Florida, Puerto Rico Genealogy

Guide to Municipality of Florida family history and genealogy: birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records.

History
Florida was founded first as a barrio of Barceloneta in 1881 when a priest, Father Carrión, the mayor of Barceloneta, and other dignitaries arrived at a terrain of almost 4 acres. They decided to establish a new barrio and the owner of the place, Don Manuel Cintrón granted the land while he retained a piece of it. The barrio was first called "Florida Adentro".During the 20th century, several efforts were made to declare Florida as a municipality. On June 14, 1971, the Senate of Puerto Rico and Governor Don Luis A. Ferré approved the law that officially created the municipality of Florida. It is thus the youngest municipality established in the island.

Civil Registration
More recent records are protected by privacy laws. However, close relatives can request them for genealogy.
 * Puerto Rico Birth, Death, Marriage Certificates

Online Records

 * Puerto Rico, Civil Registration, 1805-2001, index, incomplete
 * Puerto Rico, Civil Registrations, 1885-2001, index, incomplete
 * Puerto Rico, Civil Registration, Florida, browse images
 * — index

Church Records
Until the church records of this municipality are digitized and published online, write to the local Catholic Church for records prior to 1876. To find the address of the local parish, consult the Catholic Directory. For help with writing your letter or e-mail, use the Letter Writing Guide for Genealogy. If it seems that the priest would prefer to correspond in Spanish, use the Spanish Letter Writing Guide.

Census Records
Be sure to search the 1910, 1920, 1930, and 1940 census records for information about your Puerto Rican ancestors you were there during that time period. For links to census records, see census links.