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Let's Go2Mazatlan - Articles Mazatlan Historic Center - Part V
Among the sceneries that better distinguish some specific Mexican times, that of Mazatlán’s Historic Center is definitely one that stands out the most, to a degree that even when it does not display its splendor as forecasted for when its main buildings are restored; every year it seduces and captures the attention of more and more international travelers seriously interested in the artistic, architectural and cultural phases of this marvelous destination known as Mazatlan.
Historians explain that neo-classic architecture was some sort of a reaction against the latest, well-exaggerated forms of baroque and rococo as well as against the European aristocratic classes that maintained them. Following the initiative of notable and prestigious citizens, supported by the government of the State of Sinaloa, with the reconstruction of the Angela Peralta Theater, the rebirth of Mazatlán’s Historic Center began in 1992. The Escuela Municipal de Arte de Mazatlan (Mazatlán’s Municipal Art School) was built next to the theater, thus enabling a great new dynamic in the city center. The warm people of Mazatlan (or Mazatlecos) rediscovered the impressing beauty of their city’s downtown area, recognizing it at the most significant legate of great men and women who, driven by an unbreakable desire of betterment and to form a society that stood out for their deliverance to achieve the commitment of raising their quality of life, dedicated themselves to found and build a space of prosperity, full of life and color, that today soars attracting unimaginably rich opportunities of growth and development, without losing, of course its vibrant and original essence. Continuing with our tour… • Madero Family Building A two-story building, located on the Paseo Olas Altas, is presently only half as big as its original size. It was built on 1870 by the English merchant John Kelly, who was also his country’s consulate in the Port of Mazatlan. This diplomat came to give shine to the history of the city, having almost caused a serious armed conflict. According to historic chronicles, in June 1872, after a harsh dispute with the captain of an English army vessel, who demanded the consulate’s payment of import taxes of presumably smuggled merchandise, the building’s ownership was turned over to the family of Don José H. Rico, who acquired it from the Banco de Londres y México, through a keen maneuver of financing engineering that would leave the present financial wizards of Wall Street speechless. Although the building lost lots of its architectural grandeur upon the demolition of half of its original extension ―back in times when there were no restrictions protecting this kind of constructions―, it still continues to be one of the best kept buildings. One of its peculiarities is being one of the XIX century buildings whose balconies are made out of wood and its roof’s cornice having small simple ornamentations though well-proportioned and elegant. • Building of the Díaz de León
On Vigía Street, later named Guelatao, now bearing the name of Angel Flores; is where the Díaz de León family building is located. This expansive mansion extends from the corner of Tacaba Street ―now Heriberto Frías― to Carnaval Street, which was built by Don Antonio Díaz de León, an original of the State of Zacatecas, who settled in Mazatlán in the year of 1869. The building’s top floor was used as the family residence and the lower floor housed the factory “El Vapor” for the whole length of the block, where exquisite, delicious and aromatic cigars were made for renowned brands such as: Mañana, El Velo, Clarissa, América, Europa and Wilhelm II. The factory’s production was sent to various parts of the country as well as to the United States, employing a staff of two-hundred men, most of them coming from other regions, as there were no people trained for this kind of labor in the city. The need for this type of workers was such that Mr. Díaz de León had to bring them from the tobacco producing regions of Nayarit and Colima, this situation made many of the families of the City of Mazatlan have their origins elsewhere in the Mexican Republic. Apart from the cigar factory the Díaz de León family operated a factory named Flor del Pacifico (Pacific Flower, 1894) which produced three hundred kilos (about 660 pounds) of exquisite chocolates daily, under the wise gaze of an expert citizen of Suiss origin. Adjoining this enterprise there was a company dedicated to the production of pasta with modern steam-powered machinery and special flour imported from San Francisco, California. Procedures and methods used by the most famous pasta producing houses of Italy were meticulously followed (1896). Several commercial businesses operate presently within this facility, one of them, ”La Palma” a library and stationery store is the oldest, it belonged to the Barceló family and was the most recognized and well stocked stationery shop in the port from 1925 until the fifties. • House of the Gómez Rubio This magnificent and welcoming house, property of the Gómez Rubio family, located on Belisario Domínguez Street, was built on 1913; a most significant date, as it marks the end of an era of grandeur that will never ever return. It was on 1914 that the City of Mazatlan began to lose its commercial and financial predominance in Mexico’s north-east at a blinding pace. The revolution, although it intended to end injustice and poverty, as it turned out it implacably paralyzed the course of all economic activity. The Gómez Rubio family recounts that after Mazatlan having been under siege for several months, the revolutionary forces, at the departure of the federal armies, entered the city and the first thing they did was to requisition their house to serve as lodging quarters for the victorious officers, though the sad and heart gripping part was not the takeover of the property but its pillaging and ransacking the property suffered. The residence ―thanks to the family’s great concern and efforts― is still kept in an excellent state of conservation. The craftsmanship of the grill covering and embellishing the now incomplete terrace as well as the beauty of the wrought-iron banisters that came from a state foundry. • House of the Ferreira
This building located on the old street of Arsenal, now named Venustiano Carranza, it is really two houses, one of them featuring two stories. The ground-floor facilities were built by the rich industrialist Vicente Ferreira in the year of 1870, and the upper floor of one of the residences was used by his son-in-law, Mr. Friedrich Von Unger in1901. Mr. Ferreira did not have the joy of long-inhabiting the house he built with so much foresight as he died in the mysterious sinking of the ship Sonora. During the 1914 revolution, the reunions held among high-ranking American, French, English and German officers, with the purpose of protecting and evacuating their nationals, were held at this residence. • The House of the Retes or the Evening Postal Building
On the corner of the streets Constitución and Carnaval, you can still see the remains of what was an expansive single-story building that belonged to the Retes family. The building was constructed on 1830, and in its beginnings the commercial house of German citizen Don Julio Lomer operated there. The Melchers brothers worked there originally, to later form their own store. But it was not until 1861 that Mr. Retes decided to establish an Editorial House, a book and stationary store. There is a historical registry determining it as the oldest print-shop in the State of Sinaloa. This enterprise printed an unaccounted number of books, magazines, brochures and flyers, nevertheless, their most remarkable achievement was to have edited ―under the watchful gaze of Mr. Miguel Retes―, the prestigious journal "El Correo de la Tarde" (The Evening Courier) was constituted as the official spokesperson of the city’s entrepreneurs and in a short term it was recognized as the main and most influential journal of the country’s west.
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![Mazatlan ]Historic](images/mazatlanhistorico_1.jpg)
In the streets of its Historic Center, the neo-classic architecture stands out as a beautiful indicator of its doubtless European influence, which during an era of great commercial activity, contributed to the spectacular growth and of the port embellishing the life of its inhabitants.![Mazatlan ]Historic](images/mazatlanhistorico_deleon.jpg)
![Mazatlan ]Historic](images/mazatlanhistorico_ferreira.jpg)
![Mazatlan ]Historic](images/mazatlanhistorico_2.jpg)
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