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A Prank Led to America’s First Nominated Female to Office, and Other Lesser Known American History Facts

Khalid Elhassan December 13, 2019 33 min

26. The Borderless Border Town

Ambos Nogales in 1918, with Mexican Nogales on the left, and American Nogales on the right. Wikimedia

Until 1918, a newcomer to the border town of Nogales, divided between an American part in Arizona and a Mexican part in Sonora, would have seen little to distinguish where America ended and Mexico began. The two towns were known as Ambos Nogales, Spanish for “Both Nogaleses”. Officially, a wide and open boulevard named International Street separated the US from Mexico. In practice, few paid attention, and historically, the border had been open and unrestricted, with no impediments to crossing from one Nogales to the other.

That changed in 1918, when crossing into Nogales, Arizona, was restricted to inspection points, and US soldiers were posted on International Street. In the preceding months, two Mexicans were killed while attempting to cross International Street, including a deaf-mute who was unable to hear American border guards’ orders to halt. That built up a store of resentment against US border agents by their Mexican counterparts, and things finally came to a head in late August of 1918.

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.