The origins of El Lencero date back to 1525, when the lands were granted to a soldier of
Hernán Cortés, Juan Lencero. The site was located along what was called the "Cortés route" — the expedition route from
San Juan de Ulúa to the meeting with
Moctezuma Xocoyotzin in
Tenochtitlán. After the
conquest of Mexico and the establishment of the "camino real" (Veracruz–Mexico route), Lencero and other soldiers, including Juan Sedeño and Alonso de Aguilar, were granted lands and commercial sites to establish
inns along the road. According to Juárez Martínez (1979), El Lencero was one of the first inns founded on the route, making the town of Xalapa and its surrounding region a "mandatory passage area." The hacienda — formerly called El Encero — like others such as Las Ánimas or Lucas Martín, frequently changed ownership and was often subject to speculation due to its location along the camino real and mortgage debts. From 1590, El Lencero and nearby haciendas such as La Concepción and La Orduña had
sugar mills and
trapiches for sugar production, as well as African slaves until the late 18th century. Lencero later became a
Mercedarian friar. In 1595, Jerónimo Pérez de Salazar purchased the estate from innkeeper Hipólito Hernández. During the 17th century, the estate owners also cultivated
sugarcane and raised livestock. Sánchez Gómez (1979) notes that the estate was mainly devoted to cattle and sugar production, practices continued by its many owners from the 18th to 19th centuries. In the 19th century, coffee was also grown at the hacienda, along with cotton textiles, bricks, and roof tiles. In 1788, an appraisal of the estate estimated sixteen "suertes" of sugarcane planted on six hectares, valued at 5,670 "common gold pesos". On 27 May 1842,
Antonio López de Santa Anna purchased El Encero — 1,450 fanegas including chapel and main house — for 50,000 pesos (or 45,000 pesos) — from Juan Francisco Caraza. Two years later, the estate had expanded by 200% through purchases of surrounding lands. On 5 April 1847, Santa Anna arrived at the hacienda and organized an army to defend against the
United States invasion, fortifying strategic points such as Cerro Gordo and Puente Nacional. ==Historic house museum==