Pedro Romero de Terreros arrived in the area of what is now the town of San Miguel Regla in 1732 as a twenty-two year old adventurer from Huelva, Spain. Though humble and poor when he first arrived, Don Pedro - Primer Conde de Regla - became one of the richest persons in the world at that time due to the mineral riches his company extracted from Real del Monte.
Lore about the noble Count includes tales about his offering Carlos III of Spain a silver railway to transport him from Veracruz to Pachuca - a distance of over 200 miles "as the crow flies" ... add the "ups and downs" of the Sierra Madre that separate the two points to that, multiply it by any index of refined silver ore you want to imagine and you'll conclude the wealth was enormous.
In addition to creating a mineral industry in the San Miguel Regla area, Don Pedro founded the Nacional Monte de Piedad - Mexico's National Pawn Shop - in Mexico City in 1775. It still stands along Mexico City's Zocalo as a resource for those in need.
