Orocovis
Geographic center of Puerto Rico renamed in 1928 for Taíno cacique Orocobix—fire destroyed the town in 1875, coffee grows at the island's highest lake, but centrality means isolation from all coasts.
Orocovis exists at the geographic center of Puerto Rico—literally the heart of the island, marked in barrio Pellejas on Road 566. The town's flag depicts the sun at the center of the solar system for this reason: everything else orbits around Orocovis, at least symbolically. But centrality in mountainous terrain means isolation in practice, and the 'Heart of Puerto Rico' has always been easier to name than to reach.
The settlement began in 1825 as Barros, founded by Juan Rivera de Santiago on land purchased and donated by Eulalia de Rivera Meléndez. For a century it carried that unremarkable name until 1928, when Puerto Rico's legislature renamed it Orocovis to honor the Taíno cacique Orocobix, who had led the Jatibonicu people here before Spanish arrival. The renaming acknowledged what geography had preserved: indigenous heritage persisting in a region colonizers had difficulty accessing.
Fire defined the town's early form. In 1875, flames destroyed the church, the mayorship, the priest's house, and much of the population's housing. What was rebuilt rose in the Cordillera Central's characteristic style—structures adapted to steep slopes, heavy rains, and occasional catastrophe. El Guineo, Puerto Rico's highest lake, lies within Orocovis's borders, a reminder that elevation brings both beauty and hardship.
The economy runs on coffee cultivation, tobacco, tropical fruits, livestock, and small food-processing industries. The mountains that made Orocovis 'central' also made it agricultural rather than industrial—no port access, difficult roads, limited connectivity. By 2026, the Heart of Puerto Rico tests whether centrality translates to relevance, or whether being equidistant from all coasts means remaining distant from all opportunity.