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Chetumal has become known for its traditional wood buildings, few of which survive.
In Pre-Columbian times, a city called Chactemal (sometimes rendered as "Chetumal" in early European sources), probably today's Santa Rita in Belize, was the capital of a Maya state of the same name that roughly controlled the southern quarter of modern Quintana Roo and the northeast portion of Belize. This original Chetumal is now believed to have been on the other side of the Río Hondo, in modern Belize, not at the site of modern chetumal.
During the Spanish conquest of Yucatán, the Maya state of Chetumal fought off several Spanish expeditions before finally being subjugated in the late 16th century.
The 1840s revolt of the indigenous Maya people against Mexican rule, known as the Caste War of Yucatán, drove all the Hispanic people from this region; many settled in Corozal Town, British Honduras (modern Belize).
The current site of Chetumal was established as a Mexican port town in 1898, originally under the name Payo Obispo. At the invitation of founder Othon P. Blanco, the early town was populated by settlers from Belize (including Caste War refugees and Englishmen).
The name of the town was officially changed to Chetumal in 1936.
Two hurricanes in the 1940s leveled the entire town; Chetumal was devastated a third time in 1955 by Hurricane Janet. After this, the town was rebuilt with more solid construction, with concrete blocks replacing wood as the usual material.
The population of Chetumal was small (about 5,000 in 1950) until the construction of highways linking it to the rest of Mexico in the 1960s and 1970s; the city then boomed with substantial migration from other parts of Mexico.
Foundation[edit]
The government of Porfirio Díaz decided to end the Maya revolt situation, resolving to fight the rebel Maya and to achieve this it definitively established the boundaries with British Honduras at the Rio Hondo, according to a treaty signed in 1893, also separated the new one from the state of Yucatan Federal Territory of Quintana Roo and sent the army to fight the Maya.
The first step in combating them was to prevent the trafficking of arms from Belize and to assert Mexican sovereignty at that end of the territory, so it was decided to build a fort and customs section at the point where the Hondo River feeds into Chetumal Bay, which they named Payo Obispo in honor of Payo Enríquez de Rivera, who as bishop of Guatemala had visited the region in the 1660s. An officer of the navy, Othón P. Blanco, suggested that as it was an unexplored place and without any certainty of what the terrain would be like, it would be better to send to the place a pontoon then anchored at the point of the bay or the Hondo River, which could serve as a barracks and customs section while a permanent establishment was being achieved, as the pontoon would allow for rapid mobility and increased surveillance. Blanco's suggestion was accepted and he was also appointed command of such pontoon and chief of the operation; the pontoon was built in New Orleans and Blanco gave it the name Pontón Chetumal, in memory of the Maya name for the region. He left New Orleans in late 1897 and, after making stops in Progreso, Yucatan and Cozumel, arrived at the mouth of the Hondo River on 22 January 1898!
Othón P. Blanco quickly organized the garrison and ordered the clearing of the coast, covered with mangrove, to establish a permanent population on the mainland, and also came into contact with Mexicans residing in Corozal and survivors of the Bacalar massacre and communicated their intentions to establish a new population, inviting them to return to Mexico.
Finally, Othón P. Blanco officially founded the new town, on 5 May 1898, with neighbors from Corozal and other parts of the peninsula and gave it the name Payo Obispo', as the region was already known. On the origin of this name it is mentioned that it comes from Fray Payo Enríquez de Rivera, who was Archbishop of Mexico and Viceroy of New Spain, but that when he was Bishop of Guatemala he came to pay a visit to Bacalar, landing at the point that received his name.
Early years[edit]
Payo Obispo was in the beginning a small border town, mainly dedicated to border surveillance and whose economic activities were concentrated on the exploitation of jungle resources such as Manilkara zapota and chicle, communication with the interior was only by sea, to the port of Vigía Chico, where a railway linked with the capital of the territory, Santa Cruz de Bravo, or further north Cozumel or Progress.
The houses were woodland Caribbean English style, as in Belize or Jamaica, built above ground level and painted brightly and with wooden latticework on the windows. Drinking water was collected from the rain through cisterns, of which each house used to have one, although a large public cistern was later built.
Development[edit]
The final development of Payo Obispo occurred when the governor of Yucatan, Salvador Alvarado decided to return to the Maya the city of Santa Cruz de Bravo, which at that time belonged to Yucatan after the suppression of the Territory of Quintana Roo and that by being 1915 the capital was moved accordingly to Payo Obispo, thereby increasing population and economic activity, as government units were established in the population.
During the 1920s and 1930s, the exploration and development of Quintana Roo was greatly disseminated, as it was one of the last undeveloped places in the country and many considered it conducive to the establishment of the new models advocated by the Mexican Revolution, however, on the grounds of financial reasons, the federal government once again abolished the Quintana Roo Territory and divided it between Yucatan and Campeche, with Payo Obispo being left in the latter state, Payo Obispo then led the movement that demanded the restoration of federal territory, a request answered by Lázaro Cárdenas, who visited the city in 1934 as a candidate for president and who once had taken office, re-established the territory in 1935.
The new governor, Rafael E. Melgar, greatly promoted the development of the city, he is due the construction of the first concrete buildings, these being the Government Palace, the Morelos Hospital and the Belisario Domínguez School, also developed promoting the establishment of worker cooperatives dedicated to logging, rubber and chewing gum, among other products and which motivated the start of emigration to Quintana Roo, promoted in addition to increasing population of the territory. In addition, and according to the postulates of the time, Melgar decided to remove all names of religious origin to the towns and cities of the territory, being renamed Payo Obispo according to decree of 16 February 1937 with the new name of Chetumal. The development promoted by Melgar declined to a greater or lesser extent during the following governments and for various reasons, but the growth of the city continued to increase.
Hurricane Janet caused widespread damage in Chetumal
On 27 September 1955, the Category 5 Hurricane Janet struck the city, destroying it almost completely. Most wooden buildings were destroyed and around 500 inhabitants perished. After the hurricane, Chetumal was rebuilt as a modern city, leaving behind its Anglo-Caribbean wooden architecture.
During the governments of Aarón Merino Fernández, Javier Rojo Gómez and David Gustavo Gutiérrez, the development continued to establish electric light, paving and terrestrial communications, as well as a large emigration from other parts of the country, promoted by the federal government, especially that of Luis Echeverría Álvarez, with the intention of promoting the Federal Territory in state of the Federation, which was finally made on October 8 of 1974, becoming Chetumal in the capital of the new Quintana Roo state.
