BajaNomad

Newest towns in central Baja???

David K - 1-14-2014 at 06:04 PM

Not so old history question that it belongs in the Baja History & Literature forum, but was thinking of what towns didn't exist before 1972 (the year pavement reached north to Santa Rosalia from La Paz, and south to Colonia V. Guerrero/San Quintin from Ensenada.

Things really sprung up once the transpeninsular highway was opened (Dec. 1, 1973). The town of Cataviña did not exist before the pavement, for example. It began as a 'Parador' facility to serve the new traffic and included a Pemex station Cafeteria with a sunken lounge, showers and restrooms. Across the highway was an El Presidente hotel and just north, a trailer park campground. In July, 1973 there was none of that here and no road construction had reached the spot yet. My next trip was in April, 1974 and all of the parador was in operation. Naturally these services needed people to operate them, and the nearby ranchos of San Luis and Santa Ynez did not have people for hire.

The other 'new' town I can think of is Vizcaino (El Vizcaino)... It sprung up from the desert just before the new highway arrived. Nearby, the pilot test farm project known as Rancho de Wilson was successful in using 'fossil water' to turn the desert into a food producing oasis. Rancho de Wilson was started about 1959. On today's topo map, it is called 'Pueblo Viejo'. The name of a town or ejido of 'Vizcaino' first began about 2 miles east of where it is today. The business opportunity from truck, bus and auto traffic on Hwy. 1 was just too great. The original Ejido Vizcaino became Ejido Diaz Ordaz and a new Highway One 'Vizcaino' exploded with growth.

In the 1972 Auto Club guide to Baja California Sur, the pavement going north had reached midway between Santa Rosalia and San Ignacio with roadbed construction on to San Ignacio and beyond an additional 10 miles west (or northbound). In that guide, El Vizcaino is first mentioned as being a recently developed agricultural community, 5 miles west of Rancho El Tablon.

On these 1974 Auto Club maps of the two areas it is clear that Cataviña is just a minor point along the highway and Vizcaino was well west of the highway and didn't exist at the junction with the Asuncion/ Tortugas road as of yet.





Here is the 1962 Gulick Map showing Rancho de Wilson:



Now here is that map with new additions drawn in to show the location comparison:



What are any other 'new' towns that popped up?

[Edited on 1-15-2014 by David K]

Udo - 1-14-2014 at 06:07 PM

Mil gracias for that bit of information. I had always wondered about the farm west of Vizcaino...and now I know.

[Edited on 1-15-2014 by Udo]

DJL - 1-14-2014 at 06:19 PM

Timely info , Mr. K. !!

I was sitting around last Night , pouring over my copy of " Baja California" , from the Time-Life book series ... published in 1972 (Right - what kind of person comes in from a 6+ week trip to Baja , only to start reading about Baja immediately ?) and noticed no mention of Catavina anywhere in it .

We were wondering ....

D.~

Baja Bucko - 1-14-2014 at 06:22 PM

And now Vizcaino is the cesspool gathering spot for the cartel and other similar buddies alive and well.......:barf:

BajaDQ - 1-14-2014 at 06:27 PM

I did not know that about Vizcaino Bucko. What issues has that created for the locals and the area?

DQ

Baja Bucko - 1-14-2014 at 06:42 PM

MAJOR BIG issues for the innocent family members whose lives are touched whether in the 2nd degree or 6th degree of separation.

If you are poor and making very little sweeping the street and you get offered $1000 to carry a package from point A to B, do you turn it down? It is easy for someone who is not lacking money to say no and mind their own business but easy money becomes the knell of death sooner or later and these guys do not walk away. Nobody ever leaves.....it is a one way ticket for the family and close folks.

I have a couple of friends who are cops south of GN and all I keep telling them is find a another job away from this mess.

David K - 1-14-2014 at 06:51 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Baja Bucko
And now Vizcaino is the cesspool gathering spot for the cartel and other similar buddies alive and well.......:barf:


Mama Espinoza warned us in 1973 that "Bad Roads bring Good People", BUT that "GOOD ROADS BRING ALL KINDS OF PEOPLE"!

BajaDQ - 1-14-2014 at 07:58 PM

Quote:
Mama Espinoza warned us in 1973 that "Bad Roads bring Good People", BUT that "GOOD ROADS BRING ALL KINDS OF PEOPLE"!


I've heard that quote many times David, and it's so true. It's unfortunate, but there may be an upswing of cartel activity in the areas North of Gonzaga , added to what's possibly already there.

Looks like my question took this thread OT, sorry for that. Your OP and question is an interesting one.

David K - 1-14-2014 at 10:36 PM

Well some thread sidebars can be more popular than the original topic. So no more new towns? Guayaquil is not much older. It didn't exist in the mid 1960s.

DavidE - 1-15-2014 at 10:45 AM

For a long time Guerrero Negro was known as a major stolen car and chop shop paradise.

Mulas will always be a problem. Today it's mota, when that gets legalized, then coca, tuba, then whatever else. A thousand dollars? You must be joking. Try $3,000 MN.

TMW - 1-15-2014 at 10:49 AM

I always thought Guayaquil was a ranch not a town. Never been down to it just saw it passing by.

Not in CENTERAL baja but an interesting NEW town

durrelllrobert - 1-15-2014 at 11:06 AM

NEW URUAPAN

The town of New Uruapan is located in the Municipality of Ensenada (in the State of Baja California). It has 789 inhabitants. New Uruapan is 30 meters of altitude.

In the town there are 406 men and 383 women. The relationship women/men is 0,943 . The ratio of fertility of the female population is 3.09 children per woman. The illiteracy rate among adults is 3.3 % (3.45 % in men and 3.13 % in women) and the degree of schooling is 6.65 (6.48 in men and 6.84 for women).

In New Uruapan the 1.77 % of the adults spoke an indigenous language. In the town are 212 houses, of which the 4.69 % are equipped with a computer.

DavidE - 1-15-2014 at 12:39 PM

Any idea of the percentage of homes of 2 or more persons with a capilla of la virgen de Guadalupe on the living room wall?

David K - 1-15-2014 at 03:51 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by TW
I always thought Guayaquil was a ranch not a town. Never been down to it just saw it passing by.


Maybe a ranch in size now, but ...

In 1972 it was a settlement of 50-80 people and had a deligación municipal (de El Mármol)....

This is from Arnold Senterfitt's Airports of Baja:



Pretty new, as it didn't exist as more than a unnamed ranch in Cliff Cross' 1970 book, with his bird's eye view maps. It was created between Penjamo and El Aguila:




Here it is on Google Earth, looking east (note they built the highway over on the hill south of town, robbing it of the future prosperity hoped for in 1972.



[Edited on 1-15-2014 by David K]

MikeYounghusband - 1-15-2014 at 03:57 PM

You know Dave, if we wait a little while we just might see a new town with a new name pop up at the LA Bay turn off. It's growing bigger each year.

Good Post!

David K - 1-15-2014 at 04:24 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by MikeYounghusband
You know Dave, if we wait a little while we just might see a new town with a new name pop up at the LA Bay turn off. It's growing bigger each year.


Maybe? Originally that was 'Parador Punta Prieta' (named for the small town about 7 miles south), and like the other paradors it was built to serve the new travelers on Hwy. 1. It had a Pemex station, cafeteria, sunken lounge area, restrooms, showers, a trailer park/ campground, but NO hotel.

Management of the Pemex failed, and so the facility closed up except for the trailer park and a new junk yard across the highway. Gasoline has been sold by independent vendors in front of the abandoned parador for many years now.

What other businesses are there now?

MikeYounghusband - 1-15-2014 at 05:11 PM

There is a tienda, restaurant and mechanic and maybe more

Bajahowodd - 1-15-2014 at 06:02 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by David K
Not so old history question that it belongs in the Baja History & Literature forum, but was thinking of what towns didn't exist before 1972 (the year pavement reached north to Santa Rosalia from La Paz, and south to Colonia V. Guerrero/San Quintin from Ensenada.

Things really sprung up once the transpeninsular highway was opened (Dec. 1, 1973). The town of Cataviña did not exist before the pavement, for example. It began as a 'Parador' facility to serve the new traffic and included a Pemex station Cafeteria with a sunken lounge, showers and restrooms. Across the highway was an El Presidente hotel and just north, a trailer park campground. In July, 1973 there was none of that here and no road construction had reached the spot yet. My next trip was in April, 1974 and all of the parador was in operation. Naturally these services needed people to operate them, and the nearby ranchos of San Luis and Santa Ynez did not have people for hire.

The other 'new' town I can think of is Vizcaino (El Vizcaino)... It sprung up from the desert just before the new highway arrived. Nearby, the pilot test farm project known as Rancho de Wilson was successful in using 'fossil water' to turn the desert into a food producing oasis. Rancho de Wilson was started about 1959. On today's topo map, it is called 'Pueblo Viejo'. The name of a town or ejido of 'Vizcaino' first began about 2 miles east of where it is today. The business opportunity from truck, bus and auto traffic on Hwy. 1 was just too great. The original Ejido Vizcaino became Ejido Diaz Ordaz and a new Highway One 'Vizcaino' exploded with growth.

In the 1972 Auto Club guide to Baja California Sur, the pavement going north had reached midway between Santa Rosalia and San Ignacio with roadbed construction on to San Ignacio and beyond an additional 10 miles west (or northbound). In that guide, El Vizcaino is first mentioned as being a recently developed agricultural community, 5 miles west of Rancho El Tablon.

On these 1974 Auto Club maps of the two areas it is clear that Cataviña is just a minor point along the highway and Vizcaino was well west of the highway and didn't exist at the junction with the Asuncion/ Tortugas road as of yet.





Here is the 1962 Gulick Map showing Rancho de Wilson:



Now here is that map with new additions drawn in to show the location comparison:



What are any other 'new' towns that popped up?

[Edited on 1-15-2014 by David K]


The Presidente hotel chain was chosen by the federal government to build and operate the hotels along the new Route 1. In later itterations, they became LA Pinta and Desert Inn.

David K - 1-16-2014 at 11:06 AM

Correct, new hotels were built at:

Parador San Quintin (west of the highway's parador, on the beach near Cielito Lindo. When the highway was moved because of repeated flood washouts, the parador died.

Parador Santa Ines/Cataviña (once Cataviña was established after the highway was built and known, the Santa Ines part of the name was dropped).

Parador Paralelo 28º (Eagle Monument, north of Guerrero Negro). This was the most elaborate of the new El Presidente hotels. Maybe because the president opened the highway here on Dec. 1, 1973? Of interest, when driven in July 1973 (pavement had reached well north to Punta Prieta) past this point, there was no traffic circle or monument under construction. That was all done after July and before Dec. 1!

Parador San Ignacio. The hotel was built close to town, a mile off the highway in the palms, most beautiful.

Those four locations took care of the newest section of Hwy. 1. The El Presidente chain also purchased the Playas de Loreto hotel, which was already established.

Bajahowodd - 1-20-2014 at 05:49 PM

Is that how that hotel in Loreto became a La Pinta/ Desert Inn? I have thought for years that that particular property, with its long beachfront was an ideal candidate for remodeling into something more upscale.

David K - 1-20-2014 at 06:05 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Bajahowodd
Is that how that hotel in Loreto became a La Pinta/ Desert Inn? I have thought for years that that particular property, with its long beachfront was an ideal candidate for remodeling into something more upscale.


Yes, it became a La Pinta and then Desert Inn later. My parents and I stayed there (Hotel Playa Loreto) in 1973 and since we love sand beaches thought it was more desirable than the Mision de Loreto hotel, Hotel Oasis, Flying Sportsman Lodge or the inland Salvatierra motel. My dad had stayed at the Flying Sportsman Lodge a couple times in the 60's, flying down with Ed Tabor in the DC-3.

freediverbrian - 1-20-2014 at 06:33 PM

I know of a town that died with the highway was El Arco . A nice little village in late 60s early 70s . A place I looked forward to after two days of driving from the end of the pavment at Santa Tomas. Old adobe buildings, gas and some food. Not much but the biggest town south of El Rosario for 300 miles. I have not been there in years I hope it is better now.

Ateo - 1-20-2014 at 06:40 PM

I was at El Arco last year and it's still a very small town. Only a few buildings.

David K - 1-20-2014 at 10:39 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by freediverbrian
I know of a town that died with the highway was El Arco . A nice little village in late 60s early 70s . A place I looked forward to after two days of driving from the end of the pavment at Santa Tomas. Old adobe buildings, gas and some food. Not much but the biggest town south of El Rosario for 300 miles. I have not been there in years I hope it is better now.


Yes indeed! The main road to La Paz from Ensenada passed through El Arco before 1973. There was no Guerrero Negro until the late 1950's. El Arco was a checkpoint in the Mexican 1000 (1967-1972) and the Baja 1000 many times since then.

However, when the highway was planned, El Arco was on its way out and Guerrero Negro was growing. As a 'face saving' measure, El Arco did get a paved access road, Mexico Federal Highway 18! It was maybe the thinnest use of pavement until Hwy. 5 was extended in the 1990's with pavement to Puertecitos. In both case, potholes were more common than asphalt after a short time.

Puertecitos got thicker repaving, El Arco did not get any repaving.

Bajahowodd - 1-22-2014 at 05:54 PM

Guerrero Negro was the result of US shipping magnate Daniel K. Ludwig. He owned a fleet of ships (American Bulk Carriers) as well, at one time, the Princess Hotel chain. His company was based in what today is Westlake Village CA, where there once was a Princess Hotel. He was the person that basically started the salt processing works in GN. It was later sold to a consortium of Mitsubishi and the Mexican government.

However, if anyone wanders far into town, you will see the development that Ludwig designed, with walled communities and lots of trees.

Most Baja travelers confine themselves to the dusty East end of town.

David K - 1-22-2014 at 06:56 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Bajahowodd
Guerrero Negro was the result of US shipping magnate Daniel K. Ludwig. He owned a fleet of ships (American Bulk Carriers) as well, at one time, the Princess Hotel chain. His company was based in what today is Westlake Village CA, where there once was a Princess Hotel. He was the person that basically started the salt processing works in GN. It was later sold to a consortium of Mitsubishi and the Mexican government.

However, if anyone wanders far into town, you will see the development that Ludwig designed, with walled communities and lots of trees.

Most Baja travelers confine themselves to the dusty East end of town.


Historical Photos: http://www.guerreronegro.org/galeria.html

The town of Guerrero Negro was a tent city in 1956 (called Salina Vizcaino originally):





The first shipment of salt loaded in 1957. The port in Laguna Guerrero Negro was relocated to Scammon's Lagoon (Ojo de Liebre) 10 years later and barges take salt to Cedros Island where it is loaded onto deep sea ships.




The first motel, 1968, The Dunas. Before the highway was finished, we stayed at the Dunas in '73: