1945 to 1949: After the World War

On September 8, 1945, the Peña Cultural Nogalense is founded with ten members: Ricardo Aguilar, Alonso Avilés, Dr. Ramiro Corona Godoy, Humberto Choza Cañedo, Jorge López Islas, Dr. Baltasar López Serrato, Alberto Mongerot, Raúl F. Romero, Luis F. Velasco, and Jorge Valencia. Twenty days later, a public meeting of PAN takes place, in it, Luis Calderon Vega asks for the participation of nogalenses in the Party, and the theme of "dealing on the position of the Party, regarding the coming Presidential succession..." is discussed. Ending the year, the new high school building is opened, although it hasn´t been finished yet because Governor Rodriguez built it in a lot that hadn´t been legally acquired. Because of this, the school directors will try to make the Federal Congress issue a decree of expropriation of the lot. Finally, it will be signed on February 6, 1946.

On November, 18, the Presidential Candidate, Miguel Aleman, arrives at Nogales. Jesus Siqueiros had just started his welcoming speech when the stage fell down, although luckily only a boy is slightly injured: Enrique Navarro.

Ending the year, and with the aim of alleviating somewhat the number of mobile sellers in downtown Nogales, Calle Ochoa is closed to traffic, and a number of booths is built to realocate the sellers there. However, some of the Nogales silver traders take over the booths, and the mobile sellers return to the streets. It will take several years of legal fights between the Ayuntamiento and the sellers to recuperate that street and return it to normal transit.

And although officially the red light district on Canal Street has been declared officially closed at the end of the World War, scandals can be seen happening daily there.

Starting 1946, on January 13, Jesus Siqueiros goes to Mexico City in businesses from the Bloque Periodistico, as well as the erection of the Monument to the Mother, of whose Patronato he is Presidente. The following day, Ezequiel Padilla, precandidate to the Presidency of Mexico, visits Nogales, and in the meeting to receive him, both Dr Arriola and Gustavo Escoboza participate. On the 21, the Union de Comerciantes en Pequeño from Calle Ochoa is organized. Santiago E. Martinez is the General Secretary, and Mario de la Fuente and Prof Jesus Romo Garcia are counsellors.

Besides all of this, and associated with the development of the postwar Nogales, more bars directed now towards a more urban society are opened. This way, another image of Nogales will start developing. It is an image where the sordid connotations of alcohol consumption are left behind. This way, the Puerta del Sol on Obregon, as well as El Molino Blanco, or La Terraza will initiate operations.

Regionally, also after the legalization of alcohol, the Tecate brewery opens in Baja California. Francisco Padres will be it´s agent in Northern Sonora, while the Coca Cola Co will have as it own agent Francisco Enciso, while Hector Rodriguez will be the local representative. In other words, this is the start of new ways of massive commercialization. As a symbol of this change, the nogalenses watch how, day after day, a new building in downtown Nogales is being built by Jesus Irastorza. It is a new hotel in construction.

Starting 1947, the Canaco direction is renovated. Gonzalo Guerrero Almada is it´s new President, and Rafael T. Caballero the Secretary. A few days later, the Union de Choferes Internacionales, belonging to CTS also is organized. Humberto Cerezo is the General Secretary, Roberto Sanchez the Treasurer, and Fernando Zermeño the Secretary of Organization and Publicity. By then, a new impulse is given to the collection of funds to construct the Monument to the Mother.

In December of the previous year, an embargo to the importation of cattle had been issued by the US government, to block the entrance of foot and mouth disease. The Sonora Regional Cattle Association in January gets the promise from the Sonora governor to build a cattle canning operation, and Emiliano Corella is chosen as it´s President, to promote it´s construction with the governor.

Starting February 1, the newspaper El Noroeste changes from an afternoon to a morning daily. It had begun operations on March 20, 1931.

That year, the Fiestas de las Flores are already very well organized and have become the main Sonora festivity. On May 8, the Music Band of Artillery as well as the Marine Band are presented in Nogales. Their director, Estanislao Garcia, gives the honor to conduct it to Manuel Pelayo, author of the vals "Morir Soñando, while the other composer who is also offered the same honora, Jesus Peralta, better known among the nogalenses as Chito Peralta, with tears in his cheeks, declines the honor. A little later, because it is very hard to obtain flowers in May, their name will be changed to Fiestas de Mayo.

Also then, Pedro Gonzalez, owner of the Curios Shop La Princesa, decides to sell it, and Isaac Zaied buys it. Zaied had arrived at Nogales from the Cajeme Valley, to where he also arrived very young from Belen, where he was born on October, 1904.

Ending June of 1947, the Nogson club is formed, while the daily Accion initiates the publication of the Galeria de Sonorenses Ilustres, whose author, Prof. Eduardo W. Villa, had presented it in 1945 in the Concurso del Libro Sonorense, although instead of winning, it made Governor Rodriguez to fire Villa as Chief of the Department of Historical Research of Sonora.

The following month, the eternal problem of Nogales surfaces again: the cyclic lack of water during Summer, before the coming of the rains. Now the complaints are that the truck from the Ayuntamiento that distributes it, instead of giving it away, sells it, while the private sellers of water, who sell it in burros, sell it at 4 alcohol cans from $1 up to $1.50, while those who work in trucks sell it at 2 cans for 25 cts.

The second Sunday of 1948, the Lions Club opens the Parque Infantil, built immediately South of the entrance to Cañada Heroes. Also during those days, the acqueduct of 32 Km to supply water to Nogales from Paredes, in the Santa Cruz River, is finished, as well as a reservoir tank on Heroes Canyon. On the 30th, Ignacio Asunsulo, the sculptor of the Monument to the Mother, arrives at Nogales to direct the works of installation of his sculpture. The idea of this sculpture had been started through the initiative of the Alianza Hispanoamericana. It will be formally inaurugated in the Plaza 13 de Julio. Also that January, the Rodriguez School is formally opened.

A few days later, the Firefighters ask for help to build the second level of their building. They have a collection going on, although they only got $18,000, and they need $120,000. They plan on building in the second level a library, as well as a meeting salon.

On February 27, the new location of the Peña Cultural Nogalense is opened, in three rooms rented to Luis Santacruz. They have now seventeen members. A few days later, the brick factory Ladrillera de Nogales, owned by Hector Monroy and Raul Caravajal, acquires new machinery to increase their brick production.

Starting April, a contraband of US with a value of $100,000 is discovered in Santa Ana, hidden in a train wagon. The new economic order of postwar Nogales is being structured.