History and overview

The site of cattle ranches and part of the county seat of San Justo

San Justo, Buenos Aires

San Justo is a city and the seat of government of La Matanza Partido, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina.On the initiative of Judge Lino Lagos, the settlement was founded on December 25th, 1858 on land requisitioned from Justo Villegas, a prominent landowner...

 from 1858, the city was established as a real estate development on May 4, 1911, by playwright Gregorio de Laferrère

Gregorio de Laferrère

Gregorio de Laferrère was an Argentine politician and playwright.-Life and work:Gregorio de Laferrère was born in Buenos Aires to Mercedes Pereda, a local heiress, and Alfonso de Laferrère, a prominent French Argentine landowner. One of three brothers, he earned his secondary school education at...

, Honorio Luque, and Dr. Pedro Luro. The latter partner, a prominent area physician, had earlier developed what became the Villa Luro

Villa Luro

Villa Luro is a barrio of Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is located in the western part of Capital Federal.The district owes its name to Dr. Pedro Luro, a prominent local physician and real-estate developer who, during the 1870s, sold most of his property in the area as residential lots.-External...

 section of Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...

. The location was chosen for a station

Rail transport in Argentina

The Argentine railway network comprised of track at the end of the Second World War and was, in its time, one of the most extensive and prosperous in South America. However, with the increase in highway construction, there followed a sharp decline in railway profitability, leading to the break-up...

 installed by the Buenos Aires and Pacific Railway

Buenos Aires and Pacific Railway

The Buenos Aires and Pacific Railway was one of the Big Four broad gauge, , British-owned companies that built and operated railway networks in Argentina....

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

The effects of World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

 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 Matanza River

Matanza River

The Matanza River is known by several names, including, in Spanish, Río de la Matanza , Río Matanza , Río Mataderos , Río de la Manzana , El Riachuelo , or simply Riachuelo...

, 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

Gran Chaco

The Gran Chaco is a sparsely populated, hot and semi-arid lowland region of the Río de la Plata basin, divided among eastern Bolivia, Paraguay, northern Argentina and a portion of the Brazilian states of Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul, where it is connected with the Pantanal region...

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

The first parish

Parish (Catholic Church)

In the Roman Catholic Church, a parish is the lowest ecclesiastical geographical subdivision: from ecclesiastical province to diocese to deanery to parish.-Requirements:A parish needs two things under common law to become a parish...

 and the first local football

Football in Argentina

Football in Argentina is the most popular sport, the one with the most players and is the most popular recreational sport, played from childhood into old age...

 club, Deportivo Laferrere

Deportivo Laferrere

Club Deportivo Laferrere is a football club from La Matanza Partido in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. The team currently plays in Primera C Metropolitana, which is the regionalized fourth tier of the Argentine Football Association league system....

, 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, oustripping public road and water and sanitation

Water supply and sanitation in Argentina

Water supply and sanitation in Argentina is characterized by relatively low tariffs, mostly reasonable service quality, low levels of metering and high levels of consumption for those with access to services. At the same time, according to the WHO, 21% of the total population remains without access...

 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

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:...

, González Catán

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 , and the second most-populous.It forms part of the Greater Buenos Aires urban conurbation....

, and Rafael Castillo

Rafael Castillo, Buenos Aires

Rafael Castillo is a district of La Matanza Partido in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It is located in the Greater Buenos Aires urban conurbation....

, among the most economically disadvantaged urban areas in the country, and continues to suffer from inadequate infrastructure.