Historically, as the political center for the whole northwest region of Puerto Rico, many crucial government decisions were forged by the mayors of Arecibo from this City Hall.

[5] In 1866, it claimed the dubious honor of housing in its first-floor prison the Puerto Rican patriots that comprised the first and only rebellion against Spanish rule, the Grito de Lares.

By the 1890s the prison had been turned into a storage area which ironically housed a marble statue of Queen Isabel II upon its removal from its pedestal on the town plaza.

[2] The Arecibo City Hall today stands as a vivid and faithful example of 19th century Spanish thought in architecture and government.

Occupying an imposing site on the Plaza Mayor in the town of Arecibo, the structure serves as a link between the city's past, present and future.