Municipality of Minas de Oro
Minas de Oro is a municipality in the department of Comayagua in Honduras.
Its name derives from the mineral wealth in the area, which has been exploited since the late 19th century.
It is also said that during one of Juan Lindo’s visits to this place, he discovered a gold mine, hence the name «Minas de Oro» (Gold Mines).
Foundation
The municipality of Minas de Oro was founded in the year 1534 when inhabitants of Cedros (Francisco Morazán), in their search for gold, started settling in this place, initially called «Minitas Viejas» (Old Mines). Its initial location was where the community of «Casas Viejas» is currently situated.
The foundation of Minas de Oro was mainly due to the abundance of gold deposits, and families from different places came to populate it. Around the year 1744, the first municipality was organized, led by Mayor Manuel Valle.
The legal foundation was officially recognized in the year 1820, but it received the status of municipality in 1844. It is one of the youngest towns in the republic. From 1830, gold seekers from different nationalities began to settle in the area.
Central and South Americans, Spaniards, French, North Americans, and Africans were brought by these settlers. The original settlement was known as Minitas Viejas, located in the present-day Casas Viejas, approximately two kilometers north of the current population center. The name «Minas de Oro» originated from the exploitation of mineral deposits.
During its foundation, Lawyer Juan Lindo, then president of the nation, established a mining company in partnership with a German named Struber, an Englishman named Smith, and a descendant of colonial governor José Tinoco de Contreras. Álvaro Contreras, the Tribune Cedreño, was a descendant of the businessman who was a partner of Lawyer Juan Lindo.
Other notable residents of the community include General Mariano Álvarez, who captured and executed American filibuster William Walker in the colonial city of Trujillo on September 12, 1860, thus ending Walker’s audacious dream of founding a slave-owning Central American republic.
Other long-time residents of the community were Doctor Vicente Mejía Colindres, constitutional President of the Republic from 1929 to 1932, and Professor Joaquín Rodas Mexicanos, a writer of Guatemalan origin whose work «Morazánica» is a tribute to the hero of Central American Union, Francisco Morazán.
During the administration of Doctor Policarpo Bonilla, the municipal seat of the Círculo de Cabañas (former administrative division of Honduras) was moved to this town due to the efforts of its inhabitants. This was resolved around the year 1893, during the time of General Domingo Vásquez. The circle was formed by the municipalities of Minas de Oro, Esquías, and San José del Potrero.
In 1910, American citizen Harold Irvin Brosius arrived in this town as a chemist for the former Gold Cooper Mining Company of Iran. He graduated as a Mining Engineer from the University of Minnesota in the United States in 1904.
He was one of the benefactors of Minas de Oro and founded the El Malcotal Farm School around the year 1914. He was a great educator, and many young people from humble backgrounds and limited resources, as well as young Hondurans, Central Americans, Americans, and South Americans, received education at his school.
In 1930, Canadian nun Mabel Rowel arrived in this place and founded the Evangelical College. She was a deeply humanitarian woman with a clear progressive vision. Both educators were buried in the cemetery of this town according to their express wishes. In 1943, American priest Juan T. Newell arrived and founded the kindergarten, primary school, and San Antonio College.
True apostles of education, the husband and wife teachers Libia Rodríguez and David de Jesús Pineda, of Nicaraguan and Salvadoran origin respectively, conducted their teaching work in the community. Currently, Minas de Oro has a kindergarten, four primary schools, two daytime secondary schools, one evening secondary school, and a diversified college offering Secretarial, Bachelor’s, and Commerce programs.
The main communication route with Tegucigalpa was planned and directed in the 1930s by native engineer Antonio Zavala Sarmiento. The citizens of the town enthusiastically contributed to the construction of this road, which crosses the Río Grande or Sulaco, the border with the Francisco Morazán department. Minas de Oro, like almost all towns in Honduras, has its legends, and most of them revolve around the greed for gold.
Another significant detail is that this town was the first in the republic to establish a Peace and Progress Committee in the 1920s and 1930s. It is hoped that one day it will become a tourist center, as the beauty of the place and its clear climate and water are remarkable.
The municipality of Minas de Oro is located in the central region of Honduras, in the north of the Comayagua Department. Its territorial boundaries are bordered by the Agua Caliente, Sulaco, and Yauyupe rivers. It shares the artificial lake of the General Francisco Morazán hydroelectric dam, El Cajón. It is surrounded by the Grande, El Cobre, and El Peñón hills.
- Territorial Extension: 398.87 km²
- It is located northeast of the Comayagua department, 150 km from Tegucigalpa, M.D.C.
Twelve streams cross the town, and when sunlight shines on their crystalline waters, the shining sediment known by many as «engaña bobos» (fool’s gold) or «oro de tontos» (fool’s gold) is clearly visible at the bottom. This necessitates the construction of bridges. From the summit of Cerro de Cáscaras, north of the town, one can see the town in the shape of a large green cross resembling a Christmas nativity scene.
Climate
The town has an excellent climate, with temperatures ranging from 18 to 28 degrees Celsius in winter. The annual rainfall is approximately 100.5 inches. The altitude of the populated area is 3,281 feet above sea level, with surrounding heights reaching up to 5,000 feet, including the famous Cerro Pelón or «Cacalotepe,» which has two peaks and is believed to be an ancient volcano due to the scattered granite rocks found throughout its contour. From its summit, communities in three departments can be seen: Valle de Siria, Talanga, Yorito, and El Río Grande or Sulaco, among others.
Limits
- North: Municipality of Victoria
- South: Municipalities of Esquías and San Luis
- East: Municipality of El Porvenir and San José del Potrero
- West: Municipality of La Libertad
Aldeas
- El Agua Caliente
- El Barro
- El Caliche
- El Carao
- El Pataste
- El Peñón
- El Socorro
- El Tablón
- El Zapote
- Hoya del Blanco
- Irán
- Joya del Blanco
- Jupuare
- La Chacara
- La Joya de Mulas
- La Laguna
- La Peña
- La Pimientía
- Las Majadas
- Las Piñuelas
- Los Pozos
- Majada
- San Isidro del MalPaso
- MalPaso de Agua Blanca
- Montesitos
- Ojo de Agua
- Ojo de Agua o Pozo Zarco
- Palo de Agua
- Patastillo
- Pie de La Cuesta
- Potrerillos
- Río Colorado
- San José del Coyolar
- Santa cruz
Caseríos
- Canquigue
- Casas Viejas
- Casitas
- Cerro El Sombrero
- Cofradía
- Corralitos
- Cristales
- El Bijao
- El Carrizalito
- El Chorro
- El Filo
- El Guarumal
- El Higuerito
- El Palote
- El Paraíso
- El Salitre
- El Trozo
- Hacienda El Roble
- Hacienda Vallecillos
- Italia
- Jicarito
- La Canada
- La Ceiba
- La Florida
- La Granadilla
- La Marihuana
- La Piedra
- La Rosita
- La Tejera
- Lagunitas
- Las Cruces
- Las Lomitas
- Las Ventanas
- Lava Oro
- Los Chagüites
- Maguelito
- Montañuela
- Nicaraguita
- Nueva York
- Majada de Trino
- Pedernales
- Piedra Ancha
- Platanares
- Quebrachal
- Terrero Colorado
- Tontoles
- Las Huertas
Population
The current estimated population is 10,000.
Economy
This region is rich in gold, copper, iron, platinum, lead, silver, and other minerals. It also has unexploited marble in various varieties and forms. The first settlers arrived in this area around the 1780s due to the exploitation of minerals. The municipality’s foundation began to take shape around 1830, and it achieved its establishment as a municipality in 1844, with Manuel del Valle serving as the first mayor.
The local economy revolves around agriculture, with the main crops being beans, corn, coffee, and vegetables in considerable proportions. Livestock farming is also present but on a smaller scale.
Minas de Oro is known for its shoe manufacturing industry in the urban area, and it holds the first place in the department in terms of shoemaking.
Education
In the 1990s, Minas de Oro was considered the «City of Education» in Honduras.
- The El Malcotal School, which served as a precursor to the Pan-American Agricultural School «El Zamorano.»
- The Evangelical Institute from 1956 to 1993 (no longer exists) with boarding facilities, where students from all over Honduras and neighboring countries studied.
- The San Antonio Institute (no longer exists)
- Regional Technical Institute:
This institute has the largest center in the region and accommodates students from neighboring municipalities. It also has two facilities in the villages of Majadas and Pimientilla, where they offer a bachelor’s degree program.
- Liceo San Antonio School
- Mariano Álvarez School
- Eleazar Zuniga School
There are also three official kindergartens, with two more in the process of being established. The beautiful facilities of the Evangelical Institute are currently abandoned, but one of them houses the Maranata Student Center (CDI), which provides support to young people through international operations, imparting education based on Christian principles.
