San José Xicohténcatl

San José Xicohténcatl is a locality in Huamantla municipality, in eastern Tlaxcala, about 10 km in a straight line northeast of Huamantla city. It sits at roughly 2,440 metres above sea level on the railway line linking Jalapa with Puebla, and the 2020 census counted 7,081 people. That makes it the third-largest locality in the municipality, after Huamantla itself (59,871) and Ignacio Zaragoza (7,897). In 1940 only 575 people lived here and by 2010 the figure was 5,761, fast growth for a farming village.

The name joins the patron saint, Saint Joseph, with Xicohténcatl, the Tlaxcalan lord whose name is borne by many places and streets in the state. Wikipedia gives two founding dates that do not agree, 16 September and 16 December 1931, so only the year is safe to quote.

Life here revolves around the land. Most of Huamantla municipality is rain-fed farmland, and the town is described as a rural community of crops and livestock. The climate is temperate highland, with an average of about 13.8 °C and around 826 mm of rain a year, mostly in summer. In 2020 there were 1,533 occupied homes, nearly all with piped water and electricity, and INEGI lists small food businesses (antojitos, tortillerías, restaurants) with fewer than five employees each. The postal code is 90515.