Founded officially on 24 June 1564 by the Spanish Diego de Quijada on the banks of the Grijalva River under the name of Villa Hermosa, in 1826 the village was raised to the rank of city under the name of San Juan Bautista de la Villa Hermosa (Saint John the Baptist). The Republic of Texas Navy captured the city on November 20, 1840, demanding $25,000 in silver. The city was captured and occupied by U.S. forces after the battle of Tabasco during the Mexican-American War. During the French intervention in Mexico, French troops occupied the city in 1863. In 1916, the governor of Tabasco, Francisco J. M�gica, ordered the restoration of the city's name to Villahermosa.
Today Villahermosa is a modern city in southeast Mexico and, possibly only after M�rida, Yucat�n, it is the most important business and commercial point in the long stretch between Mexico City and Canc�n
