Apodaca

The city is named after Dr. Salvador Apodaca, Bishop of the city of Linares, who was born in Guadalajara in 1769.

Salvador Apodaca y Loreto was a Mexican Catholic priest and bishop of the Diocese of Linares (Nuevo León).

Salvador Apodaca completed his studies in Guadalajara and was ordained a priest in Durango in 1794. He was assigned to minister for two years in Mazapil in the present state of Zacatecas.

He returned to Guadalajara and was appointed master of ceremonies for the town hall, a post he held for four years.

He earned a doctorate in theology. For 38 years he was a priest in the towns of Zapotitlán, Tuxcacuesco, Mascota, and Sayula.

In 1838, he was named a canon of the Cathedral of Guadalajara. On January 29, 1842, he was appointed bishop of the Diocese of Linares and was consecrated in the city of Guadalajara on September 24, 1843.

Salvador Apodaca arrived in the city of Monterrey in January 1844. During his brief tenure, he improved the services of the hospital and established two fellowships at the seminary. He died June 15, 1844, in Monterrey.

The city of Apodaca has a rich history dating back to the colonial era.

Apodaca was officially founded on May 3, 1585, by Diego Rodriguez de Montemayor. Over the centuries, it experienced various stages of development, witnessing the rise and fall of industries that shaped its identity.

Apodaca, or Hacienda San Francisco, was one of the oldest settlements in the New Kingdom of León.

San Francisco was located 45 degrees northeast of Ojos de Santa Lucía – or Villa de San Luis from 1582 – later becoming Ciudad Metropolitana de Nuestra Señora de Monterrey in 1596, to which it was originally close.

Hacienda San Francisco then served as an ideal link between the San Gregorio mines or Ciudad León (Cerralvo) and the towns of San Luis (Monterrey) and Santiago del Saltillo.

Around 1584, the mayor of Villa de San Luis, Gaspar Castaño de Sosa, owned a hacienda called San Francisco, which was granted to him by the first governor (1579-1589) of the New Kingdom of León, Luis Carvajal y de la Cueva.

The hacienda had an area with a water source (Ojos de San Francisco) and four land parcels. Castaño was later commissioned to go to the mines of Trinidad to find the Villa del Nuevo Almadén (Monclova), leaving his estate in San Francisco.

Diego de Montemayor, from the political group of Castaño and Carvajal, mentioned earlier, claimed the abandoned land on August 16, 1585, and requested additional lands, including a second water source, to found Hacienda San Francisco.

The opposing group from the valley of Saltillo was composed mainly of Francisco de Urdiñola (a wealthy mine-owner from Mazapil, Saltillo, Parras, and Río Grande), Francisco de Villarreal, Francisco Martínez Guajardo, and Juan de Tarango.

Due to political intrigues, both leaders, Carvajal and Urdiñola, were taken as prisoners to Mexico City. Carvajal was accused of being a Judaizer, and Urdiñola was accused of poisoning his wife. Castaño had been exiled abroad, taking him out of the equation.

These events played a pivotal role in the migration of a small group from Saltillo and the subsequent foundation of Monterrey in 1596.

It was believed that Hacienda San Francisco was located several “leguas” (a measure of distance) within a square, likely one degree of longitude and latitude, centered around Ojos de Santa Lucía in the newly founded metropolitan city.

It is worth noting that a “legua” was an old measurement of travel that indicated speed rather than distance. In the late 16th century, for every degree of longitude on the planet, there were 17 and a half Spanish leagues.

This translates to about 5 kilometers and 733 meters per league. Based on this calculation, the San Francisco chapel mentioned later in the text would have been roughly three leagues away from the current historic center of Monterrey.

Two characters who arrived after the foundation of Monterrey played a crucial role in Hacienda San Francisco: Marcos Alonso de la Garza and his brother-in-law José de Treviño.

José de Treviño, a wealthy miner in Zacatecas and Durango, became the owner of Hacienda San Francisco in 1610, purchasing it for 4000 pesos from the heirs of Diego de Montemayor.

With his family and belongings, he settled in the hacienda and expanded agriculture and cattle farming, turning it into a regional supply center whose trade extended to Saltillo, Mazapil, Zacatecas, and Durango.

In 1624, José de Treviño sold the hacienda to two of his sister Juana de Treviño’s sons, who were married to the daughters of Marcos Alonso de la Garza Falcón from mining centers in Durango.

These nephews of José de Treviño further expanded the population of Hacienda San Francisco and established sheep farming, leading to the beginning of the first textile company in the Northeast Novohispano in 1634. T

hey produced textiles such as jerga, sayal, and frazadas, which were sold in places like Zacatecas and Durango.

In the 1630s, a conflict arose between Diego Fernández de Montemayor and captains Blas de la Garza and Alonso de Treviño regarding the sale of Hacienda San Francisco by Diego’s grandfather, Governor Diego de Montemayor, to Captain Jusepe (José) de Treviño.

This legal dispute was resolved in July 1633.

Over time, Hacienda San Francisco evolved into several smaller haciendas, including Agua Fría, la Encarnación, Huinalá, San Francisco (the head hacienda), San Juan del Mezquital, San Miguel, and Santa Rosa.

In 1851, the Villa de Apodaca was established, named after Salvador de Apodaca y Loreto, and separated from the jurisdiction of Monterrey, becoming a municipality with Apodaca as its municipal seat.

Apodaca later became part of the Monterrey metropolitan area alongside the municipalities of Santa Catarina and General Escobedo in the 1960s. The city was officially renamed Ciudad Apodaca on May 7, 1981.

Today, the city of Apodaca continues to thrive as part of the greater Monterrey region, maintaining its rich historical heritage as a significant settlement in the region’s early history.

The Parish of San Francisco is located in front of the main square, the east side. The parish was built in 1848 and the bell tower was completed only in 1966.

The Municipal Presidency of Apodaca is located in the main square, west side. Built in 1976, with a modernist style, with which the old similar building was replaced.

The monument to the teacher Moisés Sáenz is located in the Plaza of the town El Mezquital. It is a work by the capital sculptor José L. Ruiz, unveiled in 1962.

Monument to the First European Inhabitant. On September 26, 1995, the installation of a plaque in honor of Gaspar Castaño de Sosa, the first European settler. It is placed in the town of Ojo de Agua.

Two airports, General Mariano Escobedo International Airport (IATA: MTY) and Del Norte International Airport (IATA: NTR), are located in Apodaca.

VivaAerobus Airline and Grupo Aeroportuario Centro Norte have their corporate headquarters on the grounds of Escobedo Airport.

You can dial 078 from any phone, where you can find free information about tourist attractions, airports, travel agencies, car rental companies, embassies and consulates, fairs and exhibitions, hotels, hospitals, financial services, migratory and other issues.

Or dial the toll-free (in Mexico) number 01-800-006-8839.

You can also request information to the email correspondencia@sectur.gob.mx

MORE EMERGENCY NUMBERS:

General Information: 040 (not free)

National Emergency Service: 911

Radio Patrols: 066
Police (emergency): 060
Civil Protection: +52(55)5683-2222
Anonymous Complaint: 089

Setravi (Transport Mobility): +52(55)5209-9913
Road Emergency: 074

Cruz Roja: 065 o +52(55)5557-5757
Firefighters: 068 o +52(55)5768-3700