1897 Garcia y Cubas Map of Colima, Mexico

A map of the Mexican state of Colima, Mexico, published in 1897 for the Atlas Geográfico de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos.

A Closer Look

The state of Colima on Mexico's central Pacific coast is displayed, noting cities and towns, railways (existing and under construction), haciendas, ranchos, and ports. Districts are color-shaded for easy distinction. Portions of the neighboring states of Jalisco and Michoacán are also depicted. At bottom-left are two insets, of Manzanillo and the Revillagigedo Islands, volcanic islands nearly 300 miles west of the Mexican mainland that have historically been attached to Colima. The inset of Manzanillo, by Bruno García, includes soundings and anchorages for the waters off the coast of the port city.

Linking the Coast with the Capital

Like other Mexican states, Colima saw heavy investment in infrastructure during the long rule of Porfirio Diaz, who dominated Mexican politics from 1876 to 1911. In Colima, much of this infrastructure was designed to link the capital city, also Colima, to the port of Manzanillo. Telegraph lines were followed in good order by telephone lines and a railway, seen here, completed in 1889. First planned in 1870, the difficulty of terrain and changes in the companies building the narrow-gauge railway led to its long construction time. The year before this map's publication, a contract was awarded to build a wider, standard gauge track from Manzanillo through Colima to Guadalajara to the northeast, which was completed in 1908, allowing trains to travel from the coast at Manzanillo to Mexico City. These links helped develop Manzanillo from a small and sleepy port into a powerhouse on Mexico's Pacific coast; today, it is the country's busiest port.

Publication History and Census

This map was published in Mexico City in 1897 by Vega y Cie. It is based on the 1886 work of Antonio García Cubas and was updated with additional border work for the 1897 issue of the Atlas Geográfico de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos. The atlas is represented in several institutional collections but is extremely scarce on the market. The individual maps, likewise, are scarce to the market.