Map - Tipitapa (Municipio de Tipitapa)

Tipitapa is a city and municipality in the Managua department of western Nicaragua. The area is located between Lake Managua and Lake Nicaragua.

Tipitapa began as a settlement of local tribes. The first settlers were the Chorotegas, who populated central Nicaragua and especially the location between two lakes. Over time, the Chorotegas were divided into two rival gangs, the Dirianes and Nagrandanos. The kingdom of Dirianes was the jurisdiction to which it belonged. Pre-Tipitapa had its own social, economic and administrative policy. The largest populations were Managua, Xalteva, Diriomo, Niquinohomo, and Mateare Nindirí. There are two versions of the origin of the name of Tipitapa. The first is said to be of Mexican origin and is formed from the prefix "telpë" meaning "stone" with "petlat" meaning "mat or bedroll" and "pan" which means "place" to form "place of stone backpacks". The second version is that "Tipitapa" is derived from the voices "tpitzin" as "alt" meaning "short or small" with the adverb of place "apan" to mean "in the vicinity of a small river or small stream".

The original settlement was established in an area located to the southwest of the present town, near the river's shad fish and like all Indian villages, the sector had a small population whose economic activity was fishing (in Lake Managua).

The current city, Tipitapa, was founded after the town was transferred from the old seat by the wealthy Spanish landowner Juan Bautista Almendarez in 1775. It took him two years of petitioning to the government of the Kingdom of Guatemala, to be granted authority to move the city. Almendarez built the chapel and the first bridge in Tipitapa. During the colonial period, Tipitapa's indigenous population dwindled to approximately 1,211 people. Its residents migrated to other cities due to the high rate of mortality because of epidemic diseases and the national war.

A very important historical event for the town of Tipitapa and for all of Nicaragua is the battle of San Jacinto at a ranch of that name north of the town. It was fought on September 14, 1856 by 120 Nicaraguans trying to defeat more than 300 US adventurers called "filibusteros" under the command of William Walker, who had usurped the presidency of Nicaragua, as can be seen in the article on Walker in Wikipedia. The Nicaraguans were led by Colonel Jose Dolores Estrada, a national hero, who led his patriots to victory. The date is now a national holiday called "Catorce de Septiembre" (September 14) or "San Jacinto".

Another important historical event for Tipitapa was the Black Thorn Treaty. The treaty was signed on May 4, 1927, between Liberal and Conservative factions that were warring (1926-1927) for political power in the country. The US government sent Henry L. Stimson to negotiate for the peace treaty. In 1929, the city's name was changed to "Villa Stimson" in his honor. It is not clear why the old Indian name "Tipitapa" was abolished, and it was not until 1961 that the name was changed back to "Tipitapa" by legislative decree.