[1] The town is known for its "French style" (Spanish afrancesado) houses built early in the last century which have names which reflect something of their characteristics.

It relates to a noble from here by the name of Aquiauhtzin Cuauhquiyahuacatzintli, who authored a song called "The Female Enemy" and made himself famous by singing it at the palace of Axayacatl in Tenochtitlan, the capital of the Aztecs.

Historically, the economy of Ayapango has been based on the cultivation of corn and wheat, selling the harvests in Mexico City, either by land or via what was Lake Chalco.

Generally, natives were not permitted to carry weapons but in the mid-18th century, Manuel de Santiago, head of the town of Ayapango, managed to get such permission for this purpose.

Originally, the municipality was larger, but in 1875, Ayapango lost the towns of Zentlalpan and Santa Isabel Chalma to Amecameca.

[4] While Ayapango mostly stayed out of the Mexican Revolution, peasant sympathies for the rebels were strong due to poor treatment of farm workers by hacienda owners.

[4] This was in honor of Ramos Millan, who was born here and who created the National Commission of Corn, working to introduce new seeds and farming techniques during the first half of the century.

Ramos Millan died in a plane crash on Pico del Fraile, an elevation next to Popocatépetl and practically in front of his hometown.

[5] The town's most distinctive feature are the older houses that conserve a kind of a "French" style as much for their form as for the materials they are construction with.

The building is almost completely in ruins, in no small part due to people taking pieces of the worked stone.

[2] Food here is simple, with most of the dishes keeping much of their pre-Hispanic flavor, such as mushroom soup, mixiote, barbacoa and mole.

The quality of the meat and milk is well-known and the principle industry here, the making of cheese and other dairy products is the result.

[2] In San Cristóbal Poxtla is located "El Lucero" farm, which is the principal cheese producer in the municipality.

It is located very near the village of San Francisco Zentlalpan, which has a temple in which all of the facade, including the columns, are covered in tezontle, a blood-red porous volcanic rock.