Neighborhood of Mexico City in Cuauhtemoc
Colonia Obrera
is an
administrative neighborhood
of the
borough of Cuauhtemoc
in the center of
Mexico City
. It was established in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and became home to many artisans and industrial workmen. Up to the early 1980s, a number of sewing factories were still located here, but the
1985 Mexico City earthquake
destroyed many, including the Topeka factory in which many of the seamstresses died inside. Today, the area has a high crime rate but there have been efforts to revitalize it.
Location
[
edit
]
Buying and selling tamales in the neighborhood
The neighborhood is bounded by Chimalpopoca Street to the north,
Eje Central
to the west, San Antonio Abad to the east and Eje Tres Contreras to the south. In addition to the streets that define its borders, other major streets include the elongations of 5 de Febrero, Isabel la Catolica and Bolivar south from the
historic center
. Major east-west roads include Boturini, Manuel J.Othon, Manuel Payno and Jose Maria Roa Barcenas.
[2]
History
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The project to create the neighborhood was announced in 1889, with the original name of El Cuartelito. It was laid out and lots were sold before official authorization or municipal services were established.
[2]
Many of the lots created here were acquired by artisans.
[3]
Efforts to make the lands legal and to install municipal services began around the same time. By 1920, the colonia had taken on its modern form and a canal which used to drain the area was dried out and covered over to make Jose T. Cuellar Street. Around this time was built the Santiago Galas building, which was the station for the FF.CC. Mexico Tlalpan rail line for many years.
[2]
In the first decades of the 20th century, it was one of the most important neighborhoods as industrialization took hold in the city. During this time period, many artisans, semi-skilled and skilled labor were organizing into unions. In this neighborhood brothers
Ricardo
and
Enrique Flores Magon
organized the
Partido Liberal Mexicano
. They also published a newspaper called Regeneracion beginning in 1900.
[3]
Bronze statue at corner of Manuel J Othon and San Antonio Abad at site of collapsed factory
Up until the 1980s, the northeast of this neighborhood had a number of sewing factories, especially near station
San Antonio Abad
. During the 1985 Mexico City earthquake, a number of these were destroyed. One in particular, called “Topeka” was located on Manuel Jose Othon Street and was the scene of many deaths.
[4]
[5]
The magazine
Proceso
reports that by the time rescue workers got to the building, the owners were already in a hurry to demolish it, without trying to rescue or recover the seamstresses that were trapped inside.
[6]
About 150 bodies of workers had already been pulled from the wreckage by other workers with their bare hands.
[5]
The collapse of this factory exposed the deplorable conditions that many of these seamstresses were subject to. The building that collapsed, as well as many others, were found to be decrepit. It came to be known that many of these women had to work extended hours with little or no compensation, and few, if any of the labor laws on the books were being followed. This event made the garment industry of the area a labor embarrassment.
[7]
All that is left to remind of the factory is a small empty lot with a bronze statue of a woman sewing to commemorate the event.
[5]
On the rest of the property, apartments have been built.
[5]
Crime and efforts to renew the area
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]
The colonia is located in the borough of Cuauhtemoc, which has some of the highest crime rates in the city the same as
Tepito
, one of the notorious places for being unsafe. Obrera is listed in the top ten as far as crimes reported, which include small scale drug trafficking and indigence.
[8]
Young architects from Mexico City, participating in the XI
International Architecture Show
in Italy, proposed a project for this area based on the philosophy of recycling of
urban land
. Their project was sponsored by the
Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes
and the
Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes
. The goal of this project was to convert older industrial and warehouse space into 5,000 new living quarters, centered on
Ixtapaluca Street
.
[9]
For a long time (up to 2000), the area was known for being a football soccer fan neighborhood, on every street (
Roa Barcenas
,
5 de Febrero
,
20 de Noviembre
, etc.). On any given Sunday, it was safe to say that you could easily find an ongoing soccer match?better known as
reta
(short for
retadora
, i.e., a "challenge") -- in which about 8-20 young children and adults met to participate for a moment and feel like great players.
Transportation
[
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]
Public transportation
[
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]
The area is served by the
Mexico City Metro
.
Metro stations
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Delegacion Cuauhtemoc.
"Delegacion Cuauhtemoc Entorno"
(in Spanish). Archived from
the original
on 2018-06-12
. Retrieved
2018-06-11
.
- ^
a
b
c
"Colonia Obrera"
(in Spanish). Mexico City:
Cuauhtemoc, D.F.
Archived from
the original
on August 10, 2008
. Retrieved
July 11,
2010
.
- ^
a
b
"Obrera"
(in Spanish). Mexico City: Mexico City Metro Authority. Archived from
the original
on August 8, 2011
. Retrieved
July 11,
2010
.
- ^
(in Spanish). Mexico City. 1987. pp. 8?28.
CS1 maint: location missing publisher (
link
)
- ^
a
b
c
d
Notimex (2005-09-19).
"Misa en honor de costureras muertas en 1985"
(in Spanish). Archived from
the original
on 2008-10-22
. Retrieved
2008-10-09
.
- ^
Ponce, Roberto.
"Los buenos los malos y las feas cifras y realidades del terremoto segun un libro de un brigadista de Placido Domingo"
(in Spanish). Mexico City: Proceso
. Retrieved
2008-10-11
.
[
permanent dead link
]
- ^
Flores, Miguel Angel.
"Zona de Desastre"
(in Spanish). Proceso
. Retrieved
2008-10-11
.
[
dead link
]
- ^
Servin Vega, Mirna (July 28, 2007).
"En la delegacion Cuauhtemoc, siete de las 10 colonias mas conflictivas del DF"
[In the Cuauhtemoc borough, seven of ten of the most conflictive colonias in the Distrito Federal].
La Jornada
(in Spanish). Mexico City:
UNAM
. Retrieved
July 11,
2010
.
- ^
CONACULTA
.
"Buscan en la colonia obrera alternativas de vivienda economica"
[Looking for alternative affordable housing in Colonia Obrera].
Artes e Historia
(in Spanish). Mexico. Archived from
the original
on July 19, 2011
. Retrieved
July 11,
2010
.
See also
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]
19°24′49.61″N
99°8′19.45″W
/
19.4137806°N 99.1387361°W
/
19.4137806; -99.1387361