Paraiso, Mexico

History

Although popular etymology has the name derived from "Paso del Paraíso" (Heaven's Pass), in reality the name is from a type of leafy trees of the mahogany family. The municipality does not have a coat-of-arms.

The town of Paraíso was most likely founded sometime between 1848 and 1852 as a camp by indigenous people in the Mecoacán area and then later occupied by mestizos from Jalpa de Méndez and Comalcalco. However, local writer Ángel Suárez Rodríguez asserts that it was founded in 1823 when the ranch of the same name was declared a town. It is true that in this year a church dedicated to Mark the Evangelist and the Virgin of the Assumption was built on the ranch.

From the 19th century on, much of the area was dedicated to the production of cocoa and fruit trees. During this same time, it was a Liberal or federalist stronghold even having its own radical guerrilla army known as "Los Cangrejos y Pejelagartos" (Crabs and Pejalagarto fish). However, the town declined in the latter part of the century and by 1872 there were only four permanent houses.

During the Mexican Revolution, General Ignacio Gutierrez Gomez took the town in 1911. It was taken again in 1914 by Generals Carlos Greene Ramirez and Ramon Sosa Torres.

After the war, the city grew sufficiently that in 1945 it was declared a city by Tabasco governor Noé de la Flor Casanova.

From the History section of Paraíso, Tabasco on Wikipedia, under CC BY-SA 4.0.