Cerralvo
Encyclopedia
Cerralvo is a municipality situated in the Mexican
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

 state of Nuevo León
Nuevo León
Nuevo León It is located in Northeastern Mexico. It is bordered by the states of Tamaulipas to the north and east, San Luis Potosí to the south, and Coahuila to the west. To the north, Nuevo León has a 15 kilometer stretch of the U.S.-Mexico border adjacent to the U.S...

. Cerralvo is located in the northeastern region of Nuevo León, in the Gulf Coastal Plain
Gulf Coastal Plain
The Gulf Coastal Plain extends around the Gulf of Mexico in the Southern United States and eastern Mexico.The plain reaches from the western Florida Panhandle, the southwestern two thirds of Alabama, over most of Mississippi, some of western Tennessee and Kentucky, southwest Arkansas, the Florida...

 and in the northeastern agricultural and ranching economic zone that also includes the municipalities of Agualeguas
Agualeguas
Agualeguas is both a city and a municipality located in the northeastern part of the state of Nuevo León, Mexico, . The name "Agualeguas" honors the first inhabitants of the region, the Gualegua tribe. It was erected as a village on January 7, 1821 by Bro. Diego Velázquez.The municipality has an...

, General Treviño
General Treviño
The municipality of General Treviño originated from a ranch named “El Puntiagudo” that was given to Don Juan Baptista Chapa, 14 January 1688. Don Francisco Chapa made the foundation in 1705. Its erection in the villa was verified the 9th of December 1868, being Governor of the State again Leon,...

, Melchor Ocampo
Melchor Ocampo, Nuevo León
Melchor Ocampo is a municipality located in the Mexican state of Nuevo León. It is named after Don Melchor Ocampo, who was Foreign Minister during the government of Benito Juárez.-Location:...

, and Parás
Paras
Paras is a 1971 Hindi film starring: Sanjeev Kumar, Rakee, Mehmood, Farida Jalal, Shatrughan Sinha, Madan Puri....

.
It borders the municipality of Agualeguas
Agualeguas
Agualeguas is both a city and a municipality located in the northeastern part of the state of Nuevo León, Mexico, . The name "Agualeguas" honors the first inhabitants of the region, the Gualegua tribe. It was erected as a village on January 7, 1821 by Bro. Diego Velázquez.The municipality has an...

 to the north, the municipality of Higueras
Higueras, Nuevo León
Higueras is a municipality in Nuevo León, Mexico. It has an area of 600.2 square kilometers. It is bordered on the north by Sabinas Hidalgo and Salinas Victoria, on the south by Doctor González y Marín, to the east by Agualeguas and Cerralvo, and to the west by General Zuazua and Cienega de...

 to the west, the municipality of Doctor González to the southwest, the municipality of Los Ramones
Los Ramones
Los Ramones is the name of a municipality and its corresponding seat of government and main population center in Mexican state of Nuevo Leon.-Location:...

 to the south, and the municipalities of Los Herreras
Los Herreras
Los Herrera is a municipality in the Mexican State of Nuevo León and also the name of its seat of government and main population center. Los Herreras is at 281 meters above sea level and is located in the east-central part of the state...

, Melchor Ocampo
Melchor Ocampo, Nuevo León
Melchor Ocampo is a municipality located in the Mexican state of Nuevo León. It is named after Don Melchor Ocampo, who was Foreign Minister during the government of Benito Juárez.-Location:...

, and General Treviño
General Treviño
The municipality of General Treviño originated from a ranch named “El Puntiagudo” that was given to Don Juan Baptista Chapa, 14 January 1688. Don Francisco Chapa made the foundation in 1705. Its erection in the villa was verified the 9th of December 1868, being Governor of the State again Leon,...

 to the east.

The municipal seat of Cerralvo, Ciudad Cerralvo, is located at 26° 5' N, 99° 36' W, and is 345 meters above sea level.

History

In 1577, José Luis Carvajal y de la Cueva founded the village of Saltillo
Saltillo
Saltillo is the capital city of the northeastern Mexican state of Coahuila and the municipal seat of the municipality of the same name. The city is located about 400 km south of the U.S. state of Texas, and 90 km west of Monterrey, Nuevo León....

; in the same year, he also founded Santa Lucía, now called Monterrey
Monterrey
Monterrey , is the capital city of the northeastern state of Nuevo León in the country of Mexico. The city is anchor to the third-largest metropolitan area in Mexico and is ranked as the ninth-largest city in the nation. Monterrey serves as a commercial center in the north of the country and is the...

, and discovered the mines of San Gregorio, located in what is now called Cerralvo. On May 31, 1579, Luis Carvajal signed an agreement with King Philip II
Philip II of Spain
Philip II was King of Spain, Portugal, Naples, Sicily, and, while married to Mary I, King of England and Ireland. He was lord of the Seventeen Provinces from 1556 until 1581, holding various titles for the individual territories such as duke or count....

 of Spain to pacify the region and to establish the state of Nuevo León
Nuevo León
Nuevo León It is located in Northeastern Mexico. It is bordered by the states of Tamaulipas to the north and east, San Luis Potosí to the south, and Coahuila to the west. To the north, Nuevo León has a 15 kilometer stretch of the U.S.-Mexico border adjacent to the U.S...

; the contract authorized him to do this in an area that did not exceed 200 leagues on a side.

The first Spanish settlement in Nuevo León took place in 1582 in Cerralvo, which thus included the first capital of the state. In 1630, this settlement was renamed Villa de San Gregorio de Cerralvo, after the fifteenth Viceroy of New Spain
New Spain
New Spain, formally called the Viceroyalty of New Spain , was a viceroyalty of the Spanish colonial empire, comprising primarily territories in what was known then as 'América Septentrional' or North America. Its capital was Mexico City, formerly Tenochtitlan, capital of the Aztec Empire...

, Rodrigo Pacheco y Osorio, marqués de Cerralvo
Rodrigo Pacheco y Osorio, marqués de Cerralvo
Don Rodrigo Pacheco y Osorio de Toledo, 3rd Marquis of Cerralvo was a Spanish nobleman, inquisitor of Valladolid, and viceroy of New Spain. He held the latter position from November 3, 1624 to September 16, 1635.-Early career and appointment as viceroy of New Spain:Rodrigo Pacheco y Osorio was...

.

The municipality was settled in order to exploit mineral resources, including lead, and to sell Indians to the Spanish.

Cerralvo is home to the national park El Sabinal, which, with an area of 8 hectare
Hectare
The hectare is a metric unit of area defined as 10,000 square metres , and primarily used in the measurement of land. In 1795, when the metric system was introduced, the are was defined as being 100 square metres and the hectare was thus 100 ares or 1/100 km2...

s, is the smallest national park in Mexico.

Timeline

  • 1577—José Luis Carvajal y de la Cueva discovers the mines of San Gregorio (Cerralvo).
  • 1582—First Spanish settlement in Nuevo León is founded in Cerralvo.
  • 1630—Settlement receives the name of Villa de San Gregorio de Cerralvo.
  • 1949—Gruma
    Gruma
    Gruma is the largest manufacturer of corn flour and tortillas in the world. Its brand names include Mission , Maseca, and Guerrero. Founded in 1949 as "Molinos Azteca, S.A.", the company is now based in Monterrey, Mexico and has subsidiaries in the United States, China, England, Central America,...

    is founded as Molinos Azteca, SA, in Cerralvo.

External links

  • Cerralvo, official government web site.
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