Dolores Hidalgo

History

Before the Spanish, this plain belonged to the Guamare confederation of Chichimeca peoples, and there is no sign of a settlement where the town stands; it was probably a place of passage. In the 16th century the land became the cattle estate of Hacienda de la Erre, under the jurisdiction of San Miguel el Grande. A congregation dedicated to Our Lady of Sorrows was established in 1568 and grew slowly on hacienda land.

The vicarage moved from La Erre to Dolores in 1710, and work on the parish church began in 1712 and ended in 1778. In 1790 Dolores was raised to the rank of pueblo, with its own town council, independent of San Miguel. Miguel Hidalgo took over the parish in 1803. On September 16, 1810, with Allende, Aldama and Abasolo, he rang the bell and gave the Grito de Dolores that started the war of independence.

After independence the town added Hidalgo's name. Benito Juárez declared it a city in 1863 while staying in Hidalgo's house, and in 1947 it received the official title Cradle of National Independence. Since 1940, presidents have often come here to give the Grito. In 1957 Virginia Soto Rodríguez was elected municipal president, the first woman in Mexico democratically elected to that office. Today ceramics are the main trade.