Hacienda Kochol facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Hacienda Kochol
Hacienda Kochol Location in Mexico
Country	Mexico
Mexican States	Yucatán
Municipalities	Maxcanú
Time zone	UTC−6 (CST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−5 (CDT)
Postal code	97804
Area code	997

Hacienda Kochol is an old estate located in the Maxcanú Municipality in Yucatán, a state in southeastern Mexico. It was built during the 1800s when a plant called henequen was very important for making ropes.

After the 1950s, the hacienda was taken over by a bank. For many years, the main building was used as a storage place. Today, the building is empty and needs a lot of repair.

What's in a Name?

The name "Kochol" comes from the Mayan language. It means "mosquito."

Finding Hacienda Kochol

If you want to visit Hacienda Kochol, here's how to get there:

• From the south side of the Pereférico of Mérida, drive south on Highway 180.
• Go about 52 kilometers (32 miles) until you reach Maxcanú.
• Turn west onto Calle 15 and drive for about 15 kilometers (9 miles).
• You will then arrive at Hacienda Kochol.

A Look Back: History of the Hacienda

Haciendas like Kochol were large farms or estates, very common in Mexico. This hacienda was part of the "henequen boom." This was a time when the henequen plant was grown a lot because its fibers were used to make ropes and other products.

Throughout the 1800s, Hacienda Kochol belonged to the Lara family. In the late 1930s, Mercedes Lara gave the property to her son, Luis O'Horán Lara. In the 1950s, he lost the property in a foreclosure. This means a bank took it back because payments were not made. The bank then bought the hacienda. For many years, the main house was used by a bank called Banco Nacional de Crédito Rural (BANRURAL) to store things.

Exploring the Architecture

When Hacienda Kochol was working, it had several important buildings. These included the main house, a chapel, a store for workers, the foreman's home, and a powerhouse. The powerhouse was where the machinery for processing henequen was kept.

All these buildings were built around a large, rectangular main park. The workers who lived on the hacienda grounds had houses built in the traditional Maya style.

The Main House Design

You could reach the main house from two directions. One path came from a nearby village, and the other from the north, passing by the powerhouse. The main house was built in a colonial style, with large porches. It had a row of arches supported by stone columns. Above the porch, there was a special design called a split pediment.

The Powerhouse Structure

The powerhouse looked similar to the main house but was simpler. This building was divided into three parts. The middle section had a double archway and a pediment. The machinery used to scrape the henequen fibers was placed next to the building. This allowed platforms to move the fibers to a storage elevator.

People of Kochol: Demographics

In 1937, the Mexican government made big changes to land ownership. President Lazaro Cardenas introduced a land reform. This meant that large henequen plantations, like Hacienda Kochol, stopped being private communities. Instead, they became collective ejidos. An ejido is a piece of land that is owned by the community, not by one person.

After this change, the former landowners could only keep 150 hectares (about 370 acres) for their private use. Before 1937, population numbers showed how many people lived on the farm itself. After 1937, the numbers show how many people lived in the community of Kochol. Today, only the owner's family lives at the Hacienda Kochol itself.

According to a count in 2005 by the INEGI, the community of Kochol had 1,498 people. This included 762 men and 736 women.

Population Changes Over Time

The table below shows how the population of Kochol has changed over many years.

See also

In Spanish: Kochol para niños