THE FIRST SETTLERS

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The first settlers who occupied the area where the city of Mar del Plata (formerly known as Costa Galana, Lobería Chica, Región del Volcán and Punta Lobos, among others) is located today, were the Indian tribes of the Indians called Pampas whose way of life was based on the hunting of animals and the harvesting of fruits that they obtained during their displacements by the region. The first Spaniard to have contact with the Mar del Plata coast was Fernando de Magallanes, who in February 1519 named Punta de Arena Gordas to the current Punta Mogotes. Juan de Garay made the first entry by land between 1581 and 1582; But neither of these expeditions left a permanent population. Those who made the first attempt were the Jesuit Fathers Matthias Strobel; Tomás Falkner and José Cardiel, who in 1747 established a Jesuit mission on the shores of the "Las Cabrillas" Lagoon (now known as the Laguna de los Padres). This establishment was named Nuestra Señora del Pilar and its population reached 1200 native people living in its surroundings. The existence of the mission was ephemeral, since given the hostility of the tribes that were not incorporated to the life of the mission and before the loss of influence of the Order, the Jesuits left the premises the 1 of September of 1751.

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EL SALADERO 
 

In 1857, a Brazilian-Portuguese consortium - whose representative was Coelho de Meyrelles - acquired land in this region and installed a saladero. This establishment will cause a slow and progressive change in the physionomie of the region, since around it will concentrate a small nucleus of population. The manufacturing plant of the saladero was located at the mouth of the brook Las Chacras, near the current beach of Punta Iglesia; Also a shed was installed in the block currently delimited by the streets Luro, Corrientes, Diag. Alberdi and Santa Fe, and in front of this was built a large corral of "palo a pique". The population around the saladero, began to be called "Puerto de la Laguna de los Padres".

The final product that was elaborated in the saladero was the tasajo, that consisted of pieces of meat of about 4 cms. of thickness, that after previous hours of "oreado" went to deposits of brine for a brief time; Later it was stacked for about 50 days, during which it remained sunning itself; Once the process was finished, the product was stored in bulk in the hold of the ships without any container and sent to Brazil and Cuba where it was used as slave food.
For a variety of reasons, such as the progressive decline of salty activity, the business could not continue and with Coelho de Meyrelles's death a part of their land will be acquired by a key player in the constitution of the city of Mar del Plata: Patricio Peralta Ramos .

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THE TOWN OF MAR DEL PLATA

When Patricio Peralta Ramos takes over the lands of Coelho de Meyrelles, he initiates on November 14, 1873, the efforts before the provincial government to recognize the existence of a town called "Puerto de la Laguna de los Padres" in Land owned by him.
This request will have a favorable answer and on February 10, 1874 the governor of the province of Buenos Aires, Mariano Acosta, issued the decree recognizing the new people within Partido de Balcarce, which receives at the request of its founder the name of Mar del Plata.
The 15 of October of 1879, the provincial government authorizes the creation of the Partido de General Pueyrredón (product of a division of the Partido de Balcarce).
An event that will positively influence the development of the town of Mar del Plata will be the arrival in 1877 of Pedro Luro, who will take care of the saladero, the grease, install a mill and build a new pier, Which will give a decisive impetus to agriculture.

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THE TOURISTIC VILLAGE

 

With the arrival of the railway, on September 26, 1886, the town of Mar del Plata was transformed into a modern urban center. This urban world in formation, attracted a stream of population that was brewing a permanent society that lived all year.

 

Until the 30´S  the bulk of the vacationers arrived from the city of Buenos Aires by the Railroad of the South.

With the railroad impulse, the Bristol Hotel was built in the season 1887-88, located in Entre Ríos and Av. Luro; After this, the hotels on the coast were rapidly appearing, as were the villas and mansions of the holiday elite, who were populating the hill lying on the sea between Bristol Beach and Torreon del Monje. Some of them currently survive under the jurisdiction of the Municipality, such as the villa of Ana Elia Ortiz Basualdo, located at Av. Colón and Alvear (currently Juan Carlos Castagnino art museum); The house of Victoria Ocampo, located in the block delimited by Matheu, Lamadrid, Arenales and Quintana; Or the fifth of Emilio Miter, in the block delimited by Matheu, Lamadrid, Formosa and Las Heras (currently Historic Municipal Archive). Not all vacationers at this stage performed such ostentation, sectors of the coast as La Perla, housed people less wealthy or with a less intense social life.

In the 20's, as the number of vacationers was greater, some members of the elite began the exodus to the south of the city, settling in Playa Chica and Playa Grande, beyond Cabo Corrientes to Golf.

The meeting area of ​​this group was concentrated in the Club Mar del Plata inaugurated in 1908 and located in Av. Luro between Bv. Maritime and Entre Ríos.

At the same time, from the end of the last century until the 30s, Mar del Plata was also an elite beach point. The rich families took their vacations in the city from the month of November and they remained until Easter; Which generated that next to the society that permanently resided in the city, a "temporary" one was created during holidays near the beach.

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