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In the year of 1823, with the permission of then interim President of Mexico, Antonio López de Santa Anna, the city of Tampico was officially founded. It was laid out on a twenty-five-lot grid, including two plazas, presently know as the Plaza de Armas and the Plaza de la Libertad.
Due to its geographic location along rivers Pánuco and Tamesí, as also its proximity to the Gulf of Mexico, Tampico gained considerable commercial importance, becoming a crossroads for merchandise from abroad. This along with the incipient production of oil and its exportation to Europe and the United States, gave Tampico world prominence at the end of nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth, which in turn resulted in important constructions such as the Aduana Marítima (Maritime Customhouse), the Light House, the Docks, and the railroad to Monterrey and San Luis. In like manner, many other buildings were constructed for commerce, oil company offices, shipping centers, homes etc., reflecting the characteristic styles of the day, predominately French and Spanish. In time, due to the oil expropriation, foreign companies migrated, closing their offices and bringing about the closure, abandonment, misuse of fragmentation of buildings, with no respect for their original design.
The sense of loss on the part of some worried citizens, brought about the deterioration of the City’s architectural heritage, prompted the Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH for its Spanish initials) to commission a team to appraise the situation and create a catalogue of artistic and historic buildings. In 1991, the INAH and the National Institute of Fine Arts (INBA for its Spanish initials) continued with “The Program for the Preservation of Tampico’s Cultural Heritage”. As a result, the City Council, with INAH and INBA supervision, made a property census of downtown Tampico, including buildings of considerable architectural worth. The aforementioned census defined a zone wherein lies the greater part of noteworthy buildings: 190 out of 200, the remainder lying outside same.
The initiative for remolding and conservation was taken by the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit, beginning with the Maritime Customhouse in 1992. On April 23, 1993 the Heritage Zone was officially defined and a regulation for consequent action to be taken was approved by the City Council on December 2, 1994. The Fideicomiso Centro Histórico de Tampico (Trust Agreement for the Historic Center of Tampico FICEHTAM for its Spanish initials) was then established for the purpose of providing the Center of Tampico with an attractive image of its own, adequate upkeep, and safety, thereby affording the City’s inhabitants opportunities for cultural recreation as well as an area which would enhance investment and encourage tourism. The above is provided through four programs; the remolding of building facades, the rescue of urban space, cultural and tourism events, and technical support.
Not long after, remodeling began. In 1993 the old Light Company Building was acquires by the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit, restored in 1994-1995, and its own offices established there subsequently. In 1994 the façade remolding of buildings within the Heritage Zone was begun, as also that of the Plaza de la Libertad, which was completely transformed, and under which a modern underground parking lot for 421 automobiles was constructed, while respecting the original design at the ground level. As part of the “Sedesol Program for 100 Cities”, the restoration of the facades of 16 buildings bordering the Plaza de la Libertad was included, their respective owners participating with 50% of the cost. In the manner, thanks to the joint effort of authorities and private enterprise, our Historic Center has recovered its original beauty and peculiar style, with cast iron building adornments from France and England, and a typical architecture long since forgotten. .
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Articles from our 14th Edition Tampico, victim of Pirates, Bucaneers, and Privateers
León Trotsky in Tampico
New Street Names
Tampico Wakeboard City
Tajín Summit
Convention Center
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