This brief history is based on a 1994 pamphlet I found in my files. Alamos publications are short-lived, I hope the unknown author doesn't mind if I pass the information on.
1531 - Coronado explores the area.
1630 - Jesuits build a mission near Alamos.
1683 - Silver discovered by Spanish miners near Aduana.
1687 - Father Kino gets financing in Alamos for missions in the north including what is now Sonora, Arizona and California.
1750 - 6,000 inhabitants perish from a series of plagues.
1776 - De Anza and 177 people from Alamos settle San Francisco.
1781 - 46 people from Alamos settle Los Angeles.
1783 - First bishop of Sonora arrives. Population is over 30,000.
1786 - Construction on the present church begins.
1790 - Mining peaks. Alamos is producing the most silver of any area in the world.
1827 - Alamos is made the capital of Occidente (Sonora and Sinaloa).
1865 - Alamos is again made the capital under Emperor Maximilian.
1868 - 100 homes destroyed by floods. (A similar devastating flood occurred in 2008.)
1909 - Most of the mines close because of revolutions and the rising costs of production.
1915 - Pancho Villa's troops enter the town. He is said to have called them off because he planned to live there some day.
1933 - Railroad to Alamos abandoned. Town has only 1,000 inhabitants.
1946 - Expats from the USA "discover" Alamos, begin to immigrate and to restore the old mansions and other buildings.
![[church domes and bell towers rising above the center plaza of Alamos, Mexico: 26k]](../../images/churchal.gif "© Carolyn Leigh, 2005. All rights reserved.")
