History of Lo de Marcos

In 1918 when Don Apolonio Palomera and his three sons, Liborio, Pedro and Ramón, arrived at the area that formed a small part of  the vast holdings of the Camarena family from Guadalajara, he could never have envisioned the changes that would occur over the next half-century.

The Camarena Hacienda, operated by Santiago Camarena, a nephew of its owner Doña María Camarena, brought in workers from the coast of Jalisco to harvest palm oil coconuts. In the 1920's, Lo de Marcos saw the establishment of the families Palomera, Cruz and Parra, who would become important to the future development of the town. The abundant fish, clams, oysters, shrimp and lobster in the sea and river near the settlement formed an important part of the inhabitants' diet and the hunting of aligators augmented the meager incomes earned from the Hacienda

During the presidency of Lázaro Cárdenas (1934-40), major land reforms were enacted and many of the large hacienda holdings--that of the Camarena family included--were broken up and converted into ejidos, communal agricultural lands.  The ejido administered the land and only its members could live on, work or profit from this communally-owned land..

Lo de Marcos, as well as nearly all the coast of Nayarit, Jalisco and Colima, remained relatively unpopulated and unknown for the next 30 years: there were no or few roads, no electricity or public
water supply.  But there was a major change in tourism in the entire zone,  benchmarked by the 1964 movie "Night of the Iguana" (Richard Burton, Ava Gardner and Deborah Kerr).  Puerto Vallarta suddenly
became the "in" place, attracting tourists from all over the world to Bahía de Banderas.

From the mid-60's on, a major economic shift occurred as residents began to rely less on agriculture and more on tourism .  Much of the property belonging to President Luis Echevarría (1970-76) and the
ejidos was sold and developed; roads were built and small towns like Sayulita and Rincón de Guaybitos sprang up and grew quickly as both the national and international tourist industry boomed.
Lo de Marcos, which had a population of a few hundred people and only two streets, began to grow.

For many months in the early 1970's, a continuous stream of dump trucks, caterpillar tractors and earth movers could be seen in Lo de Marcos:  the swamp was filled, electricity was made available and a public water tank built.  A few bungalows, trailer parks and restaurants began to appear; schools were built. By 1986, the population of Lo de Marcos stood at 1,238 inhabitants and 290 children were attending public schools.

In spite of growth (the population now approaches 3,000 and some 800 students study in its primary and secondary schools) and proximity to the tourist areas, Lo de Marcos has maintained much of the character in evidence three-quarters of a century ago.  Palm oil coconuts are no longer harvested and the caimanes have disappeared from the environs, but the unspoiled natural beauty of its beaches and jungle remains unchanged.

jim heinrich