The Palacio Municipal in Huatabampo, Sonora

The original town hall of Huatabampo, Sonora still stands with its emblematic clock tower, adjacent to Plaza Juarez, the city’s main plaza. Offices and other meeting spaces have been added in a modern addition that adjoins the rear part of the original building.

Inside the doorway of the old Palacio Municipal is a marvelous mural painted by Luz Maria Rosas Guerra that packs a lot of history and local flavor into one wall. Subsections of the wall painting include famous figures from Mexican Independence, the Mexican Revolution (including local hero General and President Alvaro Obregon Salido), local business and government leaders,

The scenes also include a deer dancer and other traditional symbols of the local Mayo culture and images of local sights like a wedding party in front of the kiosk in Plaza Juarez and a well-known local vendor who can still be seen selling aguas frescas from his cart in the plaza..

If you continue through one of the doors on either side of the mural wall, you will walk across the checkered tiles of the inner courtyard, passing the circular staircase that leads to the building’s clock tower.

Walk up the steps to the second floor of the back part of the building, where the old structure meets the new building, and you will see another wonderful painting by Rosas Guerra that depicts colorful images of Mayo cultural symbols and people, and nature scenes.