Calvillo

History

Calvillo lies in a valley that opens onto the Caxcán, or Juchipila, canyon shared by Zacatecas, Jalisco, and Aguascalientes. In colonial times the area was known as the valley of Huejúcar, place of willows, and belonged to the kingdom of Nueva Galicia; the only organized community and church was at Ojocaliente. A parish of San José de Huejúcar was created in the 18th century, work on the church of the Señor del Salitre began in 1772, and in 1778 the landowner José Calvillo donated the ground for a new town, which took his name.

His nephew, the priest Pablo José Calvillo, later served as chaplain and confessor to Miguel Hidalgo's troops, and José María Bocanegra, Mexico's third president, is also linked to the municipality. At the end of 1848 Calvillo received the title of city. During the French Intervention, French troops occupied the northern part of the valley.

The modern town owes its prosperity to a fruit. After the Cristero War, guava growing boomed and became the main business of the municipality, which today leads national production and turns the fruit into candies, pastes, and liqueurs celebrated at the Guava Fair each December. Embroidery and drawn-thread work survive in nearby villages. Calvillo was named a Pueblo Mágico in 2012.