Acazónica

Acazónica is now a hill-country village of just over a thousand people (1,123 in the 2020 census), at about 340 metres and some 20 km southwest of Paso de Ovejas, but in colonial times the name belonged to one of the largest haciendas in central Veracruz. The Jesuits founded it early in the 17th century to fund their colleges by raising sheep, and studies of the estate describe lands stretching from the coast to the slopes of the Cofre de Perote and Pico de Orizaba.

Wool was the business. More than 25,000 sheep spent the year on the high pastures of Totutla and Tlacotepec and were driven down to the hot lowlands at the end of summer for shearing; the wool was stored in the Los Portales house in Paso de Ovejas and carried by mule to the port, about eight hours away, to be shipped to Spain. The flocks crossing the Atliyac river gave neighbouring Paso de Ovejas ("sheep crossing") its name. The work was done by Indigenous labourers and enslaved Africans, and by the late 18th century the local population was largely of mixed African and Indigenous descent. Alexander von Humboldt mentioned the estate for its selenite (espejuelo) quarries.

After the Jesuits were expelled in 1767 the hacienda found no buyer; from 1784 Indigenous workers, shepherds and labourers fought in court for the land, in 1790 they formed an Indian republic and in 1802 the town of San José de Acazónica was founded, serving as municipal seat until 1870. During the War of Independence Félix Fernández spent two years here as an insurgent colonel and took the name Guadalupe Victoria, under which he became Mexico's first president. The village celebrates Saint Joseph on 19 March and is known for its weavers of papaya baskets, ropes, twine and brooms.