|
The Santa Ana Family
Todos Santos and the Santa Ana Family…Tradition that Built a Community
It was in the early 1800’s that the Santa Ana family first came to the oasis of Todos Santos and found just the right conditions to start the sugar cane and tomato growing culture that became the foundation of what would mark the growth and development of the community of Todos Santos. According to Dr. Jose Santa Ana Piñeda, it was back in the mid 1800’s that his grandfather, Don Cesar Santa Ana, began working the land with loving care to make it bring forth its bounty. It was that wealth of sugar and tomato crops that allowed for the growth of the town; so much so that by 1924 the sugar mill the Santa Ana brothers opened back in the mid-1800’s had expanded to seven mills. Back then the only protected harbor to ship all the crops was at Punta Lobos, located a mile south of the town. By the late 1800’s, there were year round crops being shipped from the dock. It is said if you listen closely, amidst the sea breeze and the bark of the sea lions, you can still hear the spokes of the old wagons loaded with produce making their way down to the dock.
In the 1930’s, Lazaro Cardenas’ government expropriated land from the Santa Ana family to give to smaller growers. Concerned about the continued well-being of the community, the family donated enough land to build the theater and hospital in the town. Dr. Jose Santa Ana recalls, “Everybody in the town worked for my grandparents. The main house was an open-house for everyone. The parties started at dawn and went on for days. When they took our land, we knew it was the end of an era but we wanted to make sure the town would continue to prosper so we did what we could to help the community”.
After a somewhat quiet period that lasted from the 1950’s until the mid 90’s, the town of Todos Santos is experiencing a new boom. With its recent denomination as a Pueblo Mágico or “Magic Town”, chosen for its cultural and architectural wealth, Todos Santos is attracting more visitors, prospective residents and developers.
Reconnecting with the community of Todos Santos, the Santa Ana family has launched two new developments. Real de Santa Ana is an earth-kind residential resort development located on the outskirts of Todos Santos that will become an extended part of the town’s footprint and will reflect the authentic “tropical oasis” style and feel of the original settlement. Punta Lobos is a more exclusive, master-planned community where owners will become much more than another member of a luxurious residential community, they will become part of the two centuries of tradition and heritage that built Todos Santos. Both developments reflect the spirit of the Santa Ana family and their commitment to the well-being and continued growth of Todos Santos while focusing on the preservation of the environment and the traditions that constitute the foundations of the close-knit Todos Santos community.
The legacy of the Santa Ana family permeates the past and present of Todos Santos with family traditions that has become the roots of the culture found in Todos Santos today. Whether or not Todos Santos will manage its growth without losing its charm remains to be seen. What is certain is that the Santa Ana family will continue to build upon the communities’ deeply-rooted family values, traditions and principles established by their forefathers in the early 1800’s.
top
|
