Last modified: 2020-07-26 by francisco gregoric
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The Punta Indio District (9,888 inhabitants in 2010; 1,150 sq. km) is located on Samborombón Bay, 100 km south of Buenos Aires City. The District is made of the towns of Verónica (5,772 inh.; capital), Pipinas (1,020 inh.), Punta del Indio (666 inh.), Alvarez Jonte (40 inh.), Las Tahonas (7 inh.), Luján del Río, La Viruta, Monte Veloz and Punta Piedras.
Punta Indio was part of the Magdalena Fields, the town of Magdalena
having been founded at the colonial times as an outpost against the
Querandí natives, the first settlers of the region. Organized in big
cattle farms, the area remained for long without significant
settlements.
In the early 20th century, Martín Tornquist, owner of the La Verde
Estate, organized the colonization of the region; the appearance of
the railway allowed immigrants to settle the town of Verónica, named
for the founder's wife, Verónica Bernal de Tornquist. The other
villages subsequently emerged, although Verónica remained the most
populous town in the region.
The Punta Indio District was established by Provincial Law No. 11,584,
adopted on 6 December 1994; the first Municipal Council was elected on
11 December 1995.
Pipinas was founded on 13 December 1913, when the Ensenada and South
Coast Railways were allowed to increase their line 25 km south of
Alvarez Jonte. The railway station was named Las Pipinas, as a tribute
to two women from the family of Carlos A. Dile, named Josefinas. The
village of Las Pipinas was established by a National Decree issued on
2 January 1941, fulfilling a request tabled on 30 March 1939 by
Pranasco P. Hernández, the owner of the "Corcemar" cement works built
in June 1938. For an unknown reason, the name of the village was
subsequently shortened to Pipinas.
In 1934, Ricardo Bartolomé Atengo Morando built in Punta del Indio
hotel "El Argentino", located near a 300-m wide beach. The hotel was
served by a horse-drawn tramway starting from the La Aurora inn, where
the tourists parked their cars. The hotel had 74 rooms, 35 bathrooms,
a private casino, a music hall with a pianola, a billiard, and a
famous restaurant serving Italian and German wines, sardines and tuna,
and imported seafood. The hotel was enjoyed by celebrities of the
time, such as the politicians Alberto Barceló (1873-1946), Nicanor
Salas Chávez, and Raúl Barón Biza (1899-1964), the actresses Sofía "La
Negra" Bozán (1904-1958; once known as the "Queen of Buenos Aires
Nights") and Gloria Guzmán (1902-1979). Other hotels were subsequently
built nearby, such as the "Hosteria Suiza" (1947), "Los Talas" and
"Hosterai Mengoni".
Also located in Punta del Indio, the Costero del Sur was declared a
Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO:
"The Costero del Sur Biosphere Reserve is located in the Province of
Buenos Aires in the southern part of the Rio de la Plata estuary on
the Atlantic coast. It is situated in a humid and swampy region that
comprises pampas grasslands characterized by deep, fertile soils. It
includes coastal areas, flooded and unflooded swamps, wetlands and dry
forests. [...] The Biosphere Reserve has an important heritage of
cultural traditions of the cattle industry development (‘gauchos’ of
Rio de la Plata region) and architectural monuments from European
immigrant culture."
The Punta Piedras lighthouse (height, 31 m; range, 15.1 miles) is the
northernmost lighthouse in continental Argentina. Inaugurated on 21
March 1917, it succeeded a beacon marking the northern end of the
Samborombón Bay.
Ivan Sache 06 Oct 2012
The flag and arms of Punta Indio are prescribed by Municipal Ordinance
No. 774, unanimously adopted on 26 September 2012.
The flag is white with the arms in the middle.
The flag is expected to be inaugurated on 6 December 2012, being then
hoisted in front of the Town Hall.
The arms is the logo designed in 1994 by a student in visual
communication, Jorge Arias; it was then adopted by a popular assembly
during the struggle for the set up of the Punta Indio District. The
dove flying in the sky symbolizes orientation towards the future, hope
and peace.
The logo was originally used as a self-stranding emblem or put on a
white flag. In 1996, Decree No. 101 promulgated Decree No. 42, adopted
the same year, which proclaimed the logo "of municipal interest" and
"of historical, social and cultural significance for the town of Punta
Indio". This was the first step towards an official recognition of the
symbols.
The flag should be hoisted, together with the national and provincial
flags, in front of the Town Hall and of the Municipal Delegations; it
should be used in all official ceremonies and should preside the
"despachos" of the municipal employees and of the Municipal Council.
An image of the flag is available on Wikimedia Commons. On the flag, there
are two green horizontal stripes, the upper larger and overlapping the
base of the logo, the lower thinner. Below is the writing "PARTIDO DE
PUNTA INDIO" in green, sanserifed letters.
Ivan Sache, 06 Oct 2012
Anything below this line was not added by the editor of this page.
