History

Monterrey was officially founded in 1596 and has stood strong with its development, leadership, and strength to face adversities throughout its history.

The first settlers who inhabited the region were indigenous groups. The most important were the "Chichimecas", who lived in tribes in northeastern Mexico. They were regarded as barbarians, and information from historians’ mention that the indigenous groups in the region had a culture of twelve thousand years old.

The city of Monterrey was founded in two attempts before the definitive. The first formal foundation dates back to 1577 when Alberto del Canto established the village of Santa Lucia, which did not have success in its mission due to various causes. The second attempt was led by Luis Carvajal de la Cueva. He founded the town of San Luis Rey in 1582. This second effort failed when the Holy Inquisition took Carvajal prisoner. The neighbors began to migrate to the town of Saltillo and other safe places in order to be protected from the indigenous attacks.

The third and final foundation was led by Diego de Montemayor on September 20th 1596. The city was born under the name of "Ciudad Metropolitana de Nuestra Señora de Monterrey". The city could have been instituted in accordance with the traditions of the colonizers. For example, as "Villa de Monterrey" or "City of Monterrey¨. From this we can see the great vision of Don Diego de Montemayor, who put the word "Metropolitan" into the foundation act. Not a very common nomination for that era.

Once the city was formally established, the economy of Monterrey's community was based on mining, ranching, agriculture and trade. Regarding the social aspect, the population grew little and suffered from epidemics, such as smallpox in 1798, among others diseases that affected a faster development.

The floods were another problem that the city endured in a very intense way. With the frequent flooding of the Santa Catarina River in 1612, the city had to be moved to the highest place in the south. Other major floods occurred by the same river in 1636, 1648, 1716, 1752, 1782, 1810, 1909, 1938, 1967 and the "Hurricane Gilbert, September 1988, perhaps the most remembered by the actual generation which were born in the XX Century. Currently, this colossal symbol of Monterrey the Santa Catarina River has been dominated by works of modern engineering to fix the channels and flows at times of rain.

During the nineteenth century, Monterrey began to take the position of one of the country’s major cities. Important events from national to international origin put Monterrey in the position to play a key role in the events that shaped part of Mexico’s history. Such is the case for the Independence of Mexico, the anarchy era, the war with the United States, the War of the Reform, and the War due to the French invasion of the country, just to mention of few of the events that have marked our history.

On September 1846 the city of Monterrey fell into the hands of the military forces of the U.S. In that occasion for some time the public buildings waved the flag of the United States. Later, with the change of borders after the war with the United States, Monterrey found itself with a closer proximity to the US border. This brought many benefits in the development of the city.

During the government of Bernardo Reyes, Monterrey became a strongly industrialized city developing a major economic boost. One of the government initiatives in order to attract foreign investment was a tax exemption for new industries for up to twenty years.

Once into the twentieth century, the Mexican Revolution seriously affected the way of life and economic growth of the "Regiomontanos", the name given to the citizens living in this city.
Many factories closed during the conflict, but later reopened its doors at the end of the civil war.
During the twentieth century Monterrey was consolidated as the capital of industry and services.

Recall that the second phase of industrialization in Mexico occurred during the forties and fifties. Later in the seventies, the population increased greatly because of the continuing migration from rural areas and other cities in Mexico to Monterrey. This was due to job and education opportunities that the city offered.

For more information visit the cultural department Website: (Spanish Only Version).