1539—Fray Marcos de Niza, a Franciscan priest in search for Cibola, the Seven Cities of Gold, felt he was close when he reached the Ambos Nogales territory. His report on the district prompted a Spanish expedition led by Francisco Vazquez de Coronado in 1540 to lay claim to the cities. Although Coronado failed to find Cibola in Arizona, he explored the Santa Cruz Valley.

1841—México made a land grant, Los Nogales De Elias, to Don José Elias and his parents. Don José owned Rancho Casita, which is located in México. The land grant was named Nogales, the Spanish word for walnut, for the groves of native walnut trees that thrived in the area.

1853—Nogales became part of the Gadsden Purchase in a move that was to keep lawyers busy until 1893. During the Joint Boundary Commission survey of the new international line, Commissioner Emory and his crew discovered that the spring-fed walnut grove bisected the new line and Ambos Nogales was formed.

1861—Soldiers leave to fight in the Civil War and the Apaches begin their raids into the Arizona territory in what has become known as Cochise’s War.

1862—Pete Kitchen, a former wagon master under General Zaccarias Taylor, and his wife Doña Rosa establish a ranch and fortified stronghold five miles north of present day Nogales.

1880—Jacob Isaacson, a Russian immigrant, built a trading post, Isaacson, later to become Nogales.

1881—Juan José Vásquez opens a roadhouse on the other side of the line and Ambos Nogales is open for business.

1882—The Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad from Kansas City, Missouri met the Sonora Railway, Ltd from Guaymas, México in Nogales. William Raymond Morley supervised the last spike joining the lines. No good having a railroad without a post office so Isaacson Post Office was also commissioned. Theodore Gebler, a native of Berlin and successful San Francisco merchant, visits Nogales and decides to stay. For 28-years Gebler operated a hardware store in Nogales as well as being the director of the First National Bank. When he died without an heir in 1926, his will stipulated that the building on Grand Avenue be constructed and the income used to provide for Nogales’s needy in perpetuity.

1883—Wells Fargo Stagecoach Company started transportation and shipping services originating in Nogales. The name of the Post Office was changed from Isaacson to Nogales and the owner of the roadhouse, Juan José Vásquez, was appointed the Comisario de Nogales, Sonora. In Sonora thousands were killed in a Yellow Fever outbreak.

1884—Próspero Sandoval opened the first bank, money exchange and custom brokerage house in Nogales. The bank is of interest because it was a U.S. bank owned by Mexican citizens, issuing U.S. currency. It is believed that bank was located on the corner of Morley Avenue and International Drive.

1885—Geronimo’s campaign kills the Pecks, Shanahan and a stage driver in Lochiel marking the end of the Apache uprising. Dr. Ross comes to town because of the Yellow Fever outbreak. John Guinn founds The Frontier as the first weekly newspaper and Nogales builds its first public school on Elm Street. Today the Elm Street School site is the Sacred Heart Church parking lot.

1888—Edward Titcomb, a New Englander, and his friend, Colonel Bill Roy establish a mining machinery sales agency, which becomes widely known in México and the United States. Titcomb & Roy expand into foundries, lumber mills, and shipyards making a fortune—losing it in the great depression.

1892—The Escalada Brothers open a general store.

1893—Nogales was incorporated as part of Pima County in the Arizona territory. The incorporation was remarkable because Nogales had no property. The Camou family claimed the district, part of the 1841 Los Nogales De Elias land grant. Henry O. Flipper makes a vital contribution to Arizona history in the Court of Private Land Claims in 1893 securing the land for the newly incorporated Nogales. The Montezuma Hotel is the site of the great celebration when, on December 14, 1893, Flipper sent the Nogales Herald a triumphant telegram from Tucson: “The court decides in our favor.”

1895—Twenty-eight of the most prominent citizens of Nogales meet at the Marsh Opera House on Nelson avenue to organize the Volunteer Fire Department. With the $164 they subscribe, equipment is purchased from Tombstone, which was upgrading its own fire department. It includes a hook and ladder cart, a hose cart and the Able and Willing pumper. The pumper serves Nogales until 1917 and is on display at the Pimeria Alta Museum.

1896—Yaqui’s take México’s Customs House and Colonel Emilio Kosterlitzky, chief of México’s federal forces, restores order.

1897—Nogales replaces Tombstone as Catholic Parish seat.

1898—Nogales receives a government patent to the town site. The Public Water Works begins work to deliver water to the township.

1899—Santa Cruz County splits from Pima County because the citizenry believes that Tucson is too far away to govern effectively.

1904—New County Court House opens and there are 122 telephones in Nogales.

1906—Sisters of Mercy Hospital opens the St. Joseph Hospital’s doors. It was located where the downtown Burger King now sits.

1910—México’s Revolution starts. The Southern Pacific opens the direct Tucson-to-Nogales rail line. U.S. Infantry establishes a camp near Morely Avenue and Hudgin Street. A train carload of oranges marks the beginning of the produce industry in Nogales.

1913—Street lamps debut on Morley Avenue. Colonel Emilio Kosterlitzky, on the ‘wrong’ side of México’s revolution chooses to surrender to Troop G, 5th Cavalry at Nogales.

1914—General ‘Pancho’ Villa and General Álvaro Obregón negotiate with México’s Sonoran Governor José María Maytorena. Maytorena agreed to continuing military rule in Sonora. Francisco ‘Pancho’ Villa and Álvaro Obregón controlled two of the three most powerful rebel armies in northern México. The third rebel faction was controlled by Venustiano Carranza.  Pancho’ Villa’s 85-piece band plays in Nogales Park. Eventually, Álvaro Obregón and Francisco Villa began to fight against each other, leaving the legendary Pancho Villa defeated. The Nogales Herald becomes Nogales’s first daily newspaper.

1915—The Town Hall, now the Pimeria Alta Museum, is dedicated. A 30-minute pitched battle erupts after Mexican soldiers fire at troops of the 12th Infantry on the American side of the border. Private Stephen D. Little was killed in action on Crawford Street Hill and the camp near Morely Avenue and Hudgin Street is re-named to Camp Stephen D. Little in honor of the 21 year old South Carolinian. ‘Pancho’ Villa visits Nogales as a welcome guest for the first time.

1917—México’s Sonoran Governor Maytorena erects the first fence between Nogales, Arizona and Nogales, Sonora. The 11-strand wire fence was erected to prevent trouble.

1918—The Battle of Nogales begins as a Customs matter. Casualties were suffered on both sides of the border during the battle.

1922—Nogales becomes a City. A new gate opened on Grand Avenue, which is still in use today.

1924—The Public Library opens.

1925—Nogales International weekly newspaper is established.

1927—El Costeño provides the first passenger rail service from Tucson through Nogales to México City.

1928—Nogales dedicates the International Airport.

1932—Nogales accepts Chinese refugees expelled from México. Camp Steven D. Little, once 3,000 soldiers strong, is closed.

1948—Pimeria Alta Historical Society is organized.

1953—Refrigerated truck service begins, forever changing the produce industry.

1974—U.S. President Gerald Ford and México’s President Luis Echevarria meet in Ambos Nogales.