Ures

Contents

Ures is a small city and a municipality in the Mexican state of Sonora.

In 2023, Ures was designated a Pueblo Mágico by the Mexican government, recognizing its cultural and historical importance.[1]

Population

In the year 2000, the total population was 9,553 residents. New figures from 2005 reported 8,420, meaning a considerable decline in population due to emigration. The municipal seat had a population of 3,959 in 2000.

Geography

It has an area of 2,618.56 square kilometers. This is 1.41% of the total area of the state, and 0.13 percent of the national area of Mexico. Besides the seat, the most important localities are Guadalupe de Ures, San Pedro, Pueblo de Alamos and El Sauz.

The municipality is in the basin of the Sonora River. As the river crosses the area, the river receives waters from Los Alamos, Bamuco, Nava, San Pedro, Cañada de Agua, and Los Cochis. Also, it receives runoff from washes as El Carrizo, Zuribate, Palo Parado, La Ladrillera, Santiago, and El Pescado. It has a reservoir that was recently built called Teópari.

The municipality is nestled within the mountains, hills, and valleys that form the edge of the Western Sierra Madre. The elevation of the administrative seat was 420 meters above sea level.

Climate

The average maximum monthly temperature is 31.8 °C (89.2 °F) in the month of July, the average minimum monthly temperature is 15.2 °C (59.4 °F) in the month of January, and the overall average temperature is 23.1 °C (73.6 °F). The annual precipitation is 430.1 millimetres (16.93 in), and the rainiest months are July and August. There are occasional frosts from December to March.

Vegetation

The vegetation is of mesquite and subtropical desert species.

Communications

A paved federal highway crosses the municipality from west to east.

History

Ures is one of the oldest cities of the state of Sonora. It was first reported by Cabeza de Vaca on his overland trek from Galveston in the 1530s and was called by him "Corazones", or "Village of Hearts". Coronado stopped there in the course of his 1540 expedition.[2] A mission was founded there in 1644 by the Jesuit missionary Francisco París,[3][4] and was known as San Miguel de Ures until 1665. In 1823 Ures became the capital of Sonora, but was replaced the following year when Sonora was merged into Occidente State.

At the end of 1838, Ures became a city; and was the capital of Sonora from 1838 to 1842, and again from 1847 to 1879. Afterwards, it became the seat of a district.

During the Fall of the Second Mexican Empire in 1866, the Battle of Guadalupe took place within the municipality of Ures. On September 5, 1998, the state legislature gave it the title of Heroic City, commemorating the liberal defense against imperialists. [1]. Geronimo took refuge in the mountains of this region when generals Crook and Miles fought him in Arizona. The most notable Apache raids were in 1870, when the priest Echevería was killed in the town, and in 1882, when the distinguished scholar Leocadio Salcedo was killed at the La Noria ranch. Residents of the region also had problems with Yaqui uprisings and insurrections of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Tourism

In Ures you can visit "La Plaza de Armas (La Plaza de Zaragoza)" with its four 18th-century bronze sculptures, San Miguel Mission and the church bearing the same name with its legendary mesquite stairway. In addition, you will see the majestic arch commemorating the Independence and the house where General Pesqueira used to live, The Folkloric Museum, and the old Flour Mill.

Government

Municipal presidents

Municipal presidentTermPolitical partyNotes
Adeodato Campbell Quijada1868
Fernando M. Araiza[5][6]1913–1914
Ernesto Estrella1914–1915
Victoriano Navarro1915
Alfredo Romo1916
F. J. Morales1917
Constantino Laborín1920–1922
Jesús Casillas1922–1923
Santiago Muñoz1923–1929
Luis S. Navarro1929–1931PNR
Victoriano Navarro1931PNRActing municipal president
Luis Haro1931–1932PNR
Jesús Núñez D.1932–1933PNR
Rafael Puebla1933PNRActing municipal president
Miguel Canizales Bonilla1933–1935PNR
Manuel J. Duarte1935PNRActing municipal president
Pedro López P.1935–1937PNR
Antonio Arce1937PNRActing municipal president
Rafael Puebla1937–1940PNR PRM
Anselmo Gándara1940–1943PRM
Reynaldo Paz Molinares1943–1946PRM
Jesús Noriega Calles1946–1949PRI
Alfredo Romo Córdova1949–1952PRI
Rubén Romo Córdova1952–1955PRI
Francisco Amador Torres1955–1958PRI
Antonio Gándara Romo1958–1961PRI
Héctor Maytorena Salcido1961–1964PRI
Moisés Navarro Duarte1964–1967PRI
Francisco Téllez Villaescusa1967–1970PRI
Abel Estrella Bustamante1970–1973PRI
Héctor Romo Córdova1973–1976PRI
Guadalupe Trujillo Romo1976–1979PRI
Óscar Jara Ramírez1979–1982PRI
Eduardo A. de los Reyes Gray1982–1985PRI
Marco Antonio Romo Aguilar1985–1988PRI
Eduardo Salcido Celaya1988–1991PRI
Jorge Alberto Gastélum[7]1991–1994PRI
Ramón Mario López Córdova[8]1994–1997PRI
Manuel Ignacio Espinoza González[9]1997–2000PRD
Arnoldo Trujillo Fuentes[10]2000–2003PRI
Marco Antonio Coronado Acuña[11][12]16-09-2003–15-09-2006PRI
Juan Ángel Córdova Salcido[13][14]16-09-2006–15-09-2009PRI PanalAlliance PRI Sonora-Panal
Noé Coronado Cha[15]16-09-2009–15-09-2012PAN
José Manuel Valenzuela Salcido[16]16-09-2012–15-09-2015PAN
David Gracia Paz[17]16-09-2015–15-09-2018PRI PVEM PanalCoalition "For an Honest and Effective Government"
Héctor Gastón Rodríguez Galindo[18]16-09-2018–15-09-2021PAN PRDCoalition "For Sonora to the Front"
José Manuel Valenzuela Salcido[19]16-09-2021–15-09-2024Morena
Héctor Gastón Rodríguez Galindo[20]16-09-2024–PAN PRI PRD

Sources consulted

  • Enciclopedia de los Municipios de Mexico
  • INEGI Archived 2010-08-18 at the Wayback Machine National statistics

References

  1. 1."These are Mexico's newest Magical Towns". www.travelweekly.com. Retrieved 2025-09-15.
  2. 2.Baskett, James Newton (April 1907). "A Study of the Route of Cabeza de Vaca". Texas Historical Association Quarterly. 10: 308–340. Retrieved Sep 10, 2019.
  3. 3.Polzer, Charles W. (ed); Naylor, Thomas H. (ed.); Sheriden, Thomas E. (ed.); Hadley, Diana (ed.) (1991). The Jesuit Missions of Northern Mexico. Garland Publishing, inc. ISBN 0-8240-2096-0. Retrieved Sep 20, 2019.
  4. 4.Polzer, Charles W. (1972). "The Franciscan Entrada into Sonora 1645-1652: A Jesuit Chronicle". Arizona and the West. 14 (3): 253–278. JSTOR 40168155.
  5. 5."National Institute for Federalism and Municipal Development (Inafed). On the left column, please click on "Información Histórica". Then, from the drop-down menu, select "Presidentes Municipales". Search for the state or federal entity and then the desired municipality. Sonora. Ures" (in Spanish). Retrieved 14 October 2024.
  6. 6."Enciclopedia de los Municipios y Delegaciones de México. Sonora. Ures" (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 20 February 2020. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
  7. 7."Municipios gobernados por partido político. Período constitucional 1991-1994" (PDF) (in Spanish). Retrieved 11 September 2021.
  8. 8."Municipios gobernados por partido político. Período constitucional 1994-1997" (PDF) (in Spanish). Retrieved 11 September 2021.
  9. 9."Municipios gobernados por partido político. Período constitucional 1997-2000" (PDF) (in Spanish). Retrieved 11 September 2021.
  10. 10."Consejo Electoral del Estado de Sonora. Conformación de Ayuntamientos. 2000" (PDF) (in Spanish). Retrieved 11 September 2021.
  11. 11."Resultados oficiales de la elección de Ayuntamientos. 2003" (PDF) (in Spanish). Retrieved 11 September 2021.
  12. 12."Municipios gobernados por partido político. Período constitucional 2003-2006" (PDF) (in Spanish). Retrieved 11 September 2021.
  13. 13."Consejo Electoral del Estado de Sonora. Conformación de Ayuntamientos. 2006" (PDF) (in Spanish). Retrieved 11 September 2021.
  14. 14."Municipios gobernados por partido políticos. Período constitucional 2006-2009" (PDF) (in Spanish). Retrieved 11 September 2021.
  15. 15."Consejo Electoral del Estado de Sonora. Conformación de Ayuntamientos. 2009" (PDF) (in Spanish). Retrieved 11 September 2021.
  16. 16."Consejo Electoral del Estado de Sonora. Conformación de planillas de Ayuntamiento. 2012" (PDF) (in Spanish). Retrieved 11 September 2021.
  17. 17."Instituto Electoral y de Participación Ciudadana de Sonora. Conformacion de planillas de Ayuntamiento. 2015" (PDF) (in Spanish). Retrieved 11 September 2021.
  18. 18."Instituto Electoral y de Participación Ciudadana de Sonora. Cómputo municipal. Período constitucional 2018-2021" (PDF) (in Spanish). Retrieved 11 September 2021.
  19. 19."Instituto Estatal Electoral y de Participación Ciudadana de Sonora (IEESonora). Autoridades electas. Presidencia Municipal de Ures" (in Spanish). Retrieved 11 September 2021.
  20. 20."Elecciones Sonora. 2 de Junio de 2024. Municipio: Ures" (in Spanish). Instituto Estatal Electoral y de Participación Ciudadana. Sonora. Retrieved 25 October 2024.