Pachuca de Soto

There is no agreed upon consensus regarding the origins of the word pachuca. It has been loosely traced to pachoa ('strait', 'opening'), pachoacan ('place of government', 'place of silver and gold') and patlachuican ('place of factories', 'place of tears').

The official name of Pachuca is Pachuca de Soto in honor of congressman Manuel Fernando Soto, who is credited with the founding of Hidalgo state. Its nickname of La Bella Airosa ("the airy, beautiful") comes from the strong winds that blow through the canyons to the north of the city. In the indigenous Otomi language, Pachuca is known as Nju̱nthe. The area had been long-inhabited; and is famous for mining, both for green obsidian which was highly prized by Pre-Columbian civilizations and was traded as far as Spiro Mounds in the United States; and for later mining activity overseen by the Spanish in the mid-16th century.

Pachuca remained a major mining center until the mid-20th century, with the city's fortunes fluctuating with the health of the mining sector.