Nuño de Guzmán's entry to Sinaloa in 1531, and the appointment of the conquered lands as provinces, prompted the internal territorial division of the State.

In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century, Mazatlán was a native fishing village located north of Cerro de la Aduana.

Until the early 19th century, Mazatlán was a collection of huts inhabited by indigenous people whose major occupation was fishing, according to Abel Aubert du Petit-Thouars, a French explorer.

In 1829, a Filipino banker named Juan Nepomuceno Machado arrived and established commercial relations with vessels coming to Mazatlán from far off places such as Chile, Peru, the United States, Europe, and Asia Pacific.

After customs officials seized twenty-three ounces of gold from the British warship Chanticleer on June 18, 1868, which at the time was blockading the port, its captain, William H. Bridge, threatened to bomb the city on November 22.

The maritime signals were manufactured in Paris, France, containing a large oil lamp with mirrors, and a Fresnel lens to focus the light.

Near the lighthouse shore, famous "divers" (called this even by the Spanish-speaking inhabitants of Mazatlán) perform daring jumps off high rocks into the Pacific Ocean, for tips from onlooking tourists.

Angela Peralta (1845–1883), a Mexican opera diva famed throughout the world, died of yellow fever in Mazatlán shortly after her arrival in the port.

In the 1970s, tourism in Old Mazatlán declined as newer venues catering to Western tourists opened on the expanses of beach to the north of the city ("Zona Dorada").

The orography is determined by the ramifications of the Sierra Madre Occidental on the northwestern coastal plain bearing towards the Pacific Ocean, where the hills rise towards Vigia, Punta de Materén, and the Monte chair.

Mazatlán generally consists of tonalite and monsonitas belonging to the Middle Tertiary: rhyodacites, rhyolites and ignimbrites with tuffaceous sediments at the base outcrops; andesitic rocks and felsitic late Early Cretaceous conglomerate, sandstone, tuff, sandy tuff "tobalítica", conglomeratic sandstone, arkose storm origins and late Tertiary rhyolitic tuffs, limestones, shales, sandstones and quartzites of coal, gravel and conglomerates that make alluvial fans and slope deposits; rhyolite and rhyodacite tuffs of the same composition, dacite and Lower Tertiary andecita medium; volcanic and pyroclastic spills of andecitic Cretaceous composition; plutonic rocks of basic composition and basic ultra late Paleozoic, Cretaceous limestones, conglomerates of igneous and metamorphic songs; sediments within the course of rivers and streams and sandy sediments, gravel, silt, and orange.

The El Zapote and Los Cocos streams drain in a southeasterly direction to end at the Presidio River, up to the villages from which they take their names.

On the northern slopes of the Sierra del Salto, near the village of the same name in the state of Durango, the Presidio River moves southeastward and makes a journey of 167 kilometers.

Stone Island is the most important part of the municipal coastline; its size is the largest of all because it has 30 square kilometers, and is approximately 14.5 miles long by 2.5 wide.

Today, more than twenty miles of beaches are the main attraction, and the city contains a large number of hotels, restaurants, bars, and shops.

A civil association composed of a group of Mazatlán locals have managed to revive this area, along with the support of various organizations, companies, and government authorities.

[29] This is currently one of the most important carnivals in Mexico, since the first parade on Sunday brings together more than 600,000 people for over three hours in the coastal area of the city on the "Avenida del Mar."

These include royal courts, ambassadors from around the country and abroad, special guests such as athletes, TV entertainers, and various showbusiness personalities, not to mention hundreds of Mazatlecos of all ages and social conditions.

Events includes cultural activities (poetry contests, literature prizes, and shows of enormous artistic quality), with which the party extends to all sectors of the population and covers a range of local and tourist tastes.

After several days of travel and trading of supplies, these boats would depart Mazatlán loaded with bars of gold and silver from the rich mines of the region.

The light facilities, located on top of an imposing hill, were very modest, consisting of only a small stone structure on which fires, fueled by whale oil and wood, or coconut chips, were lit.

The fires were fed wood and coal, allowing them to produce a dim light that could only be seen within walking distance, making it of little help to seafarers, especially in bad weather.

Several researchers, have located the origin of these styles to these regions, especially considering foreign interventions in the state and in Mazatlán early in the century, which was inhabited mostly by German immigrants.

Other common and prominent foods are smoked marlin and tuna, chilorio, bearded tamales (made with shrimp), Governor tacos, fish crackers and Sinaloa-style grill-roasted chicken.

Ferries make the daily journey to La Paz, Baja California Sur, while a varied number of cruise ships visit the port every week from the United States.

While the inhabitants of the receiverships, police stations, and other villages in the municipality continue voting traditionally for the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), this phenomenon is changing within the city.

However, a few months after taking the oath of mayor, Rodriguez Pasos was deposed by the State Congress after being charged for domestic violence, in which his own wife accused him.

Shortly thereafter, in a move seen as a ruse of the PRI state government, he was replaced by Ricardo Ramírez González, a member of the Institutional Revolutionary Party.

French explorer Duflot de Mofras notes that by the 1840s, foreign traders based in Mazatlán impelled the opening of the first public school in the city.

The National Autonomous University of Mexico, UNAM, has a presence in the city with an academic unit specializing in marine sciences and the Center for Food Research and Development.