Villalba: Lake Toa Vaca and the Southern Coffee Slopes

The Cordillera Central seen from the lookout between Villalba and Orocovis, its forested ridges falling toward the sea on the horizon.

The Cordillera Central seen from the lookout between Villalba and Orocovis, its forested ridges falling toward the sea on the horizon. Photo: Ratzer1 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.

Villalba sits on the southern slope of the Cordillera Central, where the mountains fall toward the dry south coast of Puerto Rico. It is known for its reservoirs, for gandules — pigeon peas — and for coffee grown in its hills. This article sets out what can be checked about the municipality, and corrects several facts this encyclopedia previously got wrong.

Where Villalba Is

The southern face of the Cordillera Central under rain cloud, photographed from Juana Díaz, not Villalba, with green foothills and a town in the foreground.

The southern face of the Cordillera Central under rain cloud, photographed from Juana Díaz, not Villalba, with green foothills and a town in the foreground. Photo: Ligocsicnarf89 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0.

Villalba lies south of Orocovis, west of Coamo and north-east of Juana Díaz. It covers about 97.6 square kilometres, roughly 37.7 square miles. The 2020 Census recorded 22,093 residents.

This encyclopedia previously gave the area as 92 square kilometres and placed Jayuya to the north and Orocovis to the east. Both were wrong and have been corrected.

Its highest point is Cerro El Bolo, at about 3,527 feet (1,075 metres), inside the Toro Negro State Forest and among the tallest peaks on the island. This encyclopedia previously said Villalba's highest ground was "over 2,800 feet", which understated it by more than 700 feet.

A Young Municipality

Villalba is one of the youngest municipalities in Puerto Rico. The area was settled in the nineteenth century as part of Juana Díaz, and Villalba became a municipality of its own in 1917. Sources give different days in that year for its founding.

This encyclopedia previously described Villalba as a coffee municipality of the nineteenth-century golden age. Villalba did not exist as a municipality then; its land was part of Juana Díaz. The claim has been removed.

Its nicknames include La Ciudad del Gandul, the city of pigeon peas; La Ciudad de los Lagos, the city of lakes; La Ciudad de los Avancinos; and La Ciudad del Cooperativismo, for its tradition of cooperatives.

The Lakes

The Toa Vaca dam and Lago Toa Vaca in Villalba, Puerto Rico, seen from downstream, with the spillway chute at left and hills around the reservoir.

The Toa Vaca dam and Lago Toa Vaca in Villalba, Puerto Rico, seen from downstream, with the spillway chute at left and hills around the reservoir. Photo: USGS / Wikimedia Commons, public domain.

Villalba's reservoirs give it the name la Ciudad de los Lagos. The best known is Lago Toa Vaca, formed by a dam on the Río Toa Vaca and an important source of water for the south of the island.

Watch: Lago/Lake Toa Vaca, Lago Guayabal, Villalba P.R. 4K — MIGUEL RAMOS.

Coffee and Gandules

The concrete intake tower of Lago Toa Vaca in Villalba, seen through a chain-link fence, with green hills behind under cumulus cloud.

The concrete intake tower of Lago Toa Vaca in Villalba, seen through a chain-link fence, with green hills behind under cumulus cloud. Photo: Yarfpr / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Coffee is grown in Villalba's hills alongside gandules, the pigeon peas that give the town one of its names. Coffee here is a crop of the southern slope, below the high ground of Toro Negro.

Watch: El Motor: Coffee and the Heart of Puerto Rico — Library of Congress. A general film about Puerto Rican coffee; it was not filmed in Villalba.

This encyclopedia previously gave Villalba coffee a flavour profile, and said cuppers can tell it apart from other regions. No cupping study was behind either claim, and both have been removed. Origins do not have flavour profiles; individual lots do.

The Dry South

A rocky hill with brown, dry slopes at Collores, Juana Díaz, with scattered houses on the ridges beyond and hazy lowland on the horizon.

A rocky hill with brown, dry slopes at Collores, Juana Díaz, with scattered houses on the ridges beyond and hazy lowland on the horizon. Photo: Steven Isaacson / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0.

The Cordillera Central catches the moist trade winds blowing from the north-east, so the north of the island is wetter and the south drier. Villalba sits on the southern side of that divide, and its lower land has a longer dry season than the northern mountains.

After the Hurricanes

A map of landslides triggered by Hurricane María across Puerto Rico.

A map of landslides triggered by Hurricane María across Puerto Rico. Photo: USGS / Wikimedia Commons, public domain.

This encyclopedia previously said Villalba's position protected its farms from storms coming from the north-east. That does not match the storms that did the damage. Hurricane María made landfall on the south-east coast in 2017, and Hurricane Fiona came ashore on the south-west coast in 2022. The claim has been removed.

Across the island, María destroyed about 80 per cent of mature coffee shrubs, according to the United States Forest Service citing World Coffee Research, and about 85 per cent of the harvest, according to the then Secretary of Agriculture. The two figures measure different things. No figure for Villalba alone has been located.

Visiting

Lago Toa Vaca in Villalba under cumulus cloud, with houses on the green hills across the water and scrub on the near bank.

Lago Toa Vaca in Villalba under cumulus cloud, with houses on the green hills across the water and scrub on the near bank. Photo: Yarfpr / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Lago Toa Vaca and the lookout on the road between Villalba and Orocovis are the easiest places to see the landscape described here. This encyclopedia does not publish opening hours or prices for local businesses; they change without notice.

Key Facts

Villalba lies south of Orocovis, west of Coamo and north-east of Juana Díaz.
Area about 97.6 km² (37.7 sq mi). Population 22,093 in the 2020 Census.
Became a municipality in 1917; before that its land was part of Juana Díaz.
Highest point: Cerro El Bolo, about 3,527 feet, in the Toro Negro State Forest.
Known as La Ciudad del Gandul and La Ciudad de los Lagos.
Lago Toa Vaca is its best-known reservoir.
Coffee is grown in its hills alongside gandules.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Villalba an old coffee town? Its land has grown coffee, but Villalba itself only became a municipality in 1917.

What is Villalba known for? Its reservoirs, especially Lago Toa Vaca, and gandules — pigeon peas.

What is the highest point in Villalba? Cerro El Bolo, about 3,527 feet, in the Toro Negro State Forest.

What does Villalba coffee taste like? No cupping study has been found. This encyclopedia does not publish flavour profiles for places.

How much coffee did Villalba lose to Hurricane María? No Villalba figure has been found. Island-wide, about 80 per cent of mature shrubs were lost.

Sources

United States Census Bureau, 2020 Census — Villalba's population of 22,093 and area of about 97.6 square kilometres.
Standard geographic and municipal references for Villalba — its position relative to Orocovis, Coamo and Juana Díaz; its founding in 1917 from land that was part of Juana Díaz; and its nicknames.
Standard geographic references for Cerro El Bolo — about 1,075 metres, 3,527 feet, in the Toro Negro State Forest.
United States Forest Service, citing World Coffee Research — the loss of about 80 per cent of mature coffee shrubs to Hurricane María.
Carlos Flores Ortega, then Secretary of Agriculture of Puerto Rico — the loss of about 85 per cent of the coffee harvest.
Miguel Ramos, "Lago/Lake Toa Vaca, Lago Guayabal, Villalba P.R. 4K" — embedded above.
Library of Congress, "El Motor: Coffee and the Heart of Puerto Rico" — embedded above.

Claims this encyclopedia could not source

A flavour profile for Villalba coffee, and the claim that cuppers can tell it apart.
That Villalba was a coffee municipality of the nineteenth-century golden age. It became a municipality in 1917.
That Villalba's position protects it from north-eastern storms. The damaging storms came from the south-east and south-west.
The exact day in 1917 when Villalba was founded. Sources give different dates.
Coffee losses in Villalba specifically after Hurricane María.

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