Ciudad Acuña
Encyclopedia
Ciudad Acuña, also known simply as Acuña, (originally Garza Galán
, later Villa Acuña) is a city located in the Mexican
state of Coahuila
, at
29°19′27"N 100°55′54"W and a mean height above sea level of 271 meters. It stands on the Rio Grande
(locally known as the Río Bravo), which at this point marks the U.S.-Mexico border, and offers two border crossing
s via Lake Amistad Dam International Crossing
and Del Río-Ciudad Acuña International Bridge
with the neighbouring
city of Del Rio
in the U.S. state
of Texas
. It serves as the municipal seat of the surrounding municipality of Acuña
. In the 2010 census the city had a population of 134,233 whereas the municipality's population was 136,755. The city is the fifth-largest community in the state and the fastest growing city in Mexico.
The Del Rio-Ciudad Acuña Metropolitan Area (DR-CA) is the seventh largest bi-national metropolitan area along the United States-Mexican border. The city of Del Rio is situated in the U.S. state of Texas on the north of the Rio Grande and Ciudad Acuña is located in the Mexican state of Coahuila south of the river. This metropolitan area is also known as "Tierra de la Amistad".
The Del Rio Micropolitan Area's
population was 50,000 people in 2007, and the Ciudad Acuña Metropolitan Area's population was 220,000 people in 2008.
The 2008 population of Greater Del Rio-Ciudad Acuña Metropolitan Area is 270,000.
was general Hipólito Charles who posted a military garrison in the area led by Captain Manuel Leal. In 1880 the community received villa (town) status under its first name of Garza Galán. In 1884 the locality was renamed Congregación las Vacas. Congregacion Las Vacas was then renamed Villa Acuña in 1912 after Saltillan poet Manuel Acuña
. Villa Acuña was finally given the title of city on 16 September 1951 By Don Jesus , when it got its present name of Ciudad Acuña.
On 24 October 1960, US president Dwight D. Eisenhower
and Mexican President Adolfo López Mateos
met in Acuña to sign the initial agreements allowing construction of the dam.
Construction plans were not finalized until December 1966 when presidents Lyndon B. Johnson
and Gustavo Díaz Ordaz
met on the international bridge. Presidents Richard M. Nixon and Gustavo Díaz Ordaz
met for the dedication of Amistad Dam
on 8 September 1969.
Originally created to serve airmen at Laughlin AFB just across the border, "Boy's Town" is an entertainment district that is located in an area south of Ciudad Acuna and contains a few after-hours bars and brothels, but is designated off-limits to U.S. military personnel.
, the border blaster
XER-AM made its home. The radio station was built by Dr. John R. Brinkley
from Kansas. Dr. Brinkley claimed to be able to cure male virility deficiency with goat gland transplants. Dr. Brinkley wanted to promote his male enhancement operations and used the radio station for that purpose. Because of the purpose of radio XER and what it promoted the station was closed in 1939 by the Mexican government.
In 1947 the government of Mexico licensed XERF-AM, the super-power border blaster
run by Ramon D. Bosquez on 100 kW. They used the old XERA facilities and sold its airtime to American Evangelists broadcasting in English to the United States
. In 1959, Ramon D. Bosquez and Arturo Gonzalez formed the Inter-American Radio Advertising, Inc. in Del Rio
, Texas
. They ran the broadcasting in Del Rio while the license rested in the hands of Mexican officials. They boosted the power to 250 kW. This super station was where famous disc jockey Wolfman Jack
between 1962 and 1964 became known. XERF-AM is currently under control of the Instituto Mexicano de la Radio
and plays Spanish-language programs and music.
album Fandango. The song tells the story of a few men from Texas crossing the border to visit a mestizo
hooker in Acuña.
"Blame It on Mexico" a song performed by George Strait
, written by songwriter Darrell Staedtler, on the "Strait Country
" album tells about a night in Acuña at Ma Crosby's (a historic restaurant in Acuña) in the beginning.
"In a bar in Acuña called Ma Crosby's
I found myself not feeling any pain
I told a 'Frisco girl I'd come for freedom
She said she'd only come to catch a train
We struck up some idle conversation
Traded all the troubles on our minds
One thing lead to another in the evening
And I fell in love again for my last time"
Acuña is the setting for the Robert Earl Keen
song, "A Border Tragedy."
(1977) the villains are known as the Acuña Boys.
Outdoor scenes for the 1992 cult motion picture El Mariachi
were shot here, as well as the bar scenes & street confrontation from the sequel, Desperado
. Actor/Producer Carlos Gallardo was born in Cd. Acuña.
Also Desperado and "Single Action" were filmed in Acuña at The Corona Club (cater-corner to Ma Crosby's) located on the main strip (La Hidalgo).
In Kill Bill Vol. II the protagonist goes to see Bill's friend Estaban, who runs Acuña through the strength of his Acuña boys, the fatherless sons of the women he pimps. In another Tarantino movie, Grindhouse, Acuña Boys Mexican Food is featured on a bumper ad as well as a take out drink container in the first scenes of Death Proof
.
The film Like Water for Chocolate
was filmed on Lake Amistad in Acuña.
The Film Love and a .45
features a standoff between the film's primary protagonists and antagonist in Acuña after the three have crossed the U.S./Mexico border.
Portions of the film No Country For Old Men
are set in Acuña.
José María Garza Galán
José María Garza Galán was a Mexican politician. He was governor of the northern state of Coahuila during the presidency of Porfirio Díaz. Garza Galán, native of Múzquiz, wanted to be again governor in 1893, but there were protests. Eventually, Porfirio Díaz asked Garza Galán to withdraw his...
, later Villa Acuña) is a city located in the Mexican
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
state of Coahuila
Coahuila
Coahuila, formally Coahuila de Zaragoza , officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Coahuila de Zaragoza is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico...
, at
29°19′27"N 100°55′54"W and a mean height above sea level of 271 meters. It stands on the Rio Grande
Rio Grande
The Rio Grande is a river that flows from southwestern Colorado in the United States to the Gulf of Mexico. Along the way it forms part of the Mexico – United States border. Its length varies as its course changes...
(locally known as the Río Bravo), which at this point marks the U.S.-Mexico border, and offers two border crossing
Border Crossing
Border Crossing may refer to:* Border Crossing , an album by saxophonist Mike Osborne.* Border Crossing , a UK hip hop collective musical group.* Border Crossing , a 2001 novel by English author Pat Barker....
s via Lake Amistad Dam International Crossing
Lake Amistad Dam International Crossing
The Lake Amistad Dam International Crossing is a dam that serves as an international bridge which crosses the Rio Grande south of Lake Amistad. The dam connects the United States-Mexico border cities of Del Rio, Texas and Ciudad Acuña, Coahuila...
and Del Río-Ciudad Acuña International Bridge
Del Río-Ciudad Acuña International Bridge
The Del Río-Ciudad Acuña International Bridge is an international bridge which crosses the Rio Grande connecting the United States-Mexico border cities of Del Rio, Texas and Ciudad Acuña...
with the neighbouring
Neighbourhood
A neighbourhood or neighborhood is a geographically localised community within a larger city, town or suburb. Neighbourhoods are often social communities with considerable face-to-face interaction among members. "Researchers have not agreed on an exact definition...
city of Del Rio
Del Rio, Texas
Del Rio is a border city in and the county seat of Val Verde County, Texas, United States.. Del Rio is connected with Ciudad Acuña via the Lake Amistad Dam International Crossing and Del Río-Ciudad Acuña International Bridge...
in the U.S. state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
of Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
. It serves as the municipal seat of the surrounding municipality of Acuña
Acuña (municipality)
Acuña is a one of the 38 municipalities of Coahuila, in north-eastern Mexico. The municipal seat lies at Ciudad Acuña, which contained over 98% of the municipality's population in 2010. The municipality covers an area of 11,487.7 km² and is located on the international border between Mexico...
. In the 2010 census the city had a population of 134,233 whereas the municipality's population was 136,755. The city is the fifth-largest community in the state and the fastest growing city in Mexico.
The Del Rio-Ciudad Acuña Metropolitan Area (DR-CA) is the seventh largest bi-national metropolitan area along the United States-Mexican border. The city of Del Rio is situated in the U.S. state of Texas on the north of the Rio Grande and Ciudad Acuña is located in the Mexican state of Coahuila south of the river. This metropolitan area is also known as "Tierra de la Amistad".
The Del Rio Micropolitan Area's
United States micropolitan area
United States Micropolitan Statistical Areas , as defined by the United States Office of Management and Budget, are urban areas in the United States based around a core city or town with a population of 10,000 to 49,999. The micropolitan area designation was created in 2003...
population was 50,000 people in 2007, and the Ciudad Acuña Metropolitan Area's population was 220,000 people in 2008.
The 2008 population of Greater Del Rio-Ciudad Acuña Metropolitan Area is 270,000.
Brief history
The first recorded settlement of Acuña took place on 27 December 1877. It was actually founded by a group of colonists led by Domingo Urias, Irineo Casillas Arevalo, and his wife Maximina Espinoza. At the same time, the Governor of the StateGovernor of Coahuila
List of governors of the northeastern Mexican state of Coahuila de Zaragoza, since its establishment as the province of Nueva Extremadura in Northern New Spain, later province of Coahuila and Texas, and Coahuila as a Mexican state....
was general Hipólito Charles who posted a military garrison in the area led by Captain Manuel Leal. In 1880 the community received villa (town) status under its first name of Garza Galán. In 1884 the locality was renamed Congregación las Vacas. Congregacion Las Vacas was then renamed Villa Acuña in 1912 after Saltillan poet Manuel Acuña
Manuel Acuña
Manuel Acuña Narro was a 19th-century Mexican writer. He focused on poetry, but also wrote some novels and plays. Even though he was famous at an early time of his life, he decided to commit suicide...
. Villa Acuña was finally given the title of city on 16 September 1951 By Don Jesus , when it got its present name of Ciudad Acuña.
On 24 October 1960, US president Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army...
and Mexican President Adolfo López Mateos
Adolfo López Mateos
Adolfo López Mateos was a Mexican politician affiliated to the Institutional Revolutionary Party who served as President of Mexico from 1958 to 1964...
met in Acuña to sign the initial agreements allowing construction of the dam.
Construction plans were not finalized until December 1966 when presidents Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon Baines Johnson , often referred to as LBJ, was the 36th President of the United States after his service as the 37th Vice President of the United States...
and Gustavo Díaz Ordaz
Gustavo Díaz Ordaz
Gustavo Díaz Ordaz Bolaños served as the President of Mexico from 1964 to 1970.- Political career :Díaz Ordaz was born in San Andrés Chalchícomula . His father, Ramón Díaz Ordaz Redonet, worked as an accountant, while his mother, Sabina Bolaños Cacho de Díaz Ordaz, worked as a school teacher...
met on the international bridge. Presidents Richard M. Nixon and Gustavo Díaz Ordaz
Gustavo Díaz Ordaz
Gustavo Díaz Ordaz Bolaños served as the President of Mexico from 1964 to 1970.- Political career :Díaz Ordaz was born in San Andrés Chalchícomula . His father, Ramón Díaz Ordaz Redonet, worked as an accountant, while his mother, Sabina Bolaños Cacho de Díaz Ordaz, worked as a school teacher...
met for the dedication of Amistad Dam
Amistad Dam
Amistad Dam is a large dam across the Rio Grande on the United States-Mexico border. It serves to store water for irrigation and generate hydroelectricity. The dam was first proposed in a 1944 treaty between the United States and Mexico. Construction began in 1963 and was finished in 1969, with the...
on 8 September 1969.
Originally created to serve airmen at Laughlin AFB just across the border, "Boy's Town" is an entertainment district that is located in an area south of Ciudad Acuna and contains a few after-hours bars and brothels, but is designated off-limits to U.S. military personnel.
Radio
In the 1930s in Villa Acuña, now Ciudad AcuñaCiudad Acuña
Ciudad Acuña, also known simply as Acuña, is a city located in the Mexican state of Coahuila, at and a mean height above sea level of 271 meters...
, the border blaster
Border blaster
A border blaster is a licensed commercial radio station that transmits at very high power from one nation to another. Border blasters should not be confused with international broadcast stations...
XER-AM made its home. The radio station was built by Dr. John R. Brinkley
John R. Brinkley
John Romulus Brinkley was a controversial American medical doctor who experimented with xenotransplantation of goat glands into humans as a means of curing male impotence in clinics across several states, and an advertising and radio pioneer who began the era of Mexican border blaster radio...
from Kansas. Dr. Brinkley claimed to be able to cure male virility deficiency with goat gland transplants. Dr. Brinkley wanted to promote his male enhancement operations and used the radio station for that purpose. Because of the purpose of radio XER and what it promoted the station was closed in 1939 by the Mexican government.
In 1947 the government of Mexico licensed XERF-AM, the super-power border blaster
Border blaster
A border blaster is a licensed commercial radio station that transmits at very high power from one nation to another. Border blasters should not be confused with international broadcast stations...
run by Ramon D. Bosquez on 100 kW. They used the old XERA facilities and sold its airtime to American Evangelists broadcasting in English to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. In 1959, Ramon D. Bosquez and Arturo Gonzalez formed the Inter-American Radio Advertising, Inc. in Del Rio
Del Rio, Texas
Del Rio is a border city in and the county seat of Val Verde County, Texas, United States.. Del Rio is connected with Ciudad Acuña via the Lake Amistad Dam International Crossing and Del Río-Ciudad Acuña International Bridge...
, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
. They ran the broadcasting in Del Rio while the license rested in the hands of Mexican officials. They boosted the power to 250 kW. This super station was where famous disc jockey Wolfman Jack
Wolfman Jack
Robert Weston Smith, known commonly as Wolfman Jack was a gravelly voiced US disc jockey who became famous in the 1960s and 1970s.-Early career:...
between 1962 and 1964 became known. XERF-AM is currently under control of the Instituto Mexicano de la Radio
Instituto Mexicano de la Radio
The Instituto Mexicano de la Radio is a Mexican public broadcaster, akin to National Public Radio in the US. It is also known as IMER...
and plays Spanish-language programs and music.
Music
Acuña is referenced in a song called "Mexican Blackbird" on the ZZ TopZZ Top
ZZ Top is an American rock band, sometimes referred to as "That Little Ol' Band from Texas". Their style, which is rooted in blues-based boogie rock, has come to incorporate elements of arena, southern, and boogie rock. The band, from Houston Texas, formed in 1969...
album Fandango. The song tells the story of a few men from Texas crossing the border to visit a mestizo
Mestizo
Mestizo is a term traditionally used in Latin America, Philippines and Spain for people of mixed European and Native American heritage or descent...
hooker in Acuña.
"Blame It on Mexico" a song performed by George Strait
George Strait
George Harvey Strait is an American country music singer, actor, and music producer. Strait is referred to as the "King of Country," and critics call Strait a living legend. He is known for his unique style of western swing music, bar-room ballads, honky-tonk style, and fresh yet traditional...
, written by songwriter Darrell Staedtler, on the "Strait Country
Strait Country
Strait Country is the debut album of American country music artist George Strait. It has been certified platinum by the RIAA and it includes the singles "Unwound", "Down and Out", and "If You're Thinking You Want a Stranger "...
" album tells about a night in Acuña at Ma Crosby's (a historic restaurant in Acuña) in the beginning.
"In a bar in Acuña called Ma Crosby's
I found myself not feeling any pain
I told a 'Frisco girl I'd come for freedom
She said she'd only come to catch a train
We struck up some idle conversation
Traded all the troubles on our minds
One thing lead to another in the evening
And I fell in love again for my last time"
Acuña is the setting for the Robert Earl Keen
Robert Earl Keen
Robert Earl Keen, Junior is an American Texas Country singer-songwriter. He is popular with fans of traditional country music, folk music, college radio, and alt-country. Keen currently resides in Kerrville, Texas and maintains a ranch in Medina, Texas.-Early life:Growing up in Houston, Texas,...
song, "A Border Tragedy."
Cinema
In the film, Rolling ThunderRolling Thunder (1977 film)
Rolling Thunder is a 1977 film starring William Devane and Tommy Lee Jones. The film was directed by John Flynn. The screenplay was by Paul Schrader and Heywood Gould.-Plot:...
(1977) the villains are known as the Acuña Boys.
Outdoor scenes for the 1992 cult motion picture El Mariachi
El Mariachi
El Mariachi is a 1992 Mexican-American action film that is the debut of writer/director Robert Rodriguez. The Spanish language film was shot in the northern Mexican bordertown of Ciudad Acuña with a mainly amateur cast...
were shot here, as well as the bar scenes & street confrontation from the sequel, Desperado
Desperado (film)
Desperado is a 1995 action thriller film written and directed by Robert Rodriguez. The film stars Antonio Banderas as the former mariachi who seeks revenge on the drug lord who killed his lover....
. Actor/Producer Carlos Gallardo was born in Cd. Acuña.
Also Desperado and "Single Action" were filmed in Acuña at The Corona Club (cater-corner to Ma Crosby's) located on the main strip (La Hidalgo).
In Kill Bill Vol. II the protagonist goes to see Bill's friend Estaban, who runs Acuña through the strength of his Acuña boys, the fatherless sons of the women he pimps. In another Tarantino movie, Grindhouse, Acuña Boys Mexican Food is featured on a bumper ad as well as a take out drink container in the first scenes of Death Proof
Death Proof
Death Proof is a 2007 American action thriller film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. The film centers on a psychopathic stunt man who stalks young women before murdering them in staged car accidents using his "death-proof" stunt car...
.
The film Like Water for Chocolate
Like Water for Chocolate (film)
Like Water for Chocolate is a 1992 film based on the popular novel, published in 1989 by first-time Mexican novelist Laura Esquivel. It earned all 11 Ariel awards of the Mexican Academy of Motion Pictures, including the Ariel Award for Best Picture, and became the highest grossing Spanish-language...
was filmed on Lake Amistad in Acuña.
The Film Love and a .45
Love and a .45
Love and a .45 is a 1994 Bonnie and Clyde-esque road movie starring Gil Bellows and Renée Zellweger. The film was originally released by Lions Gate Entertainment.-Plot:...
features a standoff between the film's primary protagonists and antagonist in Acuña after the three have crossed the U.S./Mexico border.
Portions of the film No Country For Old Men
No Country for Old Men (film)
No Country for Old Men is a 2007 American crime thriller directed by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, and starring Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem, and Josh Brolin. The film was adapted from the Cormac McCarthy novel of the same name...
are set in Acuña.