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Let's Go2Mazatlan - Articles Mazatlán's Historic Center - Part II What is it that attracts so many tourists to places like Paris, Prague, Venice, Rome and Madrid among others in Europe? We could surely make an almost endless list of them; however, the dominating fact is the desire to be in direct contact with the various samples of their glorious past. To the vast majority, especially those of us over forty, there is an authentic interest in getting acquainted and being in contact with the origins and roots of the places we visit. Venturing into its discovery, step by step, may be by itself the greatest, most fascinating and unforgettable experience of our trip. There is nothing more exciting than discovering what a townsfolk and their leading figures have had to face, the decisions they had to make to contribute to their present greatness and attraction. A destination’s history is what treasures its essence, and when you are faced with a destination willing to show and share it, the least you can do is take advantage of this opportunity to get acquainted with it. Mazatlán is the only destination in Mexico’s Pacific Coast with a clear and vibrant display of their life promoted as a touristic attraction, its “Centro Histórico”, a historic center that by itself, on many occasions has been the determinant factor for some travelers who through the knowledge of its history and cultural samples of this wonderful port, in deciding to invest and turning this city into their new home or place for retirement.
Here we continue to brief you on the other buildings and places, which, according to the data from Mazatlán’s City Hall, form its magnificent historic center:
• Belmar Hotel Building The history of the Belmar hotel goes back to the twenties and although it does not cover the period of greatness of other buildings in the historic center of Mazatlán, it has the In times when no one could imagine that Mazatlán would become a first-class tourism destination, north-american miner and investor Louis Bradbury, main stockholder of the Compañía Minera del Tajo (del Tajo Mining Company), embarked on the duty of building the Hotel Belmar. On some of its walls you can still admire vestiges of what was a magnificent lobby with hand-painted tiles. The hotel was a favorite of prestigious Hollywood artists like John Wayne, Robert Mitchum, Tyrone Power, Bing Crosby, Robert Taylor and Rita Hayworth, who enjoyed fishing in the bountiful waters of the port. One of the most famous events that ever happened in this hotel was the murder of state governor Colonel Rodolfo T. Loaiza, at the hands of “el gitano” (the Gypsy). The owner lived in the hotel, where he kept his offices and the Tajo Mining Company’s warehouses. On the upper part of the front of the building the family’s coat of arms and the imposing access gates are worthy of admiration. On the second story the balconies covered with yellow lacquered tile stand out. Beyond the gate, at the end, what is now a large garage was an enormous warehouse where huge quantities of gold and silver bars were kept waiting to be shipped to San Francisco, California. During the Second World War the place was also home to Mexico’s Ex-President Lázaro Cárdenas del Río, while he performed his duties as chief of military operations on the Mexican Pacific Coast.
• Portales de Canobbio (Canobbio Arcade)
In his times, Don Benito Machado gave shelter here to a group of Japanese sailors whose ship had sunk in the year of 1842, instead of being greeted with joy, they were incarcerated and tortured upon their return to Japan for having violated the law that forbade them to have any contact with foreigners. During another period the building belonged to a commercial firm called Jecker, Torre & Company, who in 1852 sold it to Mrs. Tomasa Osuna. Its construction was completed in stages, and upon careful observation, you can tell how, with the passing of time, areas were added to the building as it grew. Not until 1880 the additions ceased and the building appeared as it is kept to date. The building also housed other very popular businesses as: "El Portal de la Lonja", for a long time the only place authorized to sell shoes, and in 1897 the Banco de Londres y México (London-Mexico Bank). This property in 1899 as part of a will, becomes part of the patrimony of Don Luis Canobbio, an individual of Italian origin, he in turn established a pharmacy there called “La Italiana”, it was, for many years, the largest and best equipped one in Mazatlán. It is presently undergoing a process of total refurbishment as part of a restoration program aimed at improving and making the historic center more attractive.
• The Loubet Residence This regal mansion located on the old Arsenal Street (now named Venustiano Carranza), belonged to engineer Alejandro Loubet, who was the most important promoter of industry of his time. Engineer Loubet established in Mazatlán in the year of 1882, he immediately became known as the enterprising person you could trust blindly. Mr. Francisco Echeguren, one of the richest men in the city, invited him to an association and together they created the Fundición de Sinaloa (Sinaloa Smelting). Later, as a result of the tragic death of Mr. Vicente Ferreira, with the sinking of the steamship Sonora, engineer Loubet, buys the ownership of Fundición Mazatlán (Mazatlán Smelting) from the widow Doña Carlota Hidalgo, to therefore constitute and consolidate their enterprise as the largest smelting company in the country. One of the most important works performed by engineer Loubet, was the Romero Rubio Market ―now Mercado Municipal Pino Suárez (Pino Suárez Municipal Market), which was inaugurated on May 5, 1899 and is considered one of the best representative samples of Art Nouveau construction style and is still in operation. Engineer Loubet had learned the techniques used in the construction of the Eiffel Tower, which he applied to the construction of the market.
• Club Alemán [German Club Building]
Another club that also functioned there was the Círculo Comercial Benito Juárez (Benito Juárez Commercial Circle) that opened its doors in 1920 and closed them in 1960. The building is also famous for being the place where the grandest carnival dances took place and where club associates met to play poker; some of them losing huge family fortunes. For a long time the ground level housed the Pastelería Alemana (German Bakery). It was also there that the Italian restaurant “La Concordia” operated, as well as the Singer Company that during 1928 flirted with the possibility of installing a sowing machines factory in the port. The ground level also housed the “Universal” drugstore, which advertised selling only medications of the highest purity and quality, as well as being the depository of the most accredited French, English and German patents and specialties. Today the ground floor works as one of the most visited restaurants of the historic center, named “Pedro y Lola”, honoring famous Mexican singers Lola Beltrán and Pedro Infante.
• Los Redo Mansion Located on the old Calle del Oro, now Sixto Osuna Street; we are dealing with an old single-story mansion that originally was the customs office. It was later totally rebuilt by the prominent merchant, investor and politician Don Joaquín Redo, a very successful man who was elected lifetime senator for the State of Sinaloa during the regime of President Porfirio Díaz. During the time the property was inhabited by the Redo family it was considered the most luxuriously furnished house in the city; innumerable Victorian and Louis XV fixtures; French candelabra; exquisite gold and silver workmanship; pictures and oils with countryside scenes and featuring family members painted by renowned artists; Chinese folding screens, Japanese vases, Austrian porcelains or china, and all that that could be a symbol of opulence. The mansion had numerous halls, an expansive library and an exquisite garden of Moorish influence with a monumental limestone fountain at its center. The Redos were always a very prominent family, even one of Don Joaquín’s sons, Diego Redo, was state governor until he was forced to resign by the revolutionaries. From then on the family abandoned the state of Sinaloa to take refuge in Mexico City. This building presently houses the Club Muralla, one of the oldest and most popular social clubs in the city.
• The House of Kelly, Holdernes & Beaven The Principal Street area - now named Belisario Domínguez - was one of the favorite places to live in the beginnings of the Port of Mazatlán, this was mainly due to the height of the land, far from the many lagoons that covered and bordered most of the town. This area was also the closest to the only existing church; therefore it was the first area to be urbanized. There is a superb and well kept building in this area, built in 1860 per the orders of Mr. Eduardo Beaven, a pharmacist and owner of the renowned “Botica Americana” (American Pharmacy). It originally was a single-level building. Later, in 1990 it landed in the hands of Mr. Holdernes, a miner of English origin who in 1904 added a second floor to it. This explains the evident difference of styles between the two floors. Although it is a single building, it holds two independent abodes with separate entrances. Its balconies, spacious interior halls and its large grilled-windows and beautiful cornices are worthy of admiration. The house has been inhabited by the descendants of Mr. Kelly for over 60 years and they have kept it in very good conditions.
• Edificio de La Casa Melchers (Melchers House) The prestigious Casa Melchers operated within this building located on the corner of Constitución and Venus Streets until 1929, it was a German company that established here originally in 1846 as “Melchers Sucesores”, not an easily forgotten date, as a year after it opened its doors Mazatlán was invaded by American marine troops as a consequence of the war for Texas. That company was one of the most important department stores in town, its power and influence opened doors to new branches in the most important cities of the Mexican northwest. The Casa Melchers was the exclusive distributor of the famous German beer Hackerbrau, the steel products of the prestigious Krupp company ―charged with making the war weapons of the imperial German and Hitler’s armies ―; they also represented the California Vigorit Powder Co., the largest gunpowder producer of the times; they were also agents of the Hamburgo Bremesa and the Anglo North British Mercantile Ltd. insurance companies, who would eventually merge with the famous Lloyd's of London. You could find practically all you wanted at Casa Melchers. Their catalog consisted of sixty pages of the most refined items to satisfy the most demanding buyer. After declaring bankruptcy in 1929, at the beginning of the great depression ― a situation everyone doubted would happen ― the lower part of the building became a sugar warehouse, it later burned - in 1942 - causing a costly and almost irreparable damage to its spacious halls. After this catastrophe the building was used for a period of time as an assembling plant for the famous trucks Diamond T, very popular throughout the state of Sinaloa, as among its conversions they could be adapted into open passenger transport vehicles. Here the imposing White trucks were also assembled. There has always been speculation about whether the most important commercial firms in this part of the city were interconnected by tunnels that would allow them to move smuggled merchandises from one warehouse to the other. The existence of these tunnels has never been duly confirmed, all that has been discovered are a series of huge and not well concealed basements. This two-story property had two living quarters in its upper part with independent accesses. One through Venus Street and the other through Constitución Street. The associate-manager resided in one of them – which was quite common in the mercantile businesses of the time –and the other was the home of the German young men brought over to work for the company.
• Casa de Los Hass (Hass House) This two-story house located on Heriberto Frías Street is probably the oldest one to still be occupied by the descendants of the original owner. The house was built by Mr. Guillermo Haas, the son of Agustín Haas, a prosperous Prussian immigrant from the city of Eberfeld. With the support and connections of his father, Don Agustín; Guillermo succeeds as a wealthy merchant and industrialist; he even got to be known as “The Sugar Baron”. The construction of the house was completed by 1890 and what makes it different from other constructions of the era is its small interior garden located in one of the corners of the property, it can be observed through the windows facing the street. During the religious conflict of 1929, when religious services were suspended and churches closed on orders of then President of Mexico General Plutarco Elías Calles; Sunday masses continued to be celebrated secretly in a room customized to that effect on the second floor of the house. To justify before the authorities the gathering of those crowds in their property, Mrs. Haas faked being sick for several years. The house is currently inhabited by Mr. Antonio Haas, a renowned writer, art critic and editorialist. Its interior still treasures a collection of antique European furniture, porcelains and paintings of an unfathomable value.
• Edificio de Los Medrano (Medrano Building) This building has been owned by the Medrano family from the beginning of year 1900. It is presently empty and its upkeep is far from optimal; this due mainly to the collapsing of roofs held by wood beams upon a time when restoration works were started. In their disappointment the owners quit the restoration. Even the masonry railings were lost in the works and were substituted by plain cement banisters. The architectural style of the building is very sober and characterized by the absence of exterior ornaments. There is only an oversized gate and grilled windows framed by decorative views, quite simple and beautiful at the same time. As all the mansions of its time, the main entrance is located on the corner, on old Ceres Street. The monumental windows of its upper part indicate this is where this residence’s main halls are located. All along the upper floor there are balconies protected by stylized bars leading us to judge the building must have been built around 1870. Email to a friend The Historic Center Tour Continues... Let’s Go2Mazatlan News More articles about Mazatlan:
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In Mexico nothing compares to the feeling you experiment while you stroll through Mazatlán’s historic center. The area’s charm is the result of the architecture of its buildings, the detail in its forged iron gates, windows and balconies; the vibrating colors of its façades; the clean and narrow streets that house them; the sky sheltering them; the sea caressing them with its breeze; the trees, the plants and flowers embellishing them; the songs of birds flying above and much more.. Always speaking of the hearts of its inhabitants, sharing the wealth of Mazatlán through the ages, showing its main features to the whole world through its historic center.
undisputed merit of being the city’s oldest hotel, still operating at the beginning of the XXI century. This, in addition to the wealth of history it represents to many of Mazatlán’s inhabitants, is enough to consider it part of the historic center.
This building gets its name for its side portal facing the Plazuela Machado, and for the name of the family that has owned it for over 100 years. It was originally built by Don Benito Machado, who had a very large store in that place. 
It is located at the corner of Carnaval and Constitución, during 1830 the first hospital of the city was established there. The building as we now it nowadays was built in 1860 at the initiative of the Spanish merchant, Don Pedro Echeguren. During many years the most important social centers of the port functioned on its second floor. One of them was the Union Club, or German Club, that in 1861 and for over fifty years housed the lavish festivities of the large German community. It is said this was the favorite club of poet Amado Nervo. 
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