Joachín

Joachín is a congregación of the municipality of Tierra Blanca, in the Papaloapan basin, and the largest community there after the city itself. It has about 2,600 inhabitants, sits low on the plain at under 50 metres above sea level, and borders the hamlets of Paso de la Palma, Loma de los Pichones and El Contento. It stands out for a level of trade unusually lively for a place its size.

The railway made it. Joachín station was built on the line of the old Veracruz-to-Isthmus Railway, on the Veracruz–Tierra Blanca section, under concession number 123, dated 28 February 1893 and approved by the Ministry of Communications and Public Works. More than a century later the village is still a significant stop on that route.

The ground here holds older history too. Important archaeological pieces have turned up on the congregación's land and ended up scattered among the Xalapa Museum of Anthropology, the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City, museums in the United States and Europe, and private collections. The best known locally are two carved stones found in the Nopiloa area, nicknamed "La Piedra del Sapo" (the Toad Stone) and "La Cabeza" (the Head); they once stood in the park of Tierra Blanca and are now displayed at that city's Casa de la Cultura.