During the Porfiriato, the era of President Porfirio Diaz's long rule, El Walamo's fortunes rose with the establishment of the Pie de Cochi sugar mill on the eastern bank of the Presidio River. The mill employed hundreds of workers and benefited surrounding communities like Villa Union, processing cane from local fields in a continuous cycle of three shifts. Before the mill arrived, El Walamo had been a small settlement of palm-roofed houses built around agriculture and fishing. The sugar operation transformed it into a center of employment and commerce. But mismanagement, particularly under Armando Corona, son of the previous owner Manuel Corona, led to decline. Profits were squandered and cane was planted in unsuitable locations. By 1960, the mill ceased operations, leaving behind its tall chimney and a community forced to find another way to survive.

El Walamo's history includes episodes that most small towns would prefer to forget. In April 1903, the local police guard reported a troubling series of deaths near the Confite dock, where the population numbered only about 25. A young girl named Albina Gonzalez, a man named Fernando Romero, and an elderly woman named Nestora Niebla all died within weeks of each other. The alarm was understandable: Sinaloa was grappling with an outbreak of bubonic plague. Investigation eventually suggested the symptoms did not align perfectly with plague, but the scare reflected the vulnerability of remote communities to diseases that spread along trade routes. Decades later, in the 1940s, the disruptions of military conscription during World War II concerned local business owners, though the drills were ultimately scheduled during workers' free time.

Today, El Walamo thrives on what the valley does best. The agricultural fields stretching along the Presidio River produce jalapeno, serrano, and guero peppers, along with chili and tomato, in quantities that have made the region a significant hub. Seasonal workers arrive from southern Mexico and often stay long-term, drawn by steady employment in the fields. The peppers are distributed widely across the country, particularly in northern Mexico and the State of Mexico. Beans and corn round out the agricultural picture, though the peppers remain the headline crop. The town that lost its sugar mill and its namesake tree rebuilt its economy on the simple, enduring productivity of its soil.

El Walamo's Ejido was founded in 1935 by a group of agrarian reformers, and the community celebrates its founding each March 23 with a fiesta that includes a parade, music, a horse procession, and a communal meal. The 75th anniversary celebration in 2015 featured a festival of local arts and the paving of important streets, a practical achievement that residents celebrated alongside the cultural festivities. The San Isidro Labrador Church, recently renovated with community labor, anchors the town's religious life. Visitors passing through on their way to buy shrimp and fish from the local fishing industry find a town where the streets are dusty and potholed but the fields are green, the chili harvest is reliable, and the tall chimney of the old sugar mill still stands as a reminder that economies come and go, but the land keeps producing.