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There have been several century milestones celebrated in Mazatlán this year
and last, including Carnaval's 101st , the Cathedral, and the Pacifico Brewery.
Recently the city government published a delightful 12 page historical summary
of downtown's Pino Suárez central market, filled with wonderful details
of Mazatlán at the turn of the last century. For those of you who know Mazatlán's
downtown, this synopsis will add more color to the picture and for tourists
just getting ready to take the city tour, it may bring to life a pivotal
feature of our city. Mazatlán at the end of the 19th century was a bustling
port city, with a theatre, and scores of intellectuals and artists as well
as all the regular folk who make up a burgeoning municipality. It was in
the years of President Porfirio Díaz, and peace and plenty reigned. Mazatlán's
city government was called one of the richest in the country! The city already
had piped water, electric lights, and straight streets with sidewalks. There
were even telephones. New docks were being planned for the estuarine port.
A new beer factory had been announced, as well as a big shoe manufacturer.
Rail connection with Tepic was considered imminent. The elite of Mazatlán
saw only signs of a great future and any hint there might have been of coming
economic and social crises were certainly not being entertained! What Mazatlán
did not have was a decent market. In the 1830s the market was held in the
Plaza Zaragoza, which even today is still remembered as the former flower
market, which it became after the food market was removed to an area near
the small San José church above Belisario Domínquez. Then as years went
by, and the city grew away from the hill, merchants erected stalls across
from the new cathedral, backing up to the city hall, (across from the current
post office). Mazatlán's contribution to Mexican culinary history--Asado
a la Plaza-- was born right in that little plaza. This market became a dense
labyrinth of hallways, with each vendor building according to his needs
and with the materials available to him, but mostly of wood and without
any concept of organized planning. Since there was no drainage, the market
became quickly foul and in the rainy season, rivers of filth issued from
it. In July 1895, a new market was proposed to grace the prosperous and
growing city. Touted as a large, clean, safe and well ventilated structure,
needing 4000m2 and costing a mere 90,000 pesos, it was given the go ahead
by city fathers. By November '95, four possible sites were being considered.
One site was the same location of the then market. The location the city
thought best would require buying and razing a block of decrepit houses.
When by March '96, the proposal was going to cost 116,000 pesos and when
in June the owners of the houses were refusing to sell for the anticipated
cheap price, the city turned to the last choice; the Plaza de Toros Carnaval.
At last in October 1896, the contract was signed and the ground was prepared
using an iron cylinder to roll it. The plans were then changed to use iron
instead of wood, like the Eiffel Tower, which had been built only 7 years
earlier. With its Art Nouveau design, iron was introduced as a decorative
material as well as a structural one to a city aspiring to greatness. On
February 5, 1897 the cornerstone was laid with great fanfare and high attendance,
with speeches, fireworks, lots of smoke and music from several bands. Although
it was far from built, the market was already named after Manuel Romero
Rubio, a former minister of government and father in law of President Porfirio
Díaz, a sure sign that Mazatlan's golden years were attributed to "el porfiriato".
A year later in January 1899, the |
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construction was finished, but not the shops inside, for which no design
had been provided. A few anomalies were found and many minute details were
corrected and at last, by May of 99, the new central market was ready to
inaugurate, even though there were no vendors. The structure was impressive
with its elegant design and high ceilings, some counters of marble imported
from the US, others of zinc, tiled floors and electric light fixtures. In
preparation for the festivities, the surrounding streets had their names
changed. Calle del Coco became Porfirio Díaz and is now Aguiles Serdan.
Other heroes like Benito Juárez, Melchor Ocampo and Leandro Valle were memorialized
on signposts. The Iron Palace was ready and on May 5th, 1899 it was inaugurated.
It took until December to organize renting out the spaces, but once available,
they were all taken within days. Then a plan was formulated to move the
vendors in an orderly fashion. Once the electricity was connected in late
January, each group of vendors was given a specific few hours over the weekend
to settle into their new stalls and the old market was cordoned off, pending
a final decision. (Later it was decreed it be burned to the ground.) The
following Monday, following the last of the chicken vendors' predawn move,
it was business as normal in the new market. The new market quickly became
a central market in all regards. It was the place where people met to hear
and share the news as well as to buy provisions for their homes. The description
of the well-dressed vendors with their elaborate hairdos, filigree gold
earrings and colorful outfits, presents a different picture than today's
jeans and shorts. Can you imagine walking through the market with a full
skirt sweeping the floor? Horse drawn carriages pulled up where pulmonias
and busses now stop. The municipality instigated a novel concept of health
checks, requiring vendors to produce monthly certificates showing they had
no "repugnant or contagious disease." It is noted that by 1908, the market's
cleanliness had deteriorated enough to attract the attention of the municipality.
Prisoners were brought in from the correctional facility and made to work,
for free, maintaining the hygiene, until June of 1909 when the market was
hooked up to a new city sewer system. In 1915, following the constitutional
revolution, the market was renamed for Pino Suárez, the vice president of
México, who had come to Mazatlán a few years earlier and who together with
President Madero had been assassinated in 1913. That is the name it still
bears today. In 1917, as Mazatlán continued to grow, more stalls were added
and incorporated to the outside of the building. As time went on, other
markets were erected in outlying neighborhoods, however the central market
has remained very much in the vortex, not only of provisioning, but as a
meeting place as well. In 1951 the streets around the market were paved
and a second floor of restaurants was added on the west side, forever changing
the appearance from that angle. The same year, the market was also given
its own electrical system for the refrigerators and other new fangled equipment.
Now, 100 years later, the Pino Suárez market is still here, still a central
feature for Mazatlán. It is a bus terminal and a meeting point, as well
as a place where you can find anything from herbs for what ails you, to
pigs feet or pumpkin seeds, bags of nopal cactus or fresh cheese or a cotton
dress and sunglasses. It seems to always be busy no matter what time you
go there. In fact the market never really sleeps: it is open from dawn to
dusk. Stop in some time and see what you discover as you absorb a bit of
Mazatlán's colorful history! And be sure to go outside and gaze upward at
the iron roofline, imagining another era when this structure was one of
the greatest buildings in a growing city! |
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Mazatlan's
Market in the 1800's
An
inside view of the Market Today
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