Old Pictures

Malecon at 50s in Puerto Vallarta
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Puerto Vallarta History

The history of our beloved Puerto Vallarta is quite interesting, with ups and downs, with luck and with misfortunes, but everything led us to be what we are now, a city with the soul of people and warm and sincere inhabitants.

Fisherman at 50s walking on the beach in Puerto Vallarta
Fisherman walking from the beach to Puerto Vallarta downtown.

Rio Cuale Island

During the first part of the 19th century, Río de Cuale island was inhabited mainly by crocodiles, there were practically no human inhabitants. This beautiful piece of Mexican land remained isolated from the rest of the world like a hidden treasure.

Economy in Puerto Vallarta History

The economic activity was mainly derived from the mountains, in the towns of Cuale, San Sebastian and Mascota, where silver mines abounded.

Founders of Puerto Vallarta

In 1851, Don Guadalupe Sánchez Torres began making regular deliveries of salt to Las Peñas (original name of what we call now as Puerto Vallarta).

On May 31th, 1918 Las Peñas was granted the title of municipality and then received the name of how we currently know it as Puerto Vallarta.

The name was designated inn memory of the illustrious lawyer and governor of the state of Jalisco, Don Ignacio L. Vallarta.

The tourism started in Puerto Vallarta

At around 1930, Puerto Vallarta started to receive large amounts of national and foreign tourists that were captivated and returned year after year to experience the magic of the port; and little by little the word spread around real quick and more tourist came every year.

Hollywood in Puerto Vallarta

For the first time, Puerto Vallarta simultaneously welcomed Hollywood’s famous stars, national celebrities, also U.S. intellectuals such as Deborah Kerr, Ava Gardner, Sue Lyon, Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor and Tennessee Williams, the author of The Night of the Iguana.

La Noche de la Iguana movie casting

In addition of the visiting about the famous stars, the media showed off the pristine beauty of the place.

From that moment on Puerto Vallarta was no longer a secret destiny it was now a treasure to be discovered by the rest of the world.

In the photos of history of Puerto Vallarta, you can see the beaches without hotels

Puerto Vallarta changed

Between 1980 and 1990 the population almost doubled from 57,000 to 112,000 citizens, therefore in 1985 the flow of tourism and immigrants demanded as well as constructions of hotels.

One of the most anticipated annual events in the city is the International Sailfish Tournament. It occurs on the first week of November where fisherman go out into the sea and whoever catches the biggest fish wins the prize.

Additional all the fishes catch will be free grilled for everyone!

Puerto Vallarta today occupies an important position among the rest of the world and it’s the place where México comes to life.

Come see for yourself, we await you with open arms!

Traveler if you wish to acquire more knowledge about Puerto Vallarta History you can book a city tour with our experts; you can do it here or in www.tourpassvallarta.com.

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