Camarón de Tejeda

Camarón de Tejeda, Veracruz, Mexico is a town 5,613 inhabitants (2000), famous for the 1863 Battle of Camarón at the town's Hacienda Camarón. The area is essentally rural with a population density of 32 people/km². The town is named for the large number of shrimp (camarón in Spanish) found in a small river in the area.

History

Camarón was an ancient Totonaca town called Temaxcal. At the town's hacienda, the Mexican Army triumphed over troops of the French Foreign Legion in the 1863 Battle of Camarón.

After the battle, the words "de Tejeda" were added to the town's name by Mexican Colonel Francisco de Paula Milán to honor pro-Madero politician Sixto Adalberto Tejeda Olivares (1883-1960), originally of Chicontepec.

Before having it's current name, the town was known by several others, including Villa Tejeda en 1927, and Adalberto Tejeda en 1955.

Geography

The town is located in the central part of the Veracruz, at 19° 01’ north latitude, 96° 37’ west longitude, at an altitude of 320 metros above sea level.

Camarón de Tejeda is delimited to the east by the Soledad de Doblado, to the south and west by the Paso del Macho, and to the west by Zentla.

Hacienda Camarón

The Hacienda Camarón is located to the right of the road from Mexico City.

It is composed of a courtyard at it's center, 50 meters on each side, enclosed by a 3 meter high wall. Two large doors open to the west.

The north section of the structure borders the road and has many rooms for housing, aligned east-to-west.

To the south of the courtyard, you'll find two large storage rooms. The first remains largely intact and forms the supports for the second, situated at a southwest angle to the corral, has nothing but some pieces of wood supported by a brick wall, with a thatched roof. Facing it at a southeast angle are the remains of another storage room. This, with its brick wall, formerly supported the building's frame.

On the south side of the structure, the final storage room has a space through which a person can pass.

Opposite the Hacienda, on the other side of the road, are two condemned houses and the ruins of ten Indian boxes.

External links

* [http://www.camarondetejeda.gob.mx/ Official web site (Spanish)]