Agua Prieta

Last updated

Coordinates: 31°19′33″N109°32′56″W﻿ / ﻿31.32583°N 109.54889°W﻿ / 31.32583; -109.54889


Agua Prieta, Sonora
Agua Prieta
Coat of arms
AguaPrieta City.png
Location of Agua Prieta within Sonora
Country Mexico
State Sonora
Municipality Agua Prieta
Incorporated August 28, 1916
Ascension to town statusMay 8, 1933
Ascension to city statusNovember 6, 1942
  Total3,631.65 km2 (1,402.2 sq mi)

Agua Prieta (English: Dark Water, [1] Opata: Bachicuy) is a town in Agua Prieta Municipality in the northeastern corner of the Mexican state of Sonora. It stands on the Mexico–U.S. border, adjacent to the town of Douglas, Arizona. The municipality covers an area of 3,631.65 km2 (1,402.2 sq mi). In the 2010 census the town had a population of 79,138 people, making it the seventh-largest community in the state, and a literacy rate of 96.3%. 89% of the homes in the city have electricity, 94% have running water, and 86% are connected to the sewer system. The city's most important economic activities, in descending order, are industry, commerce and farming. The city is the location of the CFE Agua Prieta power plant.


Agua Prieta city began at the end of the 19th century as railroads were built between Douglas, Arizona, and Nacozari, Sonora, to transport minerals and goods. As a result, the first settlers of the city, then just a few blocks, were those employed by the U.S. mining company Phelps Dodge Corporation, which was based in Douglas, Arizona. One can say that the town was "founded" in 1899, but it was not until a "contract" was made in 1903 between officials and private citizens, to the name Camou, that area "pertaining" to those citizens was made a Commissary of Fronteras county. Agua Prieta city did not became an "independent head of municipality," with its current name and location, until August 28, 1916. Rodolfo L. Márquez was the new municipality's first president. It rose to the status of villa (town) on May 8, 1933, and it was "officially" placed in its current category of city relatively recently, on November 6, 1942.


The climate is cold semi-arid (Köppen: BSk). In a latitude over the geographic subtropics, located in a plateau and in the interior of the continent gives a cold winter but at the same time a climatic pattern often dry and with great thermal amplitude during the day. And on the other hand the summer is very hot due to the absence of cloud cover and the air dry with average in the afternoon well above 30 °C. Most of the time there is no precipitation, but a considerable amount of rain falls between July and August. [2] [3]

Climate data for Agua Prieta (Infonavit 1), elevation: 1,210 metres (3,970 ft), 1951–2010 normals, extremes 1961–2016 [lower-alpha 1]
Record high °C (°F)30.0
Mean maximum °C (°F)23.9
Average high °C (°F)16.6
Daily mean °C (°F)8.0
Average low °C (°F)−0.7
Mean minimum °C (°F)−5.7
Record low °C (°F)−12.5
Average precipitation mm (inches)19.9
Average snowfall cm (inches)0.51
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.1 mm)
Average snowy days (≥ 0.1 in)
Source #1: SMN
Source #2: NOAA (snow days)


Los Apson was one of the most successful musical bands during the second half of the 60s; all original members originated from (A)gua (P)rieta, (Son)ora, hence their name. They led the phenomenon known in Mexico as the "northern invasion". Along with the British influence, Los Apson was one of the main decisive elements that brought new nuances to the Mexican musical movement.


The main sport in Agua Prieta is baseball, closely followed by soccer and basketball. Agua Prieta's professional baseball team is the Toros de Agua Prieta. In 2012, Agua Prieta had its first ever Olympian when Luis Alberto Rivera represented Mexico in the long jump at the XXX Olympic Games in London, UK.






Timeline icon.svgA graphical timeline is available at
Timeline of the Mexican Revolution


List of Mayors

1952–1954 Don Jesus Siqueiros PRI PRI logo (Mexico).svg

1964-1967 Antonio B. Loreto Barthelemy PRI PRI logo (Mexico).svg

1979–1982 Luis Córdova Corrales PAN PAN Party (Mexico).svg

1982–1985 Leonardo Yáñez Vargas PAN PAN Party (Mexico).svg

1985–1988 Bernardino Meza Ortíz PRI PRI logo (Mexico).svg

1988–1991 Baudelio Vildósola Teran PRI PRI logo (Mexico).svg

1991–1994 Bernardino Ibarrola Serrano PRI PRI logo (Mexico).svg

1994–1997 Óscar Ochoa Patrón PAN PAN Party (Mexico).svg

1997–2000 Vicente Terán Uribe PRI PRI logo (Mexico).svg

2000–2003 Irma Villalobos Rascón PRI PRI logo (Mexico).svg

2003–2006 David Figueroa Ortega PAN PAN Party (Mexico).svg

2006–2009 Antonio Cuadras PRI PRI logo (Mexico).svg

2009–2012 Vicente Terán Uribe PSD

2012 (March – September) Francisco Javier Carrera Hernandez PRI PRI logo (Mexico).svg

2012–2015 Irma Villalobos Rascón PRI PRI logo (Mexico).svg

Notable People


  1. Except snowy days and snowfall that correspond to the Bisbee Douglas International Airport, approximately 5 km to the northeast of the meteorological station of the SMN and to about 39 m. The data from the border city are from 1971–2000 and there are no standard combined from 1951 to 2010.

Related Research Articles

Pancho Villa Mexican revolutionary


Mexican Revolution major nationwide armed struggle in Mexico between 1910 and 1920

The Mexican Revolution was a major armed struggle, lasting roughly from 1910 to 1920, that transformed Mexican culture and government. Although recent research has focused on local and regional aspects of the Revolution, it was a genuinely national revolution. Its outbreak in 1910 resulted from the failure of the 31-year-long regime of Porfirio Díaz to find a managed solution to presidential succession. This meant there was a political crisis among competing elites and the opportunity for agrarian insurrection. Wealthy landowner Francisco I. Madero challenged Díaz in the 1910 presidential election, and following the rigged results, revolted under the Plan of San Luis Potosí. Armed conflict broke out in northern Mexico and Díaz was forced out. In the Treaty of Ciudad Juárez, Díaz resigned and went into exile, new elections were to occur in the fall, and an Interim Presidency under Francisco León de la Barra was installed. A new election was held in 1911, bringing Madero to the presidency.

Venustiano Carranza Mexican politician and president of Mexico

José Venustiano Carranza de la Garza was one of the main leaders of the Mexican Revolution, whose victorious northern revolutionary Constitutionalist Army defeated the counter-revolutionary regime of Victoriano Huerta and then defeated fellow revolutionaries after Huerta's ouster. He secured power in Mexico, serving as head of state from 1915 to 1917. With the promulgation of a new revolutionary Mexican Constitution of 1917, he was elected president, serving from 1917 to 1920.

Álvaro Obregón Mexican politician, president of Mexico


Plutarco Elías Calles Mexican military general and politician

Plutarco Elías Calles (1877–1945) was a Mexican military general and politician. He was the powerful interior minister under President Álvaro Obregón, who chose Calles as his successor. The 1924 Calles presidential campaign was the first populist presidential campaign in Mexico's history, as he called for land redistribution and promised equal justice, more education, additional labour rights, and democratic governance.

Ignacio Bonillas Mexican diplomat

Ignacio Bonillas Frajio was a Mexican diplomat. He was a Mexican ambassador to the United States and held a degree in mine engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He was tapped by President Venustiano Carranza as his successor in the 1920 presidential elections, but the revolt of three Sonoran revolutionary generals overthrew Carranza before those elections took place.

Eulalio Gutiérrez President of Mexico

Eulalio Gutiérrez Ortiz was a general in the Mexican Revolution from state of Coahuila. He is most notable for his election as provisional president of Mexico during the Aguascalientes Convention and led the country for a few months between November 6, 1914, and January 16, 1915. The Convention was convened by revolutionaries who had successfully ousted the regime of Victoriano Huerta after more than a year of conflict. Gutiérrez rather than "First Chief" Venustiano Carranza was chosen president of Mexico and a new round of violence broke out as revolutionary factions previously united turned against each other. "The high point of Gutiérrez's career occurred when he moved with the Conventionist army to shoulder the responsibilities of his new office [of president]." Gutiérrez's government was weak and he could not control the two main generals of the Army of the Convention, Pancho Villa and Emiliano Zapata. Gutiérrez moved the capital of his government from Mexico City to San Luis Potosí. He resigned as president and made peace with Carranza. He went into exile in the United States, but later returned to Mexico. He died in 1939, outliving many other major figures of the Mexican Revolution.

Events in the year 1920 in Mexico.

Luis N. Morones Mexican politician

Luis Morones Negrete, also known as Luis Napoleón Morones, was a major Mexican union leader, politician, and government official. He was a pragmatic politician who experienced a rapid rise to prominence from modest roots and made strategic alliances. He served as Secretary General of the Regional Confederation of Mexican Workers and as secretary of economy under President Plutarco Elías Calles, 1924-1928. He is considered the "most important union leader of the 1920s...and undoubtedly decisive in Mexico's post-Revolutionary reconstruction." He was criticized for tying the labor movement closely to the national government and his displays of wealth were unseemly. He fell from power following the successful 1928 presidential run by Alvaro Obregón, who was assassinated before being inaugurated.

Constitutional Army

The Constitutional Army was the army that fought against the Federal Army, and later, against the Villistas and Zapatistas during the Mexican Revolution. It was formed in March 1913 by Venustiano Carranza, so-called "First-Chief" of the army, as a response to the murder of President Francisco I. Madero and Vice President José María Pino Suárez by Victoriano Huerta during La Decena Trágica of 1913, and the resulting usurpation of presidential power by Huerta.

Adolfo de la Huerta President of Mexico

Felipe Adolfo de la Huerta Marcor, known as Adolfo de la Huerta, was a Mexican politician, the 38th President of Mexico from June 1 to November 30, 1920, following the overthrow of Mexican president Venustiano Carranza, with Sonoran generals Alvaro Obregón and Plutarco Elías Calles under the Plan of Agua Prieta. He is considered "an important figure among Constitutionalists during the Mexican Revolution."

Benjamín G. Hill Mexican general

Gen. Benjamín Hill was a military commander during the Mexican Revolution.

Plan of Agua Prieta

The Plan of Agua Prieta was a manifesto, or plan, drawn up by three revolutionary generals of the Mexican Revolution, declaring themselves in revolt against the government of President Venustiano Carranza. It was proclaimed by Obregón on 22 April 1920, in English and 23 April in Spanish in the northern border city of Agua Prieta, Sonora.

Conventionists (Mexico)

The Conventionists were a faction led by Pancho Villa and Emiliano Zapata which grew in opposition to the Constitutionalists of Venustiano Carranza and Álvaro Obregón during the Mexican Revolution. It was named for the Convention of Aguascalientes of October to November 1914.

Roberto V. Pesqueira Mexican federal deputy and confidential agent in the United States.

Roberto V. Pesqueira Morales was a Mexican politician who was elected twice to the Chamber of Deputies and was commissioned by President Venustiano Carranza to work as a confidential agent in the United States and secure diplomatic recognition to his regime.

Second Battle of Agua Prieta

The Second Battle of Agua Prieta, 1 November 1915, was fought between the forces of Pancho Villa and those of the future President of Mexico, Plutarco Elías Calles, a supporter of Venustiano Carranza, at Agua Prieta, Sonora, as part of the Mexican Revolution. Villa's attack on the town was repulsed by Calles. The battle helped to establish Carranza's control over Mexico and directly led to his becoming, with United States recognition, president. Villa believed that Calles had received tactical and strategic support from the United States since the town is located across the border from Douglas, Arizona and launched his raid on Columbus, New Mexico partly as a reprisal.

Salvador Alvarado Mexican statesman and politician

Salvador Alvarado Rubio served in the Mexican military during the Mexican Revolution and as a statesman. He was a general of the Constitutionalist Army under the orders of Venustiano Carranza. Alvarado was the Governor of Yucatán from February 1915 to November, 1918. There is a Salvador Alvarado Municipality in the State of Sinaloa, where he was born, named in his honor.

Events from the year 1915 in Mexico.

José Gonzalo Escobar Mexican military personnel (1892-1969)

General Don José Gonzalo Escobar (1892-1969) was an officer in the Mexican Army and leader of the failed Escobar Rebellion in 1929, which challenged the political power of Plutarco Elías Calles.

Jose Emilio Salinas Balmaceda was a military man and Mexican politician that participated in Mexican Revolution and Governor of Querétaro and Chihuahua.


  1. "Prieto – Spanish to English Translation – Spanish Central". Retrieved July 9, 2018.
  2. "Agua Prieta, Sonora Köppen Climate Classification (Weatherbase)". Weatherbase. Retrieved February 12, 2019.
  3. "Normales Climatologicas: 1951–2010 – Agua Prieta". SMN . Retrieved February 12, 2019.
  4. Our Communities – Douglas Archived March 27, 2016, at the Wayback Machine