Culebra is an island-municipality in the Caribbean Sea that is part of the Puerto Rican archipelago. Originally the island was called Isla Pasaje and Isla de San Ildefonso. Culebra is located ten kilometers east of the main island of Puerto Rico, nine miles north of the island-municipality of Vieques, and twelve miles west of St. Thomas. Culebra’s area is estimated at 30km², and its capital is the town of Dewey. Culebra is also known as “Islita” and “Última Virgen”. The inhabitants of Culebra are called Culebrenses.
Culebra Island was inhabited by Arawak Amerindians and the Spanish “Taino” called it home. The island was used as a haven for pirates for more than three centuries. The first European to reach Culebra was Christopher Columbus in 1493.
In 1875, an Englishman named Stevens was named the first governor of Culebra by the Vieques government. He was tasked with protecting the island and its fishermen from pirates. Stevens was assassinated later that same year.
Cayetano Escudero Sanz then inhabited Culebra on October 27, 1880. The first settlement was called San Ildefonso, in honor of the Bishop of Toledo. Two years later, on September 25, 1882, the construction of the Culebrita lighthouse began. It was completed on February 25, 1886. This was the oldest operating lighthouse in the Caribbean until the United States Navy and United States Coast Guard finally closed it in 1975.
In 1902, Culebra was annexed to the island-municipality of Vieques. A year later, the President of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt, established the Culebra Naval Reserve. A bird sanctuary was established on February 27, 1909. In 1939, the United States Navy began using Culebra as a bombardment practice site. In 1971, the leader of the Puerto Rican Independence Party, Rubén Berríos Martínez, began leading protests against the US military presence in Culebra. Four years later, in 1975, they succeeded in driving out the US military.
Isla Culebra was declared an independent municipality in 1917. The first democratically elected government was in 1960. Before that, the Puerto Rican government sent delegates to administer the island.