After the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, the Dominicans established a town and church dedicated to Mary Magdalene and changed the name of the area to Magdalena (de) Atlitic. The first to take advantage of the waters of the Río Magdalena, Jerónimo de León established the first water-powered saw mill in 1543. In the 17th century the Contreras family established a factory in the location that bears their name. At the end of the 18th century, a group of Spanish industrialists founded a textile factory which caused an increase in the economy and the population of the area. By the end of the 19th century, the river was powering four textile factories named El Águila Mexicana, Tizapán, Santa Teresa, and Loreto. These factories produced wool, cotton and cashmere thread, and cloth of various types and by the end of the century had the use of the Mexico City-Cuernavaca rail line for shipping. However, from the colonial period through most of the 19th century, the area was mostly populated by farm and textile laborers who lived in poor conditions.