[3][4][5] Cambalache was in Spain's gazetteers[6] until 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 an unincorporated territory of the United States.

In 1899, the United States Department of War conducted a census of Puerto Rico finding that the population of Cambalache barrio was 470.

Barrios (which are, in contemporary times, roughly comparable to minor civil divisions)[13] in turn are further subdivided into smaller local populated place areas/units called sectores (sectors in English).

[14][15][16] The following sectors are in Cambalache barrio:[17][18] Callejón Cancela, Comunidad Domingo Ruiz, Finca Las Claras, Sector Santa Bárbara, and Urbanización Brisas del Valle.

Feasibility studies for building a waste-to-energy plant in Cambalache have been ongoing since before 2015.