Nuevo León

The official name of the municipality is “Villa de Santa María de los Aldamas,” honoring the brothers Juan and Ignacio Aldamas, who, along with Father Hidalgo, were pioneers of the national independence movement. Over time, the municipality has come to be commonly known as “Los Aldamas” for practical reasons. There has been debate regarding the correct spelling of the plural form of a surname used to designate the town, but this stems from the fact that in 1829, Congress decided to add an “s” to the surname Aldama to distinguish this municipality from the town in Nuevo León called “Villa de Aldama.” The town’s origins date back to approximately 1760, when the original Mission of Guadalupe was established on these lands, in the area known as “Puerto de Hoyos,” which served as a watering hole for cattle herds, located along the western bank of the San Juan River. The Franciscan mission apparently did not thrive among the region’s indigenous people, so it was handed over by the Franciscans to the regular clergy. On December 24, 1825, the Congress of the newly created State of Nuevo León issued a decree founding the new town in Puerto de Los Hoyos under the name “Villa de Santa María de Aldama,” which was changed in 1829 to “Villa de Santa María de Los Aldamas” to avoid confusion with the “Villa de Aldama”; During the revolution, the municipality served as the temporary seat of the State Government when General Antonio I. Villarreal took office in the main square, conducting state affairs from there for three months beginning in February 1914.