Nogales is a city in the mountainous western region of the Mexican

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

Veracruz Veracruz (), formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave), is one of the 31 states which, along with Me ...

. It serves as the municipal seat for the surrounding municipality of Nogales. It is situated at , at an altitude of 1280 m. In the 2005 INEGI Census, the city reported a total population of 21,113. The name "Nogales" is the Spanish for walnut trees.

History

This part of the future state of Veracruz was brought under

Aztec The Aztecs () were a Mesoamerican culture that flourished in central Mexico in the post-classic period from 1300 to 1521. The Aztec people included different ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl ...

sway in or around 1450 under Emperor

Moctezuma I Moctezuma I (–1469), also known as Moteuczomatzin Ilhuicamina (), Huehuemoteuczoma or Montezuma I ( nci, Motēuczōma Ilhuicamīna , nci, Huēhuemotēuczōma ), was the second Aztec emperor and fifth king of Tenochtitlan. During his reign, th ...

lhuicamina. Following the

Spanish conquest of Mexico The Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, also known as the Conquest of Mexico or the Spanish-Aztec War (1519–21), was one of the primary events in the Spanish colonization of the Americas. There are multiple 16th-century narratives of the eve ...

, the area was awarded to the conquistador Ojeda el Tuerto. Ojeda introduced

sugar cane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of (often hybrid) tall, perennial grass (in the genus '' Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fibrous stalk ...

into the area, and the San Juan Bautista Nogales sugar mill – one of the earliest, if not the very first on the American continent – was later established there. In 1627,

Rodrigo de Vivero y Aberrucia Rodrigo de Vivero y Aberrucia, 1st Count of Valle de Orizaba ( es, Rodrigo de Vivero y Aberrucia, primer conde del valle de Orizaba) ( Tecamachalco?, New Spain, 1564–1636) was a Spanish noble who served as the 13th governor and captain-gener ...

, owner of the sugar mill at the time, was named the First Count of the Valley of Orizaba by

Philip III of Spain Philip III ( es, Felipe III; 14 April 1578 – 31 March 1621) was King of Spain. As Philip II, he was also King of Portugal, Naples, Sicily and Sardinia and Duke of Milan from 1598 until his death in 1621. A member of the House of Habsburg, Phi ...

. On 27 October 1812, during the

War of Independence This is a list of wars of independence (also called liberation wars). These wars may or may not have been successful in achieving a goal of independence. List See also * Lists of active separatist movements * List of civil wars * List o ...

, the sugar mill was taken by surprise by General

José María Morelos José María Teclo Morelos Pérez y Pavón () (30 September 1765 – 22 December 1815) was a Mexican Catholic priest, statesman and military leader who led the Mexican War of Independence movement, assuming its leadership after the execution of ...

, who used it as a staging post for his attack on the royalist forces in

Orizaba Orizaba () is a city and municipality in the Mexican state of Veracruz. It is located 20 km west of its sister city Córdoba, and is adjacent to Río Blanco and Ixtaczoquitlán, on Federal Highways 180 and 190. The city had a 2005 census ...

the next day. On 14 June 1862, with the invading

French army The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (french: Armée de Terre, ), is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces. It is responsible to the Government of France, along with the other components of the Armed Force ...

stationed in Orizaba, General

Ignacio Zaragoza Ignacio Zaragoza Seguín (; March 24, 1829September 8, 1862) was a Mexican general and politician. He led the Mexican army of 600 men that defeated 6,500 invading French forces, including the elite French legionnaires at the Battle of Puebla ...

set up his headquarters in Nogales. On 7 January 1907, in the years of tension leading up to the Mexican Revolution, Nogales textile workers protesting their treatment by French textile-mill owners were massacred by the federal troops of President Porfirio Díaz. In 1910, Nogales was awarded the status of a town (''villa'') and, in 1971, city status (''ciudad'').

Notable local people

Heriberto Jara Corona General Heriberto Jara Corona (July 10, 1879 – April 17, 1968) was a Mexican revolutionary and politician who served as Governor of Veracruz. Heriberto Jara was born in the town of Nogales, in the state of Veracruz, to Emilio Jara Andrade ...

(1879–1968),

Governor of Veracruz The governor, according to the Political Constitution of the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave in Mexico, the Executive Power is invested in one individual, called "''Constitutional Governor of the Free and Sovereign Sta ...

from 1924 to 1927, recipient of the Senate's

Belisario Domínguez Medal ''Belisario'' (''Belisarius'') is a ''tragedia lirica'' (tragic opera) in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. Salvadore Cammarano wrote the Italian libretto after Luigi Marchionni's adaptation of play, ''Belisarius'', first staged in Munich in 182 ...

References

External links

Municipality of Nogales
{{Authority control Populated places in Veracruz