Hacienda Lealtad

Hacienda Lealtad
Hacienda Lealtad renovated structures
La Torre barrio
Town/City	La Torre, Lares, Puerto Rico
Coordinates	18°14′00″N 66°53′03″W / 18.2332883°N 66.8840655°W / 18.2332883; -66.8840655[1]
Established	1830
Owner	Edwin Noel Soto Ruiz
Area	600 cuerdas (582.73 acres)
Produces	Coffee
Status	Operating as museum, hotel, agrotourism; open to the public, tours by reservation

Hacienda Lealtad (IPA: [ˌsjẽn̪.d̪a le.al̪ˈt̪að̞]; also known as Hacienda La Lealtad,^[2] (IPA: [aˌsjẽn̪.d̪a la le.al̪ˈt̪að̞]) and once known as Hacienda la Esperanza (IPA: [aˌsjẽn̪.d̪a la es.peˈɾãn.sa]) is a historic coffee plantation in barrio La Torre, Lares, Puerto Rico. A large hacienda, it was founded in 1830, by Juan Bautista Plumey, a French immigrant, who arrived in Puerto Rico with enslaved people. (Juan Bautista Plumey was born in France on September 8, 1797, and named Jean Baptiste Henri Plumey.)^[3]

It would become the largest coffee plantation in Lares, with over thirty slaves and hundreds of day laborers working the 69 cuerdas of coffee farm. For many years the plantation was a large producer and exporter of coffee. Day laborers, jornaleros or braceros from Lares worked in the coffee fields of the hacienda. In 1880, it was owned by Miguel Marquez Enseñat.

It is now owned by Edwin Soto and his family, who invested millions into its restoration and operate the hacienda as a hotel, coffee shop and a living museum recreating the historical setting of the height of coffee production in Puerto Rico. Coffee growing in Puerto Rico has seen a resurgence and Hacienda Lealtad produces coffee under the brand Café Lealtad. The Café Bistro Hacienda Lealtad on Puerto Rico Highway 128 kilometer 55.8, is where groups meet for the start of their tour of the 19th century coffee plantation.