The Stadium at Xalapa

Xalapa

Xalapa-Enríquez, commonly Xalapa or Jalapa, is the capital city of the Mexican state of Veracruz and the name of the surrounding municipality. In the year 2005 census the city reported a population of 387,879 and the municipality of which it serves as municipal seat reported a population of...

, Veracruz

Veracruz

Veracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave , is one of the 31 states that, along with the Federal District, comprise the 32 federative entities of Mexico. It is divided in 212 municipalities and its capital city is...

, ("Estadio Xalapeño") is located a few blocks south and downhill of the center of town, and can be easily seen from the terraces of Parque Juárez

Parque Juárez (Xalapa)

Parque Juárez is a public park in the city of Xalapa, in the state of Veracruz in eastern Mexico.It was inaugurated in 1892 and named in honor of Benito Juárez, 20 years after his death....

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The place was identified in the 1920s by William K. Boone

William K. Boone

William Kenneth Boone was a benefactor of Xalapa, Veracruz. Throughout his life he sent numerous letters, postcards, and photographs to his parents and sisters at home...

, then president of the local Chamber of Commerce

Chamber of commerce

A chamber of commerce is a form of business network, e.g., a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to advocate on behalf of the business community...

, as a natural stadium similar to those of the classical stadiums and theaters of Ancient Greece

Ancient Greece

Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...

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The site had been a mosquito-infested marshland known as the "Ciénega de Melgarejo" that was drained and filled under the direction of the Chamber of Commerce, with manpower provided by the Jalapa Railroad and Power Company (JRR&PC)

Jalapa Railroad & Power Co. (JRR&PC)

The Jalapa Railroad & Power Co. was a railroad enterprise that offered passenger and cargo service between the towns of Xalapa and Teocelo, within the state of Veracruz, México, from 1898 thru 1945.-History:"In 1895 the Jalapa Railroad & Power Co...

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Stadium Jalapeño (1922)

The Stadium Jalapeño was inaugurated with athletic games on
May 5–7, 1922.

On Sunday May 7, 1922, as part of the weekend festivities, the famous pilot Frank Hawks

Frank Hawks

Frank Monroe Hawks served in the U.S. Army in World War I and was known during the 1920s and 1930s as a record breaking aviator, using a series of Texaco-sponsored aircraft, setting 214 point-to-point records in the United States and Europe...

 landed within the Stadium grounds.

Estadio Xalapeño (1925)

A few years later, the monumental stadium was built under the architectural and engineering direction of Modesto C. Rolland (Baja California Sur, 1881). It was inaugurated on September 20, 1925.

It was given the name of the revolutionary general Heriberto Jara Corona

Heriberto Jara Corona

General Heriberto Jara Corona was a Mexican revolutionary and politician who served as Governor of Veracruz.Heriberto Jara was born in the town of Nogales, in the state of Veracruz, to Emilio Jara Andrade and María del Carmen Corona...

, governor of the state of Veracruz at the time.

External references

• El Libro Azul del Estado de Veracruz. México, el País del Porvenir (bilingual, Spanish and English). México, Compañía Editorial Pan-Americana, S. A., 1923. Facsimile edition of the Editora del Gobierno, 2007; reprinted in 2008.