is currently home to a variety of industrial and pharmaceutical plants such sa LifeScan, Symmetricom, Honeywell, and Hewlett Packard Enterprise.

The airport has Lufthansa Technik,[42] while others like Suiza Dairy, Lockheed Martin and Productos La Aguadillana are located in Camaseyes Industrial Park.

Other industries that are based in Aguadilla are rubber, plastics, leather, textiles, steel, wood, machinery, and food processing.

[45] In 2019, Aguadilla received the City Livability Award from the United States Conference of Mayors and honored the efforts spearheaded by Carlos Méndez Martínez.

The Fiestas Patronales de San Carlos Borromeo is a religious and cultural celebration that generally features parades, games, artisans, amusement rides, regional food, and live entertainment.