Santa Rosalía, Baja California Sur
Encyclopedia
Santa Rosalía is a city located on the Baja California peninsula
, in the northern part of the Mexican
state
of Baja California Sur
. It was named after Saint Rosalia, although the reason for the name is not quite clear since the Misión de Santa Rosalía is not located by the town, but rather in Mulegé
, about 100 km (62.1 mi) south, and the local parish is devoted to Santa Bárbara. (See: Spanish missions in California
.)
Santa Rosalía is a port city, and a regular ferry connects with Guaymas
, Sonora
, on the other side of the Gulf of California
. At the Palo Verde Airport
daily flights are available from Guaymas and twice a week from Hermosillo
, Sonora
.
This town boasts French
influence, particularly in its architecture. The French company El Boleo
founded the town in 1884 and exploited copper
mines there until they closed in 1954. They built houses and installed a metallic church building (The Santa Barbara parish) which is argued to have been designed by Gustave Eiffel
.
Unlike many other mining sites, the industrial facilities which are located in the very middle of the town, were never dismantled. Of particular interest are the reverberatory furnace
and the metallurgical converter, although they are currently not accessible by the public due to safety concerns. Old locomotive
s, mining equipment and machinery are visible everywhere. The main mining company offices (La dirección) have been converted into an industrial museum.
The 2010 census showed a population of 11,765 persons. The city is the seat of the municipality
of Mulegé
.
-zinc
-manganese ore deposit. Seven large manto ore deposits have been identified.
A state owned company (CMSRSA) reopened the works using basically the same (rather archaic) process until the 1980s, when it was closed due to the low-grade of the ore with regard to the technology used.
Baja Mining, a Canadian firm, has been intermittently exploring and attempting to reopen the Boleo Mine since 2004. Baja Mining estimates their property contains a resource of 534 million tons of ore, containing 0.59% Cu, 0.051% Co, and 0.63% Zn. Baja also hopes to produce byproduct manganese
. The project is active as of early 2010.
Tradition credited its design to architect Gustave Eiffel and that it was shown in the 1889 Universal Exposition of Paris, France, along with the tower, and that it was awarded a prize. Originally destined for construction in Africa, the French company director Charles La Forgue found it disassembled in Belgium and bought it in 1894, probably to alleviate the nostalgia of the French community who missed the lifestyle and glamour of the European architecture. In the early 1990s Angela Gardner, an American architectural student who visited Santa Rosalía and examined the church, came to a hypothesis that the church design was from a different architect, belonging to the House of Duclo rather than Eiffel's firm, to the dismay of the locals, who believe this would diminish the appreciation of the building. As no historical record or blueprint has appeared, neither version could be confirmed. The recent disclosure of the historical archives to the public by the INAH (Mexico's National Institute of Antropology and History) has not provided additional information.
Baja California Peninsula
The Baja California peninsula , is a peninsula in northwestern Mexico. Its land mass separates the Pacific Ocean from the Gulf of California. The Peninsula extends from Mexicali, Baja California in the north to Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur in the south.The total area of the Baja California...
, in the northern part of the Mexican
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
state
States of Mexico
The United Mexican States is a federal republic formed by 32 federal entities .According to the Constitution of 1917, the states of the federation are free and sovereign. Each state has their own congress and constitution, while the Federal District has only limited autonomy with a local Congress...
of Baja California Sur
Baja California Sur
Baja California Sur , is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. Before becoming a state on October 8, 1974, the area was known as the South Territory of Baja California. It has an area of , or 3.57% of the land mass of Mexico and comprises...
. It was named after Saint Rosalia, although the reason for the name is not quite clear since the Misión de Santa Rosalía is not located by the town, but rather in Mulegé
Mulegé
Mulegé is an oasis town in the Mexican state of Baja California Sur, situated at the mouth of the Río de Santa Rosalía. It is the fourth-largest community in Mulegé Municipality...
, about 100 km (62.1 mi) south, and the local parish is devoted to Santa Bárbara. (See: Spanish missions in California
Spanish missions in California
The Spanish missions in California comprise a series of religious and military outposts established by Spanish Catholics of the Franciscan Order between 1769 and 1823 to spread the Christian faith among the local Native Americans. The missions represented the first major effort by Europeans to...
.)
Santa Rosalía is a port city, and a regular ferry connects with Guaymas
Guaymas
Guaymas is a city and municipality located in the southwest part of the state of Sonora in northwestern Mexico. The city is located 117 km south of the state capital of Hermosillo, and 242 miles from the U.S. border, and is the principal port for the state. The municipality is located in the...
, Sonora
Sonora
Sonora officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 72 municipalities; the capital city is Hermosillo....
, on the other side of the Gulf of California
Gulf of California
The Gulf of California is a body of water that separates the Baja California Peninsula from the Mexican mainland...
. At the Palo Verde Airport
Palo Verde Airport
Palo Verde Airport is a paved airstrip located in San Bruno, a town 30 km south of Santa Rosalía, Baja California Sur, Mexico. The airstrip is also known as "Chivato Bay" and the CIB code is used as its identifier. It handles aviation for the city of Santa Rosalía.-Airlines:-External links:**...
daily flights are available from Guaymas and twice a week from Hermosillo
Hermosillo
Hermosillo is a city and municipality located centrally in the northwestern Mexican state of Sonora. It is the capital and main economic center for the state and region. It contains almost all of the state's manufacturing and has thirty percent of its population...
, Sonora
Sonora
Sonora officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 72 municipalities; the capital city is Hermosillo....
.
This town boasts French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
influence, particularly in its architecture. The French company El Boleo
El Boleo
El Boleo was a Mexican copper mine located at the port city of Santa Rosalía, Baja California Sur. It was operated by a French company who had obtained control of the mine through an extensive concession and 50-year tax extemption granted by Mexican president Porfirio Diaz who apparently had the...
founded the town in 1884 and exploited copper
Copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...
mines there until they closed in 1954. They built houses and installed a metallic church building (The Santa Barbara parish) which is argued to have been designed by Gustave Eiffel
Gustave Eiffel
Alexandre Gustave Eiffel was a French structural engineer from the École Centrale Paris, an architect, an entrepreneur and a specialist of metallic structures...
.
Unlike many other mining sites, the industrial facilities which are located in the very middle of the town, were never dismantled. Of particular interest are the reverberatory furnace
Reverberatory furnace
A reverberatory furnace is a metallurgical or process furnace that isolates the material being processed from contact with the fuel, but not from contact with combustion gases...
and the metallurgical converter, although they are currently not accessible by the public due to safety concerns. Old locomotive
Locomotive
A locomotive is a railway vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. The word originates from the Latin loco – "from a place", ablative of locus, "place" + Medieval Latin motivus, "causing motion", and is a shortened form of the term locomotive engine, first used in the early 19th...
s, mining equipment and machinery are visible everywhere. The main mining company offices (La dirección) have been converted into an industrial museum.
The 2010 census showed a population of 11,765 persons. The city is the seat of the municipality
Municipalities of Mexico
Municipalities are the second-level administrative division in Mexico . There are 2,438 municipalities in Mexico, making the average municipality population 45,616...
of Mulegé
Mulegé (municipality)
Mulegé is the northernmost municipality of the Mexican state of Baja California Sur. It is the second-largest municipality by area in the country, with an area of 32,092.2 km² . In the census of 2010 it had a population of 59,114 inhabitants...
.
Boleo Copper Mine
The Boleo Mine is an unusual sediment-hosted copper-cobaltCobalt
Cobalt is a chemical element with symbol Co and atomic number 27. It is found naturally only in chemically combined form. The free element, produced by reductive smelting, is a hard, lustrous, silver-gray metal....
-zinc
Zinc
Zinc , or spelter , is a metallic chemical element; it has the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is the first element in group 12 of the periodic table. Zinc is, in some respects, chemically similar to magnesium, because its ion is of similar size and its only common oxidation state is +2...
-manganese ore deposit. Seven large manto ore deposits have been identified.
A state owned company (CMSRSA) reopened the works using basically the same (rather archaic) process until the 1980s, when it was closed due to the low-grade of the ore with regard to the technology used.
Baja Mining, a Canadian firm, has been intermittently exploring and attempting to reopen the Boleo Mine since 2004. Baja Mining estimates their property contains a resource of 534 million tons of ore, containing 0.59% Cu, 0.051% Co, and 0.63% Zn. Baja also hopes to produce byproduct manganese
Manganese
Manganese is a chemical element, designated by the symbol Mn. It has the atomic number 25. It is found as a free element in nature , and in many minerals...
. The project is active as of early 2010.
Facts and controversy on the metal church
One of the main attractions at the town is undoubtedly the metal church. Originally built entirely of stamped steel sheet squares, it is supported by a formidable steel structure in a sober and austere style. It has been brutally modified in favor of functionality (its former lateral corridors were turned into habitable space using crude masonry), and stripped of several of its original stained glasses. Despite these modifications, it still preserves some of the original 1800s spirit.Tradition credited its design to architect Gustave Eiffel and that it was shown in the 1889 Universal Exposition of Paris, France, along with the tower, and that it was awarded a prize. Originally destined for construction in Africa, the French company director Charles La Forgue found it disassembled in Belgium and bought it in 1894, probably to alleviate the nostalgia of the French community who missed the lifestyle and glamour of the European architecture. In the early 1990s Angela Gardner, an American architectural student who visited Santa Rosalía and examined the church, came to a hypothesis that the church design was from a different architect, belonging to the House of Duclo rather than Eiffel's firm, to the dismay of the locals, who believe this would diminish the appreciation of the building. As no historical record or blueprint has appeared, neither version could be confirmed. The recent disclosure of the historical archives to the public by the INAH (Mexico's National Institute of Antropology and History) has not provided additional information.