Destinations
HISTORICAL WALKING TOUR
A Self-guided Walk
You can do this walk on your own with this Google Earth map if you want to download it or the computer drawn map further below...OR you can just stop by our offices in either Creel, Chihuahua or El Fuerte, Sinaloa to pick up a more printable version for free. Real de Carapoa also carries our map at their hotel in El Fuerte. Start in the main plaza, facing the Palacio Municipal and follow the numbers in a big circle around the downtown area. This map is hardly all inclusive but we can only do so much at one time. We'll add more buildings and histories as time goes by...
1. Municipal Building - The Municipal building was built in 1903 by Don Rafael J. Almada but wasn't finished until 1907. The local Post Office is located inside this building if you are looking for it.
2. Posada del Hidalgo - The land where this hotel now sits, was once the back part of the origianl Fort. Many constructions have taken place over the centuries. The most famous one being the construction of the private home of Don Rafael Almada, one of the most prominent figures in the area of late 19th century , who also built the Municipal palace during the same period.
3. El Fuerte Museum - although this is only a replica of the old fort, it is part of our walking tour as it houses fantastic old photos of El Fuerte at different times throughout the history of the town. The original Fort was much larger and covered the ground where Posada del Hidalgo hotel sits too.
4. This building was originally built by the Franciscan friars in 1650 to be used as the rectory for the church that was rebuilt in 1643, inside the Fort across the street. It was used as a rectory until the early 1800's when the rectory was moved to a new location as more space was needed. Joaquin de Ybarra was the first private owner and it stayed in his family for the next 200 years. Don Aurelio Ybarra Gastelum, the owner and builder of (#7), grew up in this house when his parents bought it in 1850. It is said by the locals that one of Aurelio's brothers was demented and was "put out of his misery" by his parents and was buried in one of the walls in the front section of the building. This is of course all heresay, but it is true that the mother, Guadalupe Ybarra, was seen on many occassions dragging chains from the house to the church. It is supposed she did this in penance for her crime. The present day owners did find a body buried in the wall of one of the rooms facing the present day church, when they were converting the house into the hotel it is today.
5. The first church was made of wood and built by the Franciscan friars in the mid 1500's, but was burned to the ground by the Yoremes Indians. It was rebuilt out of adobe in 1643. The interesting part of this story is that the original church grounds were not where they are now. The church was orginally constr ucted inside the old Fort and was located in what is now the rear part of Posada del Hidalgo, in the room called "Suite Carapoa". It is said that the church was moved from the Fort, to where it now sits, and rebuilt again out of adobe in 1728-1731. This church was destroyed once again in another uprising. Construction on the new church that we see today, was begun in 1743 and was completed years later but without the domes or tower. They were added in later.
6. Los Portales de Poniente is the twin to Casa de Los Portales (6.5). The original building dates back to the year 1800 but modifications have been made to the facade.
6.5 The rear part of Casa de Los Portales on Constitution street, dates back to about 1750 and is pure stone. The front part that faces the plaza was remodeled at the end of the 19th century.
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7. Don Aurelio Ybarra Gastelum built this mansion in 1870-1880. It was used for his mercantile business and his home was the adjoining house.
8. Known as Portales de Don Dario Orrantia, this mansion was bought by Don Dario in the late 19th century. He had a very elegant wife and a plethora of daughters and they turned this house into a beautiful paradise where they threw festive parties and social events. His brother , Francisco Orrantia y Sarmiento, lived across the street (#9).
9. This house was built in 1850 by Don Francisco Camilo Orrantia and it was he who added the second floor. After his death, the house was left to 5 sons and daughters, his son, Francisco Orrantia y Sarmiento, eventually bought out his siblings shares and decorated the place in the French style that we see today.
10. Casa de Las Arcadias- According to the legend, Dona Arcadia - Countess of Retes, lived here with her aristocratic husband when they relocated to Mexico from Spain. They began purchasing precious metals and hording them away in a fake wall in the house. Apparently the couple couldn't have children and the husband kept getting the maids pregnant so that they had to in turn murder the maids and bury them in the house in order to avoid being shamed in the community for his philandering behavior. After the second murder, the husband decided it was time to "do away" with his wife so that he could have children of his own and continue his line but she killed him first though and claimed he died of food poisoning. When she was out of the country , taking her husband's body home, the war of Independence broke out and she could not return for many years. The house was sold to Don Ambrosio Guerrero Valenzuela in 1850. He had a daughter whom he had named Arcadia Gonzalez in 1842, who is believed to be named after the Arcadia from "the legend". Arcadia eventually married Don Dario Orrantia (#8), and the house was again sold , this time to Don Porfirio Quintero Lares who noticed the different widths in the walls and discovered the gold bars in the fake wall. Also, during a constuction project to replace the flooring in one of the rooms, a construction worker found a body buried in the floor, who was believed to be one of the unfortunate maids.
11. Casa de la Cultura.This house was originally built by the Jesuits in the 18th century and you'll notice many religious symbols adorning the building, including the Jesuit symbol above the door. The house was abandoned for many years and passed through different hands until Manuel Vega Sarmiento inherited it, finally ,in 1853. You'll notice it's arches are facing the alleyway rather than the street as is traditional. This is because Manuel despised his brother and couldn't stand to see him across the way. As it was normal to sit out on your front steps under your arches to relax, Manuel decided to move what was the front of the house with it's arches, to the side alleyway in order to avoid seeing his hated brother. This house was also used for almost a century, from 1878 to about 1980, as the public jail. The building was used at one point as the Municiapl building , briefly, before today's Municipal Building was built. The clock tower was added in 1899.
12. Casa Colorado - was built in the 19th century by a couple Spaniards and is called Casa Colorado because it was painted red. Rumor has it that a previous owner found gold bars buried in the walls while doing a renovation. The 3 Amigos offices were here at one time but we moved to 100 Reforma now on the river, only 3 blocks from town.
13. General Macias's House. The front part of this house is now a restaurant that is quite well known in El Fuerte, called El Meson de General. General Macias was an important political figure, the Secretary of Defense and governor of Sinaloa.
14. Old Stagecoach Hotel where the stagecoach line would stop in El Fuerte. The stagecoach line was one of the first means of transportation in the area to move silver from Alamos towards Mazatlan, passing through El Fuerte. It's been rebuilt now and is called La Choza Hotel. There is a great restaurant here called La Diligencia too.
15. Casa de Los Constituyentes - The powers of the Western State, what is now known as Sonora and Sinaloa , was established in El Fuerte in 1824 in this building when El Fuerte was the capital of this territory from 1824 - 1826. The first printing press in northwestern Mexico was installed in this house in 1825.
Please note that our El Fuerte branch office has been closed due to low levels of tourism in the canyons since 2010. We've closed this branch office in an effort to keep expenses down in order to give you the lowest prices on tours and rentals. Our Creel office is our headquarters and will forever remain open. You'll notice our office in El Fuerte is still listed on the maps below but that office is indeed closed as of May 27th, 2011.
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