1898 Franco Plan of Oaxaca de Juarez

A scarce 1898 city plan or map of Oaxaca (de Juárez) in southern Mexico, published the following year in the periodical El Mundo. It highlights the city's modernization, guided by two of its native sons, Presidents Benito Juárez and Porfirio Díaz.

A Closer Look

The city's geometric street grid is readily apparent, bounded on the west by the Rio Atoyac and the Cerro del Fortin. At left, just west of the Cerro del Fortin, sits a train line and station, opened in 1892 (the line has since been demolished but efforts are underway to reopen the defunct station as a historical site). Images of local landmarks, including Mitla, an ancient Zapotec archaeological site, and the Basílica de Nuestra Señora de la Soledad, appear in the four corners of the map.

Native Sons

The city was the hometown of two towering figures of Mexican history, Benito Juárez (1806 - 1872, for whom the second part of the city's name refers), and his political rival Porfirio Díaz (1830 - 1915), who was in office when this map was produced. Images of both men appear in the title cartouche at top. Both Juárez and Díaz cut their teeth in political and military conflicts in and around the city, including during the Second French intervention in Mexico (1861 - 1867). Despite their political differences, large monuments to both men were built in the city after their deaths.

Publication History and Census

This map appeared in the Sunday, June 4, 1899, edition of El Mundo, seemingly based on a larger, separately issued map which is now unobtainable. The cartographer is noted as Rodolfo Franco, listed here as a senior engineer. The map is not cataloged among the holdings of any institution and has no known history on the market.