In 1899, the United States Department of War conducted a census of Puerto Rico finding that the population of Bartolo barrio was 2,035.

The Manuel Rojas Luzardo, a school that was built in 1922 was closed in 2015 by the Puerto Rico Department of Education.

A group of residents, who farm the land (jíbaros), rehabilitated the school and put it to use, after they were left homeless when their homes were destroyed by Hurricane Maria in September 2017.

With their work, the once abandoned school is now called the Jíbaros Mutual Support Center (Spanish: Centro de Apoyo Mutuo Jíbaro), and the classrooms serve as residences to eleven families (to families with a woman head of household and the elderly).

Members of the local Presbyterian church who spearheaded the grassroots movement for Bartolo are pursuing official ownership of the property.