GUANAJUATO, Mexico, capital of the state of the same name. Elevation 6,200 feet above the sea. Distance from the city of Mex ico 165 miles, and 1,000 miles by the Mexican Central Railway from the United States border at El Paso, Texas. It is situated in the heart of the Guanajuato mountains, in ravine, six miles from the main line of the above named railway and overlooking a rich and beau tiful region, and it is surrounded and honey combed by mines hundreds of years old, which have produced unknown millions of precious metals and are still productive. Mining began here 500 years ago, devoloping, as it proceeded, some of the richest deposits ever discovered. Over $600,000,000 of gold and silver have been mined under and in the immediate vicinity of the city, fully two-thirds of which was gold. The buildings of the business centre are quite commodious and imposing and are very sub stantial, unlimited quantities of very superior building stone being immediately at hand. Among the prominent public buildings are the Government Palace, or State House, in which the legislature holds its sessions and the state officers have their offices, and the opera house or theatre, a magnificent stone structure copied from the Grand Opera House of Paris. In a remote part of the city are the famous Cata combs, wherein are stored the mummified re mains of some 30 or 40 human beings represent ing both sexes, and several tons of human skulls and bones. At the opposite extremity of
the city is the great dam of modern construc tion which contains the community's water sup ply. Another notablq structure is the principal church of the city, built of the peculiar colored stone or marble which exists in great quantities in the immediate vicinity. It is surmounted by a dome of large proportions and exceptional beauty. There are several other churches, the ancient Mint, the State College, the Market de la Reforma and the Castle of Granaditis. There is a street railway, and a thorough system of electric lighting. 'the of Guanajuato and branches of the National bank and the bank of London and Mexico compose the financial insti tutions of the city. There are a State College and a Normal School for young women; two museums,— one connected with the State Col lege and devoted to natural history and miner alogy, and the other devoted to Minerals and Precious Objects.* Two public libraries contain over 13,000 volumes. In 1905 the city was flooded and much valuable prop erty destroyed. Pop. 35,682.