American Codex

It’s known as the Second Ward, or Segundo Barrio, and for generations it has been home to the Mexican soul of the city.

Here, Mexican families built churches, businesses, murals, and traditions that withstood the test of time. It was a working-class neighborhood, humble and united, where Spanish, food, and faith were treasured like gold. Even though “progress” and gentrification have threatened its essence, the community continues to defend its roots with pride.

The Second Ward reminds us that the Mexican presence in Texas is not recent: it is deep, hard-working, and full of history. Every mural tells us that there were and still are people here who refuse to forget who they are.

Do you know Houston’s Segundo Barrio, or do you have family from there?

Their names were Pilar and Margarita — Las Hermanas Padilla — and with their voices joined as one, they became one of the most beloved duos in Mexican music on both sides of the border.

They recorded dozens of albums starting in the 1930s, when very few women had a place in front of a microphone. Their corridos, boleros, and rancheras were the soundtrack for working families, for braceros far from home, and for mothers singing while they cooked. Their music was both comfort and celebration for a community that was just beginning to hear its own voice on the radio.

Over time, their names faded, overshadowed by other stars and by a history that rarely remembers the pioneers. But those who grew up listening to them never forgot those two voices that sounded like one. To bring back Las Hermanas Padilla is to give the microphone back to the women who gave voice to our nostalgia.

Did your family listen to duos and Mexican voices like Las Hermanas Padilla on the family records at home?

En 1927 Hollywood tenia un galan de ojos oscuros al que la prensa llamaba el nuevo Valentino. Lo anunciaban como Don Alvarado. Ese no era su nombre. 🎬Habia nacido como Jose Paige en Albuquerque, Nuevo Mexico, en 1904, en una familia mexicana del valle del Rio Grande. Cuando llego a Los Angeles, los estudios le hicieron lo que les hacian a todos los nuestros: le cambiaron el nombre por uno que sonara extranjero y lo vendieron como un latin lover venido de lejos. Nadie en las marquesinas iba a saber que el muchacho venia de un territorio que habia sido mexicano hasta hacia poco mas de cincuenta anos.Trabajo en decenas de peliculas entre el cine mudo y el sonoro. Cuando se le acabaron los papeles de galan no se fue: se quedo en los estudios del otro lado de la camara, trabajando como asistente de direccion hasta el final de su vida en 1967. Una carrera entera en Hollywood, y hoy casi nadie recuerda ninguno de sus dos nombres. 🕯️Asi funcionaba el borrado. No te sacaban del cine. Te quitaban el apellido y te dejaban adentro, irreconocible.¿En tu familia hubo algun apellido que se cambio o se americanizo para poder trabajar?

Los espanoles quemaron los libros. En un pueblo de la sierra de Puebla nunca dejaron de fabricar el papel. 📜Antes de la conquista, en Mesoamerica se escribia sobre amate, un papel hecho con la corteza interna del amate, del jonote y de la morera. Se hervia la corteza con ceniza, se enjuagaba, se acomodaban las tiras en cuadricula sobre una tabla y se golpeaban con una piedra estriada hasta que las fibras se fundian en una sola hoja. En ese papel iban los codices, los registros de tributo, los calendarios y la memoria entera de los pueblos.Despues de 1521 la Corona prohibio su produccion porque el papel estaba amarrado a las ceremonias que querian borrar. En casi todo el pais se acabo. En San Pablito, Pahuatlan, en la sierra norte de Puebla, las familias otomies siguieron haciendolo en el monte, lejos, para los rituales de los curanderos. Cuatro siglos y medio golpeando corteza donde nadie miraba. 🪵En los anos sesenta unos pintores de Guerrero empezaron a comprarles las hojas para pintar sobre ellas, y de golpe San Pablito se volvio el proveedor de todo Mexico. El papel que se prohibio termino sosteniendo la economia del pueblo que se nego a dejar de hacerlo.Hay resistencias que no gritan. Nada mas siguen trabajando.

Palm Springs se vende como un oasis de lujo en el desierto. Debajo de varios de sus hoteles hubo un barrio mexicano al que corrieron a la fuerza. 🌴Se llamaba la Seccion Catorce. Era una milla cuadrada de tierra de la tribu Agua Caliente justo en el centro de la ciudad, y como estaba bajo jurisdiccion federal las reglas eran distintas: ahi si podian vivir familias mexicanas y negras a las que las clausulas raciales de las escrituras les cerraban el resto del pueblo. Levantaron casas, iglesias y negocios. Fue el corazon de la comunidad durante decadas.Cuando el valor del suelo se disparo, esa milla cuadrada se volvio demasiado cara para que siguiera viviendo ahi esa gente. Entre 1965 y 1968 la ciudad de Palm Springs demolio y quemo casas de la Seccion Catorce, en muchos casos con avisos de horas o sin aviso, y a veces con las pertenencias de las familias todavia adentro. Cientos de personas quedaron en la calle. 🔥En 1968 un informe de la Procuraduria General de California describio lo ocurrido con una palabra durisima: lo llamo un holocausto disenado por la ciudad. Aun asi no hubo consecuencias. Apenas en anos recientes los sobrevivientes y sus descendientes lograron que la ciudad ofreciera una disculpa formal y empezara a hablar de reparaciones.Cada resort tiene un plano anterior. Casi siempre alguien vivia ahi.¿Sabes de algun barrio de tu ciudad que desaparecio para dar lugar a algo mas caro?

Hubo un rincon de Mexico que la Corona espanola no logro someter sino hasta 1722, doscientos anos despues de la caida de Tenochtitlan. ⛰️Es la Sierra del Nayar, en el rincon montanoso de Nayarit, y ahi viven los coras, que se llaman a si mismos naayeri. Su territorio es de barrancas profundisimas y cerros parados donde no se podia meter un ejercito con facilidad. Durante casi dos siglos despues de la conquista mantuvieron su propio gobierno y sus propias ceremonias mientras el resto del pais ya pagaba tributo.Cuando por fin llegaron los misioneros no borraron lo que habia. Se mezclo. Hoy la Semana Santa cora, la que llaman la judea, es una de las ceremonias mas impresionantes del pais: los participantes se pintan el cuerpo entero con tierras de colores, danzan varios dias sin dormir por los caminos del pueblo y al final se lavan en el rio. Es catolica y es anterior al catolicismo al mismo tiempo, y no se deja explicar en una sola frase. 🥁Sus pueblos son de piedra y adobe colgados de la ladera, se llega por horas de terraceria, y siguen hablando naayeri en la casa. Muchas familias bajan cada ano a la costa de Nayarit y de Sinaloa a trabajar en el tabaco y en la hortaliza, y regresan para la fiesta.Mexico no es un solo pueblo. Son muchos pueblos que llevan siglos sosteniendo lo suyo en donde nadie los ve.¿Conocias a los coras del Nayar, o hay algun pueblo originario en la tierra de tu familia?

The Sun Tea Jug — Making Tea With Sun Heat — 1930In the summer of 1930, keeping drinks cold was a luxury. Ice had to be purchased or harvested and stored, so many rural families simply drank water at room temperature. Tea, when available, could be made in a much simpler way—using the heat of the summer sun.A family might place tea leaves and water into a clean glass jar and set it outside in a sunny spot for several hours. As the sun warmed the water, the tea gradually darkened. There was no stove required, and the jar could sit quietly while the family worked.Sugar was another expense, so the tea might be served without it. For some households, tea was saved for special occasions or visiting guests rather than consumed every day.Other traditional drinks were made from plants that could be gathered locally, including sassafras.The sun tea jar represented the resourcefulness of rural families. Instead of buying ice or using extra fuel, they used something completely free: sunlight.On a hot summer day, a simple glass jar sitting in the sunshine could provide a refreshing drink without costing a penny. #1930

IThe Tar Paper School — Harlan County, Kentucky, 1933
During the Great Depression, coal communities in eastern Kentucky faced intense poverty and labor conflict. In company towns, mining companies sometimes controlled housing, stores, schools, and other important parts of daily life. When mines closed or labor disputes disrupted communities, families could lose access to basic services.
This story describes Mary Combs, a miner's wife who supposedly built a small school from scrap wood and tar paper after a company-operated school closed. The makeshift building reportedly provided lessons for dozens of miners' children despite difficult conditions.
The story fits the broader history of Harlan County's labor struggles, where miners and their families fought over wages, working conditions, unionization, and company control. However, the specific claims about Mary Combs, the 100 rolls of tar paper, the photograph, and the school being repeatedly destroyed and rebuilt would require historical documentation.
Tar paper was inexpensive and widely used as a weatherproofing material, making it plausible as a temporary construction material during difficult economic times.
Why It Matters: Education could become especially important during periods of economic and labor conflict. Even a crude temporary school could represent a community's determination to keep children learning despite poverty and instability.
#1933

n the summer of 1993, the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers rose so high and stayed flooded for so long that it became one of the most damaging natural disasters in American history.
Weeks of unusually heavy rainfall across the Midwest saturated the ground until rivers simply had nowhere left to send the water, causing the Missouri River to breach levees in dozens of locations across the state. Entire towns along the river were submerged for weeks rather than days, agricultural land disappeared under water for the growing season, and river communities like Rhineland were flooded so severely that some later relocated to higher ground entirely. The flood ultimately caused billions of dollars in damage across nine states, with Missouri among the hardest hit.
The Great Flood of 1993 permanently changed how the state approached river management, leading to updated levee systems, floodplain buyout programs, and renewed conversations about how much development should occur along a river with such a long history of unpredictable flooding. For many Missourians who lived through it, the summer of 1993 remains the benchmark against which every flood since has been measured.
Do you remember the 1993 flood, or has your family talked about it? Share your memories in the comments, and follow Missouri Untold for more of the river’s history, for better and worse.

The Treehouse To***co Family — North Carolina, 1920
In the early 20th century, to***co farming was a major part of North Carolina's agricultural economy, particularly in the eastern counties. Farmers used tall to***co barns to hang harvested leaves while they cured. These structures needed good ventilation because the curing process produced heat and strong odors.
The story of the Harris family supposedly living inside a giant oak tree while using the same tree as a to***co-curing structure is extraordinary, but the specific claims—including the three-story treehouse, seven-year residence, a 1921 birth, and the newspaper photograph—would require contemporary newspaper archives or other reliable records before being presented as established history.
To***co barns themselves were very real and could be large structures filled with hanging to***co leaves. Curing required careful control of heat and airflow, and barns could become extremely warm.
Living inside an active curing barn, however, would have presented serious practical and health problems. To***co leaves can release ni****ne and other compounds, while high temperatures and poor ventilation would make such a space uncomfortable and potentially hazardous.
The story nevertheless reflects a genuine feature of rural life: farm families often had to make extraordinary use of limited land, buildings, and materials.
North Carolina's to***co industry supported entire communities, but the work was demanding. Families planted, harvested, hung, cured, sorted, and prepared to***co largely through intensive manual labor.
So while the literal treehouse story appears to need verification, it points toward a real history of rural poverty, to***co farming, and remarkable agricultural ingenuity in the South.
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