Gregorio de Laferrère is a city ( es, ciudad) in the

La Matanza Partido La Matanza ('The Slaughter' in Spanish) is a '' partido'' (county or department) located in the urban agglomeration of Greater Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. This provincial subdivision had 1,775,272 inhabitants (at the 2010 Cen ...

of Buenos Aires Province.

History and overview

The site of cattle ranches and part of the county seat of San Justo from 1858, the city was established as a real estate development on May 4, 1911, by playwright Gregorio de Laferrère, Honorio Luque, and Dr. Pedro Luro. The latter partner, a prominent area physician, had earlier developed what became the Villa Luro section of

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

. The location was chosen for a station installed by the

Buenos Aires and Pacific Railway The Buenos Aires and Pacific Railway (BA&P) (in Spanish: Ferrocarril Buenos Aires al Pacífico) was one of the ''Big Four'' broad gauge, , British-owned companies that built and operated railway networks in Argentina. The original concession wa ...

, and by 1913, the first twenty chalets had been sold. The settlement had, by then, been renamed for Laferrère, who had died that year. The effects of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

on the local economy slowed the town's progress, though it resumed with the establishment of the first civic institutions in 1922. The community grew slowly in its initial decades, partly due to recurring flooding from the Río Matanza, east of the town. The growth of manufacturing in the county, mainly around San Justo and other points north of Laferrère, during the 1940s made the town a primary destination for migrants from the underdeveloped

north North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north ...

of the country, and thousands of lots were auctioned from 1949 onwards. The first

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one o ...

and the first local football club,

Deportivo Laferrere Club Deportivo Laferrere is a football club from the homonymous district of La Matanza Partido, Greater Buenos Aires. The team currently plays in Primera C, the regionalized fourth division of the Argentine football league system. Laferrere was ...

, were established in 1956. The new parish priest, Monsignor Leopoldo López May, founded a local institution of higher learning (''Instituto Cristo Rey'') in 1958. The city had grown to nearly 70,000 inhabitants by 1970, outstripping public road and

water and sanitation Water (chemical formula ) is an Inorganic compound, inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and Color of water, nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living ...

systems in its outlying areas. Laferrère was declared a city by the Provincial Legislature on September 18, 1973. It surpassed the county seat, San Justo, in population, and by 1980, with nearly 120,000 people, became the largest municipality in La Matanza County, as well as the fourth-largest in Greater Buenos Aires. Located near the southwestern edge of the metro area, Laferrère remains, with its neighboring communities of

Isidro Casanova Isidro Casanova is a city in La Matanza Partido, Greater Buenos Aires, Argentina. It borders the towns of Villa Luzuriaga, San Justo, Ciudad Evita, Rafael Castillo, Laferrere, and Ezeiza. History The area encompassing Isidro Casanova was i ...

González Catán González Catán is a city located in La Matanza Partido, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. The city is the second-largest by area in the county (52 km²), and the second most-populous. The city is located near the southwestern end of the Grea ...

, and Rafael Castillo, among the most economically disadvantaged urban areas in the country, and continues to suffer from inadequate infrastructure.''Clarín'': Construirán un hospital en Laferrere y otro en Rafael Castillo (9/1/2008)

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gregorio de Laferrere, Buenos Aires Populated places in Buenos Aires Province Populated places established in 1911 Cities in Argentina