Nacozari de García, Mexico

History

Nacozari, as it is known today, began with the discovery of mines in 1660. The first settlement was called Nuestra Señora del Rosario de Nacozari and was founded as part of the network of Royal Mines by Jesuit Missionary Gilles de Fiodermon.

The mines were acquired by Anglo American U.B. Freaner mining company in 1867, which sold them to The Moctezuma Copper Company, a subsidiary of Phelps Dodge.

One of the major copper mines at Nacozari Viejo was developed by Charley Streeter in the 1880s. Charley's brother, Zebina Streeter, was shot and killed in the town in 1889.

American style housing was built, together with a library and a small hospital. Copper was hauled partially by mule trains, until the railroad was finished in 1904. By 1907, Nacozari had become the metropolis of far northeastern Sonora. It had a population of about 5,000 people, mostly Mexicans and Americans, with some Chinese. Phelps retained the mines until 1948 when they were exhausted.

A large mine, La Caridad, was discovered about 20 miles southeast of Nacozari in 1968. By 1979, the population of Nacozari was back to about 3,000. As Mexicana de Cobre, the federal government spent hundreds of millions of dollars to develop La Caridad, and revive other mines in the area. Nacozari was estimated to have 18,600 people in 1986, and 30,000 in 1989. La Caridad is ranked the third largest copper mine in the world.

From the History section of Nacozari de García on Wikipedia, under CC BY-SA 4.0.