The name "Tlacotalpan" is a Spanish modification of the
Nahuatl "Tlaxcotaliapan" which means "land between the waters." This refers to the island of the original settlement in the
Papaloapan River. When the north bank of the river was modified, the island was adjoined to the mainland. In the mid-19th century, the name was San Cristobal Tlacotalpan, but has since been shortened. Much is not known about the pre Hispanic history of the area, but the area was originally inhabited by the
Totonacs. These were later displaced by the
Toltecs in the 12th century. In 1461,
Moctezuma Ilhuicamina began the first Aztec efforts to expand here, then controlled by the Cotaxtlan dominion. In 1475,
Axayacatl conquered it along with Coixtlahuaca, Tochtepec and Cosamaloapan, giving all these areas their current names. In 1518,
Pedro de Alvarado led an expedition sailing up the Papaloapan area and in 1521,
Hernán Cortés sent
Gonzalo de Sandoval here to search for gold. After the
Conquest in 1521, Alfonso Romero received the area as an
encomienda. In the current municipality, in a place then called Coanapa-Ayotzinapa, Cortés set up the first sugar cane mill in Mexico in 1532. In 1550, it was granted by the Spanish king to Gaspar Rivakeneyra on which he kept livestock. He could not prevent fishermen from establishing the town but he required them to build a chapel dedicated to Our Lady of Candlemas. Colonization of the area was slow with only twelve Spaniards in 1544 and no more than 320 by 1777. Figures on other populations during the colonial period are missing but in 1808 there were 1,156 indigenous inhabitants and 1,616 "pardos" or
people of indigenous and African heritage. At the beginning of the 17th century, there was an attempt to subordinate the area to
Cosamaloapan, but the indigenous population here resisted it successfully. In the 17th century, it became a commercial center for surrounding haciendas, which led to growth in its Spanish population. Its wealth and status as a port attracted English pirates in the 17th and 18th centuries and the city was burned down once by them in 1667. In 1714, the Papaloapan flooded and forced the movement of the city to its current location, then called Chuniapa. The town suffered three other major fires in 1698, 1788 and 1790. The last two prompted authorities to require rebuilding with stone walls, tile roofs and the establishment of open spaces with trees. Those who could not rebuild in this fashion were forced to move to the eastern part of the town which had more relaxed requirements. Most of the oldest buildings date from this time and determined the common style of large houses with courtyards, tile roofs and arched passages. The municipality's territory was fixed by the end of the 18th century. Tlacotalpan reached its height as a port city in the 19th century. At the beginning of this century, French, German and Italian immigrants came to the area to plant and weave cotton, to be sold in English markets. Starting in 1821, Tlacotalpan experienced economic grown as a port for products from
Oaxaca and
Puebla going to
Veracruz and abroad to
New Orleans,
Havana and
Bordeaux. By 1855 it was home to eighteen
steamships and a large sailing ship which transported timber, tobacco, cotton, grain, sugar, brandy, leather, salted meat, crocodiles, heron feathers, furniture and soap. In 1825 one of Mexico's first nautical colleges was opened, founded by
Guadalupe Victoria. In 1847, Tlacotalpan was officially declared a town in recognition of its participation in the defense against U.S. forces in the
Mexican–American War. In 1864 the town was taken by French forces under Marechal one day after taking Alvarado. Later that same year, Republican forces under Alejandro García retook the area. In 1865 it was declared a city and provisional capital for its resistance against the French. In 1879, Miguel Z. Cházaro founded Veracruz's third preparatory school. Here
Porfirio Díaz organized an uprising against the government of
Sebastián Lerdo de Tejada, which led to a name change of Tlacotalpan de Porfirio Díaz in 1896. This was changed to the current version after the
Mexican Revolution. At the beginning of the 20th century, the town had eight schools, three hotels, nine factories and 100 single-storied houses. However, in the first part of the 20th century, Tlacotalpan's importance as a port, which had sustained it since the colonial period, waned with the construction of the
Ferrocarril del Istmo railroad. Its population grew only slightly from 1950 to 1980 and has remained stable since then at a bit over 8,800. In 1968, conservation efforts began when Tlacotalpan was declared a "typical city" of Mexico by the state of Veracruz. In 1986 it was declared a Historic Monuments Zone by the federal government to be managed by the
Instituto Nacional de Antropologia e Historia (INAH) and the
Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes (INBA). In 1985 and 1997 a transition zone was established which includes areas across the river which serves as a buffer to the main conservation area. In 1998, it was named a World Heritage Site by UNESCO for its history as a river port, its architecture and its traditions in poetry, music and dance. Since these declarations INAH and the Fondo Nacional para la Cultura y las Arts (FONCA) have worked to revitalize the city and improve the economy, particularly through tourism. == Notable people ==