Nogales, also known formally as Heroica Nogales (Spanish pronunciation: [eˈɾojka noˈɣales]), is a city in the Mexican state of Sonora. It is located in the north of the state on the U.S. border, and is abutted on its north by the city of Nogales, Arizona. It serves as the seat of the surrounding municipality of Nogales. The name Nogales is the Spanish term for "walnut trees". The municipality reported a population of 264,782 in the 2020 census. By 2024, the city had been estimated to have surpassed 300,000 inhabitants.
History The independent Nogales Municipality, which included the town of Nogales, was established on July 11, 1884. The municipality of Nogales covers an area of 1,675 km2. Nogales was declared a city within the municipality on January 1, 1920.
Battle of Ambos Nogales
The international trade that existed between Nogales, Sonora, and Nogales, Arizona, greatly propelled the economic development of Heroica Nogales, and the greater Northern Sonora region, but that did not prevent significant problems from forming in the area after the outbreak of the 1910 Mexican Revolution.
On August 27, 1918, at about 4:10 pm, a gun battle erupted unintentionally when a Mexican civilian attempted to pass through the border, back to Mexico, without checking in at the U.S. Customs house. After the initial shooting, reinforcements from both sides rushed to the border. On the Mexican side, the majority of the belligerents were civilians upset with the killings of Mexican border crossers by the U.S. Army along the vaguely defined border between the two cities during the previous year (the U.S. Border Patrol did not exist until 1924). For the Americans, the reinforcements were 10th Cavalry and 35th Infantry soldiers, and civilians. Hostilities quickly escalated and several soldiers were killed and others wounded on both sides. The mayor of Nogales, Sonora, Félix B. Peñaloza, was killed when waving a white truce flag or handkerchief with his cane.
Due in part to the heightened hysteria caused by World War I, allegations surfaced that German agents fomented this violence and died fighting alongside the Mexican troops it was claimed they led into battle. U.S. newspaper reports in Nogales prior to the battle of August 27, 1918, documented the departure of the Mexican garrison in Nogales, Sonora, to points south that August in an attempt to quell armed political rebels. Furthermore, an investigation by Army officials from Fort Huachuca, Arizona, could not substantiate accusations of militant German agents in the Mexican border community and instead traced the origins of the violence to the abuse of Mexican border crossers in the year prior to the Battle of Ambos Nogales. The main result of this battle was the building of the first permanent border fence between the two cities of Nogales. Though largely unheard of in the U.S. (and even within most of Mexico), the municipal leaders of Nogales, Sonora, successfully petitioned Congress in 1961 to grant the border city the title of "Heroic City", leading to the community's official name, Heroica Nogales, a distinction shared with the Sonoran cities of Guaymas, Caborca, Cananea and Ures, and a number of other cities in Mexico.
Escobarista Rebellion Early in March 1929, the Escobarista Rebellion exploded in Nogales, sponsored by Obregonistas, supporters of President Álvaro Obregón, who had been assassinated on July 17, 1928. General Manuel Aguirre, commanding the rebellious 64th Regiment, took power without firing a shot, causing federales from Naco to send a daily airplane to attack the rebels. It dropped a few bombs over Nogales without doing any damage, while the rebels fought back with machine guns from the roofs without doing any damage to the airplane. There was only one casualty, a woman who was scared by a bomb explosion and had a heart attack. That same month, a hooded man appeared at night driving a tank on Morley Street on the U.S. side, then entered Mexico to help the federales in Naco. It seems that the tank had been bought in 1927 for fighting the Yaquis, but U.S. officials prohibited it from leaving the U.S., and it had been kept in a warehouse in Nogales, Arizona.
Climate
Nogales has a semi-arid climate (Köppen: BSk) with hot summers and cool winters, often presenting freezing temperatures.
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