page_title: Celaya
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Celaya / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Street vendors in the Celaya train station.Español: Vendedores ambulantes en la estación de tren en Celaya.
context_page_description: Celaya is a city and its surrounding municipality in the state of Guanajuato, Mexico, located in the southeast quadrant of the state. It is the third most populous city in the state, with a 2005 census population of 310,413. The municipality for which the city serves as municipal seat, had a population of 415,869. The city is located in the geographic center of the municipality, which has an areal extent of 553.18 km² and includes many smaller outlying communities, the largest of which are San Miguel Octopan, Rincón de Tamayo and San Juan de la Vega.
  There are many smaller towns around Celaya including Rincón de Tamayo, Tarimoro, Salvatierra, La Moncada, Panales Jamaica, Panales Galera, La Calera, La Estancia, La Noria, Los Fierros, El Acebuche, Cacalote, and Charco Largo.
context_section_description: Celaya was a frontier region between the Purépecha and the Chichimecas.
  General Álvaro Obregón defeated Pancho Villa in the Battle of Celaya, 1915.  Celaya was also the Guanajuato state capital for a short period.
  An explosion in a gunpowder and fireworks warehouse in September, 1999, killed over 60 people and injured over 300 people.
caption: Street vendors in the Celaya train station before 1901
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