History
After the Spanish Conquest, a trapiche (mill) was built in Chapultepec, where wheat and maize were processed into flour. This mill became so important that it was later called el Molino del Rey ("the King's Mill"). In 1853, the Molino del Rey was sold to Dr. José Pablo Martinez del Rio, who built the Casa Grande ("Big House") that would later become known as Rancho La Hormiga. In 1865 the whole property was sold to Emperor Maximilian for a total of 25,000 Mexican pesos.
Following the 1867 overthrow and execution of Maximilian, the property was, in 1872, returned to Dr. Martinez del Rio. In 1917, with the end of the armed phase of the Mexican Revolution, President Venustiano Carranza expropriated the properties, paying MXP$ 886,473 for both the property and the construction of a residence that would be close to Chapultepec Castle (which at the time was used as the official residence) so that his most trustworthy cabinet member could live there. Because of this, the first inhabitant of the residence was Álvaro Obregón while he held the post of Navy and War Secretary. After his tenure the residence was abandoned.
Read more about this topic: Los Pinos
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“A country grows in history not only because of the heroism of its troops on the field of battle, it grows also when it turns to justice and to right for the conservation of its interests.”
—Aristide Briand (1862–1932)
“The disadvantage of men not knowing the past is that they do not know the present. History is a hill or high point of vantage, from which alone men see the town in which they live or the age in which they are living.”
—Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874–1936)
“The history of his present majesty, is a history of unremitting injuries and usurpations ... all of which have in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these states. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world, for the truth of which we pledge a faith yet unsullied by falsehood.”
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)