Very Rare Charter for the Hacienda de la Condesa - Mexico City's First Proper Modern Subdivision
Detailed charter and by-laws of this pioneering residential subdivision of Mexico City. The corporate entity, Colonia de la Condesa, S.A., was set up by the Banco Mutualista y de Ahorros in 1902 to manage the subdivision of lands of the erstwhile Hacienda de la Condesa in Mexico City. Along with Colonia Roma, La Condesa stands as one of Mexico City's first truly modern neighborhoods, designed with up-to-date city water and sewer systems. Today La Condesa is noted as a lively night spot dotted with interesting mid-century functionalist and Art Deco architecture.
These by-laws provide fascinating evidence of the foundational basis and organizational structure of early 20th-century urbanization efforts in one of the great cities of North America. Paragraph 28 describes land sold for the proposed Jockey Club racetrack, as well as blocks of lots sold to Arnold Marburgh and Francisco A. Serralde, both of whom were prominent Mexico City-based investors and businessmen.
Hacienda de la Condesa and Colonia La Condesa
While the subdividing of La Condesa began in the mid-19th-century by the Flores Brothers, it was only in the beginning of the 20th-century that development of a proper urban neighborhood in La Condesa really commenced. The original Hacienda de La Condesa got its name from the Countess of Miravalle, who was an early owner of the land.
La Condesa is today known for its architectural significance and vibrant nightlife. It now comprises three distinct colonias in the city's Cuauhtémoc borough: Colonia Condesa, Colonia Hipódromo, and Colonia Hipódromo Condesa. In the early 20th-century the area was popular with European exiles and immigrants, particuarly Jewish families and Spaniards, many of the latter arriving after the Spanish Civil War. After a period of decline in the aftermath of the massive 1985 Mexico City earthquake, Condesa sprang back by the 1990s, evolving into a fashionable hub for the city's creative and business-minded residents. Long favored by expatriates, La Condesa has recently attracted large numbers of so-called digital nomads.
Rarity
Very rare on the market. No examples located in OCLC, which lists only a single copy of a variant title issued by the Secretaría de Comunicaciones y Obras Publicas, but not the present iteration printed by R. A. Lacaud (Calle de la Canoa, No. 8).