The central mountain town of Barranquitas is best known as the birthplace of Luis Muñoz Rivera, one of the most famous—and beloved—men in Puerto Rico’s political history. Muñoz Rivera attended school in Barranquitas and worked in his father’s store as a young man, although the remainder of his very active life was spent in Ponce, San Juan, New York, and Washington, D.C.
Today, the tin-roofed wooden house where he was born July 17, 1859—a block or two from a parklike mausoleum that houses his remains and those of his famous son, Puerto Rico’s first elected Gov. Luis Muñoz Marín—is now a small, quaint, and muchvisited museum.
Muñoz Rivera devoted his life to negotiating self-rule for Puerto Rico, first with Spain and then with the United States. He was one of the founders of the Autonomist Party and, through his newspaper, La Democracia, argued for an independent government. He traveled to Spain and helped negotiate a pact that, after four centuries as a colony of Spain, briefly brought autonomy to the island of Puerto Rico.
On July 17, 1898, and under the Autonomist Charter, Muñoz Rivera was appointed Secretary of State of the newly independent government of Puerto Rico. Nine days later, the U.S. invaded Puerto Rico. On Sept. 9, 1898, Puerto Rico was officially ceded to the United States. Muñoz Rivera, undaunted, started his work anew. Muñoz Rivera again established newspapers to support the autonomy cause—including the bilingual Puerto 
Rico Herald in New York—to fight the colonial Foraker Act and to petition for equal rights for Puerto Ricans under the U.S. flag. In 1904, he helped create the Unionist Party and, in 1910, was elected resident commissioner to the U.S. House of Representatives. In Congress, his work eventually led to the enactment of the Jones Act on March 2, 1917, which granted United States citizenship to Puerto Ricans and gave the Puerto Rican government a measure of autonomy by establishing a two-chamber elected legislative assembly. Muñoz Rivera died Nov. 15, 1916, without seeing the fruit of his labor.
His funeral in Barranquitas was a momentous and historic event, as chronicled by the photos in the museum. People poured into town from all over the island to pay their last respects.
Today, schoolchildren love to visit Casa Luis Muñoz Rivera to see the 1912 (or 1914, depending on who you ask) Pierce Arrow is housed in a garage specially built for it in 1955. The antique car, a donation from his great friend Eduardo Georgetti, was used during the statesman’s funeral procession. In 1998, the car was beautifully restored by Club de Autos Antiguos Inc.
Georgetti also purchased the Muñoz Rivera home in 1916 and donated it to the town of Barranquitas to be preserved as a national monument. The house and the town (along with most of the island of Puerto Rico) were devastated by Hurricane San Felipe in September 1928. In 1959, the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture began restoration of the house and established a library and museum there.
The building is a charming example of mid-nineteenth century local rural architecture. Many of the furnishings belonged to Muñoz Rivera and his family or accurately reflect the style of the period. Among the displays are family trees, portraits, the patriot’s funeral mask, and an odd painting made from human hair. 
There are samples of newspapers, original poem manuscripts, political treatises, and other documents in the study, which is a re-creation of his office at La Democracia.
Casa Luis Muñoz Rivera is at 10 Muñoz Rivera St. and Mausoleo Luis Muñoz Rivera is nearby on El Parque Street in Barranquitas, a town in the central mountain region that is 34 miles— about an hour’s drive—from San Juan. The museum is open Wednesday to Sunday (and holiday Mondays) 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. There is a modest admission fee. Call the museum at 787- 857-0230 for more information and to make sure it is open.
