My wife and I recently had a chance to visit the Atacama desert in northern Chile. It’s one of the driest places in the world and has an interesting history.
A century ago there was a thriving industry in the region, with mines extracting saltpeter (sodium nitrate) from the richest such deposits in the world. Around 200 towns were built around these mines to house the workers and their families (from Chile and Bolivia), and to provide them with the resources of a small town (shopping, education, churches, etc.). These mines were founded as early as 1872 and were fairly remote—more than 45 km from the closest port city, Iquique—so railroad lines were built to ship the saltpeter to global markets through this port city.
Saltpeter is a nitrate rich mineral which is plentiful in this desert environment. It was extensively used in explosives and fertilizers during that era — fueled by the demands of a World War and a growing global population. The need for saltpeter died out in the middle of the 20th century when synthetic nitrates were developed in Europe, providing a low cost and abundant source of nitrogen fertilizer. The saltpeter mines closed and the towns around them were abandoned by 1960. Some of these towns have survived in this harsh desert climate and several of them can be visited as tourist destinations. Two of these, Humberstone and Santa Laura, were granted UNESCO World Heritage Site status in 2005.
We visited and toured Humberstone (originally known as La Palma) and had a chance to see what life in one of these mining towns was like. The desert proved difficult to live in, but the miners families and the mine owners managed to construct a functioning society with at least a few creature comforts. The miners were not treated with much kindness, and there was conflict regarding workers’ rights and unions, which had an impact on labor laws throughout Chile and even beyond. Our visit did not include the mining or mineral extraction sites themselves, although the process is demonstrated in the town’s museum.
Our visit was focused on features of Humberstone town, including:
Housing units:
Multiple relics and displays of the old mining days...
Humberstone’s Church…..
Market square — a place where people would sell their products, produce and services….
Hotel.….
Humberstone Theater, which featured plays, concerts, movies and such….
The photo below was used as last weekend’s One Clue Mystery photo. As usual, it was recognized by the incomparable George G — congratulations, George!
Company run store. Some of the miners’ pay was in vouchers for the store, where people could buy dry goods, meat, produce, etc. The goods were often quite expensive, but the miners had no choice but to shop here.
The first few rows of old houses have been partly restored and turned into a museum, which explains the functions of certain parts of the town, as well as displaying artifacts left behind by the residents.
Humberstone is easily accessible and an easy daytrip from the costal city of Iquique. There is a small entry fee.. However, once inside you are free to explore the ghost town..
As a final note for this post, there were nearby stands of the Tamarugo trees within the Atacama desert. It is obviously a very drought tolerant plant.
Very interesting article.
Thanks, Marilyn!