San Luis Potosí (Mexico)
Introduction
San Luis Potosí (officially the Free and Sovereign State of San Luis Potosí) is one of the thirty-two states that make up nation of Mexico. Located in east-central Mexico, it is bordered by Nuevo León to the north, Tamaulipas to the northeast, Veracruz to the east, Hidalgo, Querétaro and Guanajuato to the south and Zacatecas to the northwest. The state covers 61,137 square kilometres and in 2020 had a population of 2,822,255.[1]
First Mennonites
In 1944, six Old Order Mennonite and Old Order Amish families settled in the state, led by Aaron Martin of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. The settlement was something of an act of protest against the militarization of the United States. However, the colony was short lived; Martin died in 1946, prompting the colonists to return to the US.
Old Colonists from Mexico
The next attempt at settling in San Luis Potosí was made by Old Colony Mennonites from Manitoba Colony. Contrary to prior reports of good agricultural land, the soil was too calcified for growing crops. Like the previous group, minister-leader Franz Loewen’s death left the group ill-prepared to continue and they returned to Chihuahua state.
In the 2000s, there have been fresh attempts to start daughter colonies in the state and these attempts have been successful thus far. Las Grullas/Rio Verde was formed in 2006 by people from Nuevo Progreso, Chavi, Yalnón and El Sabinal. Huizache was established 2008 and is a daughter colony of La Batea.[2]
Notes
- ↑ “San Luis Potosí State,” Gobierno de México, accessed Aug 30, 2023. https://www.economia.gob.mx/datamexico/en/profile/geo/san-luis-potosi-sl
- ↑ Yann le Polain de Waroux, “Data for ‘Pious Pioneers: The Expansion of Mennonite Colonies in Latin America’,” Borealis V1, accessed Aug 23, 2023. https://borealisdata.ca/file.xhtml?fileId=130565&version=1.1
Bibliography
De Waroux, Yann le Polain.“Data for ‘Pious Pioneers: The Expansion of Mennonite Colonies in Latin America’.” Borealis V1. Accessed Aug 15, 2023. https://borealisdata.ca/file.xhtml?fileId=130565&version=1.1
“San Luis Potosí State.” Gobierno de México. Accessed Aug 30, 2023. https://www.economia.gob.mx/datamexico/en/profile/geo/san-luis-potosi-sl
| Author(s) | J. Winfield Fretz |
|---|---|
| Michaela Hiebert | |
| Date Published | October 2024 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Fretz, J. Winfield and Michaela Hiebert. "San Luis Potosí (Mexico)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. October 2024. Web. 22 Nov 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=San_Luis_Potos%C3%AD_(Mexico)&oldid=179903.
APA style
Fretz, J. Winfield and Michaela Hiebert. (October 2024). San Luis Potosí (Mexico). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 22 November 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=San_Luis_Potos%C3%AD_(Mexico)&oldid=179903.
Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 4, p. 414. All rights reserved.
©1996-2024 by the Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. All rights reserved.