In this blog post you can read about my experice visiting the Museum and the Historical Archives for the municipality of Camargo, Tamaulipas.
The historical archives are housed at the Museo y Archivo Historico Municipal. They are located at Pedro J. Méndez s/n esq. Belisario DomÃnguez, Centro, CP 88440
Ciudad Camargo, Camargo, Tamaulipas. To make is easier, just behind the Santa Ana Church. They are open Monday through Friday from 8:30 am to 7:00 PM.
The purpose of my visit that day was just out curiosity, since that day I visited the Santa Ana church in search of two marriage records for a client. In the next few weeks I will make a blog post about the Santa Ana church records but till then lets continue with my visit to the archives. After visitign the church I jsut walked over to the Museum.
The Museum and archives are located in a beautiful brick building that probably dates back to the 1800's. Entrance to the museum is free and open to the public. The museum contains a great deal of artifacts from pre colonial times to the present. One of the galleries includes paintings by local artisits. Another contains a great assortment of books that are lent out to the public and local school children, free of charge.
During my visit, I was fortunate to meet Maestro Francisco Jose Aguirre Garza and Professora Belia Espinoza Morin. The Museum is also the office of the local cronista (historian) Professor Victor M. Saenz Ramirez. Next week I will make a blog post with of a list of the books that each of them have authored and or put together in regards to Camargo, its records and archives.
The professora Belia showed me around the archives and provided me with an overview of their records, digitization efforst and the amount of work that is ahead for them as they try to preserve the archives for future generations.
Professor Victor was so kind to show me the original 1788 Testamento of my ancestor Bartolome Treviño. I had a copy of the transcription but I had never seen the original. It was an amazing feeling to touch the same document that he touched, what made it extra special was to see his signature on it.
Left to right: Professor Victor M. Saenz Ramirez, Moises Garza, Professora Belia Espinoza Morin, and Maestro Francisco Jose Aguirre Garza.
If you can, I hightly recomend that you visit the museum. It contains many old photos and regional history items. As for the archives, there is a partial catalog for the protocolos but most of the archives are uncatalogued and they are hard to browse to find a specific name. It is my hope that we develop a working condition that can help speed up their work and figure out how you and the larger genealogy community can help.
Their continued efforts in preservation, digitization and catalouging is vital to all of us and for future generations. If you have ancestors from Camargo let me know below in the comment section.
