Presa Necaxa

Just northeast of Huauchinango, the Necaxa River once crashed down two great falls, the Salto Chico and Salto Grande, with a combined drop of more than 300 meters. The name is usually traced to a Totonac word meaning "place of noise in the water." At the end of the 19th century a French doctor, Arnold Vaquié, saw the power in those falls and won a concession to harness them, but his project stalled for lack of money.

In 1902 the rights passed to the Mexican Light and Power Company, and the American engineer Frederick Stark Pearson built the Necaxa hydroelectric system, damming the Necaxa, Tenango and Xaltepuxtla rivers. When it opened in 1905 it was the first dam in Mexico built to generate electricity and was counted among the largest hydroelectric plants in the world. The old village of Necaxa was flooded by the reservoir; its people were moved to Nuevo Necaxa, and some chose to settle on a nearby hill instead, founding Necaxaltépetl.

Today the reservoir lies among steep green mountains next to Nuevo Necaxa, the small seat of Juan Galindo municipality, and the early 20th-century power plant still works. Most of the river now runs through the turbines, so the famous falls often carry far less water than they did a century ago.