Conchillas Living Heritage

Coordination Producer
Nicolás Barriola
Content Producer
William Rey Ashfield
Publishing Manager
Lucía Lin
Commercial Department
Martín Colombo
Texts
Pía Supervielle
William Rey Ashfield
Translation
Mariana Mendizábal
Photos
Eduardo Davit
Celena García
Carlos López
Marcos Mendizábal
Illustrated Map
Josefina Jolly
Proof-reading in Spanish
Maqui Dutto
Design
I+D
Printing
Produced, designed and printed in Uruguay
© 2019. BMR Productos Culturales, All Rights Reserved. No part of this book
may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or
mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage
and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

6
20
PREFACE
INTRODUCTION
25
CHAPTER 1
THE LANDING
129
CHAPTER 2
THE DARKEST YEARS
149
185
190
191
CHAPTER 3
PROTECT, PRESERVE,
LOVE
EPILOGUE
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
BIBLIOGRAPHY

David Evans (second from left) at Evans House.

Preface
After making a brief visit to Conchillas without having any prior
information about the place, some prevailing materials would
remain in our memory – stone and sheet metal, mainly, along with
some bold colors – ochre and dark red, in addition to the green of the
fields. There was a vast array of aromas including pine, honeysuckle,
rosemary, and orange blossom, as well as the English names on the
signs of the streets and the tombstones of the cemetery.
In spite of being random memories, they do help to evoke the
history of the place, since in the stone is the origin of the mining
company installed there by an Englishman who supplied the new
port of Buenos Aires with this material. Charles Walker regarded
the workers’ houses as part of the company’s fixed capital; hence,
they were built in stone, albeit with not entirely vertical walls. The
sheet metal, painted in a dark red that still lasts until today, made
up the rooves of the houses arranged in long linear blocks that used
to accommodate the families of both workers and officials. The
homogeneous chromatic approach sought a unified image, typical
of the company towns during the industrial revolution and beyond.
Many of the workers arrived from Great Britain, but they were not
the only ones. Others such as David Evans came from there too, and
he, in particular, was a key figure in the daily functioning of this
town, providing people with a wide range of services, including a
grocery store.
Conchillas’ aromas connect us with the countryside, with the trees
in its streets and squares. Its peaceful, placid life may well be the
expression of a town lost in time for many a decade after the closure
of C. H. Walker & Co. But that long motionless “lost time” is also the
key behind the preservation of an exceptional urban heritage, quite
unique in the region.
This is the first publication of its kind that links Conchillas’ great
architectural, urban, and territorial heritage to contemporary
life. It links its social spaces to its sporting events, and its tourist
undertakings to its new cultural projects. The in-depth research
carried out by Pía Supervielle with the local people’s participation
- in terms of the information provided, and the contribution of
documents and pieces of testimonial value - made it possible,
6

together with the excellent photos by Marcos Mendizábal and Carlos
López, to publish a work that did not exist until now. This work
functions to disseminate and highlight the importance of Conchillas
as one of the main cultural landscapes in the country.
William Rey Ashfield
7

THE
OF A
8

INTRODUCTION
HISTORY
TOWN
9

Rosalía Borgogno pictured at
the Adrian Heynen Photo Studio
in Conchillas.
10

Annual party at the San Martín Bocce Club.
A group of young folks making
a barbecue next to a car bought
at Evans House.
11

12

13

18
14

87
15

16

17

A celebration to mark the Tourist
Town Award won by Conchillas
in 2013.
18

19

First comes the data. And the data – factual and easily forgettable
– says that 401 people live in Conchillas, 309 in Pueblo Gil, 294 in
Radial Hernández, 60 in the port, and roughly just as many in the
rural area. Numbers also say that Conchillas is 34 degrees 13 minutes
29 seconds south latitude, and 58 degrees 03 minutes 03 seconds
west longitude; that it belongs to the 7th Judicial Section of Colonia,
recognized as such in 1954; that it is 50 kilometers away from the
capital of the department and 40 kilometers away from the city of
Carmelo, and that there are 14 kilometers between Radial Hernández
and the port.
The facts say things, but they don’t speak. Facts don’t recount and
they don’t remember. Hence the voices, sometimes discordant
and sometimes harmonious, tell the story of a town with an epic
narrative of its own. The story of Conchillas is not run-of-the-mill.
That story, which goes back more than 130 years, begins with the
creation of a company that was a town – or maybe it was the other
way round. This story includes a land rich in resources, located
within a privileged spot; colorful characters; the shipwreck of a
ship named Sophia, and a much admired and beloved survivor;
five locomotives with names in two languages-- Ruiz de los Llanos,
Parish, Chavarría, Thorton, and Gogland. The arrival of electrical
power to an outlying region, houses like no others, and as with any
settlement, periods of good years and of hard, lean years. Conchillas
featured places bearing a placid poetic beauty, with copper and
yellow tones casting their light all around when the sun began to fall
in the autumn evenings. There were easily recognizable European
surnames and a feeling of pride that embraced the entire community.
And although there were dozens of distinctive peculiarities in a
region that has developed turning its back on the rest of the country,
it still remained closely connected with two major capitals: Buenos
Aires and London.
Conchillas tells its thousand and one stories through its people, but
also through its solid centennial walls. Between oral narratives, old
faded photographs, documents that were passed down from hand to
hand, family treasures, the Internet, archives that were digitized, and
papers recovered in auctions, the story is being put together. Not all
of them, but most of the stories follow a common thread that always
starts with the arrival of English companies in the area to build the
port of Buenos Aires. It really is just as simple as that – that was
Conchillas’ starting point. The port became the heart that allowed
20

the town to beat at its own rhythm for many years. Until, suddenly,
everything changed.
C. H. Walker & Co. went bankrupt, but the town – sometimes
perfectly steady, at other times, somewhat more shakily – withstood.
The community became more and more close-knit over the decades.
The English were no longer there, and while the Anglo-Saxon
essence did stay, the neighbors were left to depend solely on their
own. The history, the pride, the customs, and the values of a place as
unique as it is charming encouraged the inhabitants of Conchillas
to work together in pursuit of the common good. Today, thanks to
the people’s strong commitment and to the movement generated by
the Montes del Plata pulp mill, the town is alive and kicking again.
Its inhabitants are more eager than ever before to share the colorful
stories that make Conchillas and all of its heritage, culture, customs,
memories of the past, and images of the present a unique place
within the national territory.
21

The Pink Lapacho Festival, 2017.
22

23

1
24

CHAPTER
1
25

Evans House coin (authorized).
26

27

28

29

David Evans Street & the Conchillas Hotel.
30

31

In the beginning, there is a paved road like so many others. Then
there are some scattered houses. Now and then, there are a couple of
cars that come from the opposite direction and flash their headlights
in welcome. Further on, there’s a small church painted in pastel
shades, a closed cinema with a sign that reads “Libertad” (although
the “i” is missing), several motorcycles coming and going, and a
general store on one side of the road. One could see lemon trees
standing beautifully in some gardens, the Juventud Unida Fútbol
Club headquarters, and a level crossing. Then, a bus pulls up and
picks up some of the workers waiting at the bus stop. There’s a
thick forest on the side of the street, along with several speed
bumps aimed at curbing the speed of cars and motorcycles. Two
teenagers skate happily up to the “Conchillas National Historical
Heritage” sign. Then, five, seven, maybe ten small children dressed
in green and white checkered school smocks appear. Each of them
greets their mothers with a hug and run into a house with yellow
walls and a red roof with a sign that reads: CAIF Las Ardillitas.
The area wakes up to the rhythm of the car and motorcycle noises,
the coming and going of the tree leaves, the brisk walk of the kids
going to high school, and a few good morning greetings between
neighbors who have known each other for a lifetime. Conchillas
proudly cherishes its 130 years of history, but also enjoys an active
and lively present time.
Thus, in the beginning there is a road that starts at Radial
Hernández, crosses Pueblo Gil, reaches the village, crosses David
Evans Street, and arrives at the port of Conchillas. No need to say
that nothing is as it was at the end of the 19th century. In fact,
for some years now, after the area’s significant growth, there are
two possible ways to enter Conchillas, but whatever the road, you
always arrive at the same place – the port, which, according to the
neighbors, is where they usually meet. At the end of the day, the
Río de la Plata – sometimes smooth, sometimes rough – is where
it all began.
32

33

34

35
Harmony Bridge, named after
the homonymous party thrown
to celebrate the end of World War I.

25 de Agosto Square.
36

37

38

39

Thomas H. Walker & Co. old electric
power plant and workshops.
40

41

42

43

Leather shin guard belonging
to Uruguayo F. C.
44

A trophy won by Uruguayo F. C.
45

Uruguayo F. C. team, 1918. The man
in the flag is Henry Pepperall, the British
builder who put up the Conchillas Hotel.
46

47

A trophy won by Central de Labradores F.C.
48

A trophy won by Central de Labradores F.C.
49

Aníbal Cabrera & José Mederos holding
the flag of their club.
50

51

C.H. Walker & Co. mill.
52

The Landing Of The English
Conchillas’ anniversary is marked by the day on which
a man named [Guillermo] Cottington arrived on a boat, planted a flag
in the ground and said, “Here there is stone and there is sand.
Fermín Capandeguy 1
There are about 50 kilometers between the port of Conchillas and
the port of Buenos Aires. Proximity and convenience were, thus,
two of the mainstays on which the relationship between Argentina’s
capital and that small piece of land on Uruguayan soil was built. In
between, there was a company with an English name – C. H. Walker
& Co. – and two basic construction materials: stone and sand.
This was during the mid-19th century and Buenos Aires was in
dire need of a first-class port where vessels could perform loading
and unloading, boarding, and disembarking operations. Buenos
Aires was already a major capital and it needed a port that would
rise to the challenge. In 1861, merchant and businessman Eduardo
Madero presented a project for the port. But it was only twenty years
later, when Julio Argentino Roca (1880-1886) sworn into office as
president, that Madero’s fourth proposal was finally approved after
having the first three projects rejected. Time would show that the
decision was not a happy one. In fact, Madero’s project had already
become obsolete by the time it was approved, and significant
updates were made to its original design. The person at the forefront
of the building works was engineer Luis Huergo, who had also
participated in the bidding process with a project of his own.
An article published in the Argentine newspaper La Nación in July
2005 describes it as following:
On October 23, 1882, Congress approved Madero’s project execution
after barely four sessions at a cost of 3.5 million pounds sterling.
Although a committee said the following year that these economic
conditions were unacceptable, the government signed the contract with
Madero’s company in 1884. The blueprints were approved in 1886.
1
Grandson of Francisco Héctor, and partner of Capandeguy & Urrutia, the firm which acquired almost all
of Walker & Cía. assets in 1950.
53

Guillermo Madero explains in his book Historia del Puerto de Buenos
Aires (1955) that the project blueprints were “under the technical
direction” of the British civil engineer John Hawkshaw, and had
the financial support of the London-based merchant bank Baring
Brothers.
But the last leading character in this story was yet to appear: the
British firm C. H. Walker & Co., which was already working in Brazil
and Panama, and had an extensive expertise in port construction
in the United Kingdom. After winning the bid to build the new port
of Buenos Aires, Charles Hay Walker – owner of the firm of the
same name – realized that he had to find a simpler way to obtain the
enormous volume of sand and stone needed for the work.
The nearest quarries in Argentina were hundreds of kilometers away
from the spot of the future port. It was then when, out of the blue, a
light glowed on the other side of the river. It shined on a place that,
up to that point, had no name – what it did have, however, was sand
and stone.
However, in this case, the narrative has multiple voices, such as
the one included in an academic research paper published in 2011
by the School of Humanities of the UDELAR titled, Archaeological
and Cultural Study on the pulp mill and electric power plant building
project. In the chapter devoted to the history of Conchillas, project
compilers, Laura Brum and Antonio Lezama, describe Walker’s
landing in Uruguay in the following terms:
The aforementioned company learned that there was an investor who
had a quarry very close to the spot, on the edge of a stream on the
other side of the river. His name was Mr. Hill, a native of the area who
was a political chief and had the rank of colonel in the Uruguayan
Army. People handling British interests in Uruguay asked for reports
and found out that in Colonia del Sacramento there were stone
deposits and quarries, which were then assessed to confirm whether
they served for this purpose. Initially, three thousand blocks located
on the left bank of the San Francisco stream (now Conchillas) were
leased; they had quarries and dunes.
The Instituto Uruguayo de Numismática (Uruguay’s Numismatic
Institute) stated in its 2015 Bulletin that Charles Hay Walker himself,
crossed the river in 1885 to corroborate that the area had the
required construction materials for the intended building work.
54

The publication describes the businessman’s arrival in Uruguayan
territory as follows:
Building works
at Puerto Madero
(Buenos Aires)
with stone, lime
and sand brought
from Uruguay.
[Walker] talked to Gustav Lahusen 2 , who confirmed the quality of the
stone in the area. After talking with Luis Gil, Walker went around the
quarries and confirmed the quality of the stone. Shortly afterwards,
on June 7, 1885, he leased a piece of land located to the south of the
estancia, where Luis Gil had already opened some quarries. [...] He
agreed on terms with Luis Gil, his son and administrator Mario Gil
acting on his behalf, reaching thus a first agreement due to which
the company leased 700 blocks and committed to build 300 meters
of wharf, railroads linking the quarries with the port, office and
workshop buildings, and a sufficient number of houses, since the
workers and employees would reside within the company’s fields.
2
Editor’s note: A German person who owned many pieces of lands in Uruguay.
55

We can’t know for sure whether Walker came, indeed, to Uruguay
on that occasion. However, there is one individual who will be
forever linked to the founding of Conchillas; his English name
is William G. Cottington, but many people in the town still refer
to him as Guillermo.
Regional authorities,
Montes del Plata
representatives, and
local institutions during
Conchillas’ 130 years
anniversary celebration.
Cottington was – with agreement from all oral accounts – responsible
for both preparing the ground for the extraction of the materials
needed for the port of Buenos Aires, and working with the English
and other foreigners who would work in the quarries. October
24th, 1887, the founding date of the town, is widely considered to be
the date of the arrival of the first English citizen into the territory.
Therefore, every October 24th, Conchillas celebrates.
56

57

58

59

On the opposite page:
several photos of Central
Labradores F.C.
Senior champions, April 1972.
Ricardo L. Bentancour
Teacher & students of of the Public School Number 65.
60

61

62

63
Evans House.

64

Conchillas, The Name
I remember the sound the shells made when I walked on them. That sound was
divine. Like the one of the falling leaves in autumn.
Leticia Repetto 3
According to historical records, the first time the word Conchillas was said was when
Liniers landed here. From there on, history was made.
Raúl Machado 4
There’s always a “before” to every story, and this one is no exception.
There was a “before” period, which occurred prior to the celebrated
landing of the English at the spot, and several of the inhabitants
of Conchillas take good care to remember it. However, if finding
archives and bibliographical material of Conchillas in the Walker
era is difficult enough, diving into the events prior is even more
complicated.
The Jesuits first appeared in the region during the mid-18th century.
They founded a Estancia and named it “de las Vacas” in direct
reference to the nearby stream, although it was also known as
“Estancia Belén,” “Estancia de la Calera Nueva,” and, according to
some records, “Estancia del Rey.” The enormous estate, more than
125 miles in length, reached what had not yet become known as
Conchillas. According to Hugo Dupré in his 1994 book, “Historia del
departamento de Colonia,” after the expulsion of the “Compañía de
Jesús” from America (1767-1768), the estate was left in the hands of
the government of Buenos Aires, and Juan de San Martín settled
there. Some decades later, the property was subdivided amongst
more than 40 beneficiaries according to the new land regulation
introduced under Artigas’ rule. Later, the place became known as
“Calera de las Huérfanas” and in 1938, it was declared a National
Historical Monument. Today, the “Calera de las Huérfanas” is a
mandatory stop for tourists traveling along Route 21.
Coquina: sedimentary
rock composed of shell
fossils.
The other name that always comes up in conversation when
exploring the history of the port of Conchillas is that of Santiago
3
Literature teacher at Conchillas High School.
4
Notary Public; he worked in Conchillas from the 1980s to 2010.
65

66

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Liniers. In the conclusion of the Archaeological and Cultural Study
on the pulp mill and electric power plant building project, the
following is stated:
It is also known that Santiago Liniers embarked troops in the vicinity
of the current port during the 1807 English Invasions. Since then, the
expression “Liniers crossing” is used in the area to name the fluvial
route from there to Buenos Aires.
Despite the lack of information about what happened in the area
before the arrival of the English, one thing can be taken for granted:
the shell was always there. Brum and Lezama’s research paper
explains it as follows in chapter 5:
The first references to the crushed shell production on a commercial
scale in the area date back to the Jesuit estancia of Belén (1746), from
where shells were collected to be burned and transformed into lime
(Vadell, 1948). Later on, it is possible that sand and crushed shell
continued to be used in the area by particulars, but no records were
found about larger-scale production. According to oral tradition, in
the second half of the 19th century (the Walkers arrived in 1887),
when Pereira was a land-owner 5 in the area, there would have been a
wooden dock where sand brought by horse-drawn carts was loaded
onto small boats between Punta Pereira and Punta Negra. There is no
information about where the sand was sent and who was in charge
of exploiting it.
According to Dupré’s book, when C.H. Walker & Co. started to extract
sand from the dunes, they found shell deposits. “That wealth was, in
fact, the origin of the name Conchillas – when the dunes and quarries
exploitation is intensified, and they realized how far from the river
the first layers of sand continued to form limestone, the name was
spontaneously adopted and it extended to the village,” writes Dupré.
5
Editor’s note: Luis Gil was the other owner.
68

An old stone quarry.
69

70

71

A money box intended to encourage saving among
children (Caja Popular of Conchillas).
72

Order Arrived First & Progress Came Later
The history of Conchillas is particularly striking in relation to that of the rest of the
country – everything about the company, the Walker’s way of handling housing and
health. Conchillas was one of the first places in Uruguay where a fee was paid for
healthcare. For years, the company painted the houses and mowed their lawns. That’s
why elderly people always thought that’s how it had to be.
Adriana Alonso 6
William Cottington is often named as the first Englishman to
settle in the area. He was responsible for setting up a system
that combined production with everyday life. They had to find a
way to make his model of a company town work (the Cambridge
dictionary defines this concept as “the city or town in which most
of the workers are employed by a single organization”), and make a
decision as to how they were going to build a town near the quarries
to provide stone and sand to the future port of Buenos Aires.
Houses, a new dock, train tracks, and other premises were
built within the roughly 10,000 acres owned by C. H. Walker
& Co. A Protestant temple and a school were also built, and an
entrance gate was placed to mark the beginning of the company’s
jurisdiction. In short, a comprehensive system that covered all
the newly created town’s needs was built quickly, effectively,
and efficiently.
Soon after, people started to come from various points in the
Department of Colonia and mingled with the foreigners, who had
arrived enticed by the need for skilled labor workers in the South
American country. C. H. Walker & Co. offered them 15-year contracts;
the period the company had established to finish the port building
project. Hence, Spanish, Italian, Bulgarian, Yugoslavian, Polish,
Romanian, and others from various backgrounds arrived in a
country called Uruguay. They all arrived directly to work mainly in
the quarries, which were already operating at that time. Brum and
Lezama describe it in the following terms:
6
Member of the “Amigos de Conchillas” Committee.
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Regarding trade and craft workers, we gathered testimonies about
the activities of drilling workers, stonecutters, blasting workers, firing
workers, stonemasons, shovel workers, water carriers, who worked in
quarries and sandboxes, blacksmiths, machine operators, carpenters,
and lathe operators, among others, as well as laboring men and
apprentices.
According to the oral accounts passed down from generation
to generation, and to E. Luis García Díaz in his book Conchillas:
Memories of a Rural Doctor (Trilce, 2011), there were five stone
quarries – four were located very close to the village, and the number
5, which had the best stone, was a few kilometers southeast, where
Estancia Conchillas was later established. There were also dunes,
which according to García Díaz, “extended from the San Francisco
stream to the east, up to the Río de la Plata.”
The company town developed quickly at first, but soon, Cottington
came across some serious public health problems that were
described in an article published in the Arquitectura magazine,
edited by the Sociedad de Arquitectos del Uruguay. The article
explains how the British companies that settled down in the country
left their mark on the architecture in cities and towns. Conchillas,
then, was indeed unique in certain aspects, but there were also some
patterns that were repeated in other places such as the Peñarol
neighborhood in Montevideo, the District of Aguas Corrientes in
Canelones, and the City of Fray Bentos in Río Negro, where the
Anglo meat packing plant used to operate.
According to architects S. Antola, A. de Betolaza, C. Ponte and
W. Rey – the authors of the article – C. H. Walker & Co. settled near
the spot where the raw material was extracted, and the first houses
were mud huts scattered around the surrounding area.
An outbreak of diphtheria that claimed many lives in 1890 made the
English aware of the public health problems caused by the shacks,
hence the company began a planning process covering housing,
health, and education. Then, two perfectly ordered towns were
created, and that order made it possible to control all the space of
the worker, and therefore all his time, thus ensuring total control over
the company’s workforce: the town next to the port and the town next
to the quarries.
74

A Manning Wardle-branded tank locomotive, usually
used for short-distance transportation.
75

An old wagon used to carry stone
from the quarry to the port.
76

77

Thomas H. Walker & Co. dock
in the Port of Conchillas during
the booming years.
A sail vessel used to carry sand.
78

79

Uruguayo F.C. The boy in the picture is David Evans
Jr., great nephew of Mr. David Evans.
Conchillas’ police chief (on the
right) with two other men.
Water carriers with the so-called
“water pipe”.
80

A Case-branded car used
by Thomas H. Walker’s father.
Uruguayo F.C., mid-20th century.
81

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The 1994 article describes the founding of Conchillas as follows:
The English proceeded with speed and efficiency – after all, they had
a vast experience in this type of activity – made significant financial
investments and strictly followed a logical order of action. In a wild
place, almost without pre-existing human presence, they radically
transformed the landscape by eliminating topographical features.
Hence, a town with a very peculiar structure was born, in which
symmetry was (and still is) a fundamental value. This scheme was
also adopted in the port sector, as part of the company’s staff was
to be installed there.
A main street was built ending at the river’s pier. The quarters for
worker housing were built on the east side of the road, and were
rented to them at very affordable prices. At the beginning, three rows
of buildings were placed on each side of the square. On the other
side, the west one, the service buildings were erected. While the town
was not particularly planned with much thought and rigor at first, it
quickly turned into a complex and highly organized urban system.
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The quarters for the workers – consisting of nine units in the village
and four more at the port - were built in a simple, geometric, and
homogeneous way, but with strong enough materials to remain
suitable and habitable for years. The initial objective was to keep
them in good shape during the 15-year contract between Madero
and the English. In fact, history would show that they were to
last more than a century. The construction consisted of stone
walls mixed with mud, straw, and dung (the walls were wider at
the foundations – more than one meter wide, and got narrower
in height), dirt floors, and gable roofs that were made of zinc
sheets brought from England and wood brought from Paraguay.
The exterior was painted yellow with lime and the rooves were
red. The houses were painted once a year, and the company was
responsible for maintaining the front gardens.
The English opted for this particular type of construction because,
due to the stony soil in the Conchillas surroundings, it was very
difficult to dig deeper foundations. At the beginning, these buildings
85

did not have dividing walls. Later, they were divided into rooms,
each one placed next to the other. Finally, they were turned into
three-room individual houses with two attached additions for the
kitchen and the latrine. These attached buildings were shared
every two houses; only the houses at the end of each row had
their own kitchen. According to Adriana Sosa, tourist guide
and member of the “Amigos de Conchillas” Committee, the kind
of relationship (and therefore, their hierarchy position within
the company) the inhabitants of these houses had with the
English was marked by the number of glass panes in the house’s
windows. If the windows had six glass panes, the house dwellers
occupied a higher position; if the windows had four panes, they
were probably less-skilled workers and hence occupied a lower
position. William Cottington, for example, lived in one of these
houses for a few years – it can be assumed that the windows in his
house contained six glass panes.
If one compares the image of the territory as it was at the end of
the 19th century to how it looks today, in the second decade of
the 21st century, it can be seen that the lines remain virtually the
same. The English have definitely left their mark here, not only
in terms of organization, but also in terms of working, living, and
being.
Conchillas is a town full of peculiarities—one of them is its
symmetrical layout, but there is more. The backyards of each
house form a row that runs through the village with a very practical
purpose. There, away from the public eye, are the so-called service
streets, designed for the collection of the latrines’ waste. Every
night, when everyone was asleep, a worker from the company
(commonly known as the Nochero) passed by each house to collect
the 20-kilogram iron bucket with the waste generated during the day.
All of the waste was emptied into a tank car and then dumped into
the river. C. H. Walker & Co. created a very original sewage disposal
system in a place where, because of the features of the soil, digging
cesspools was not a viable option.
The Sociedad de Arquitectos magazine says the following regarding
this subject:
Hygiene concerns are clear, not only in the implementation of such
a pragmatic disposal system, but also in the very placement of
the buildings (not opposed to the prevailing winds), in the annual
disinfection of the houses carried out by the company, and in the
opening of wells to supply the population with drinking water.
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Rivera Joaquín Pepe Raffo, grandson of Conchillas’ historical
telegraphist, remembers all his struggles as a kid to bring water
to the house.
We used the water from the stream for washing, but not for drinking.
The drinkable water we had to go and get it in buckets or demijohns.
They were metal buckets, very heavy, so we’ve lost a lot of water
on our way and hurt our legs. Since we had to cross the railways,
sometimes, when we saw the wagon that repaired the railways, we
climb on it to walk less.
After solving the housing and hygiene issues, C. H. Walker & Co.
switched paths and placed their focus on their primary goal –
transporting sand and stone.
The archeological research describes that period in the following
terms:
Following the Walker company establishment, activities began with
the carry of sand to Buenos Aires from the old Punta Pereira port.
Later, that port will be abandoned and the construction of a new
300-meter-long pier will begin, including a dry dock to repair the
ships. After the building of the new dock and the railways (which
allowed the circulation of loaded wagons from one quarry to another),
the installation of the stone mill, and the building of warehouses and
workshops, the town began to take shape, making it possible for the
company to control the entire territory.
The working day in Conchillas (both town and port) began at seven
in the morning and ended at five in the afternoon. People worked
from dawn to dusk. At midday, there was a break for rest and lunch.
The break was marked by a beep that sounded at 11 a.m. and was
repeated again at 5 p.m. to announce the end of the work day.
Work in the quarries was repetitive, methodical, and heavy. Because
of the hardness of the rocks, they had to be broken first with
dynamite. The explosions took place twice a day, 15 minutes after
the workers had left the area. Using tools that could weigh up to
10 kilos, they would reduce the rock (that’s why they were known
as stonecutters), which would then be carried to the mill. There, it
was crushed and converted into cobbles or large blocks of stone,
which in turn were stored and finally loaded onto wagons. The
wagons (which could’ve numbered up to 100) located behind the
nine locomotives began then a journey that started at the quarries,
bordered the San Francisco River (one of the limits of Conchillas),
and passed through the town to finally end up at the port, where the
cargo was loaded and shipped to Buenos Aires.
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But development reached beyond the limits of Conchillas. A few
miles away, Pueblo Gil also began to grow. It is said that all those
settlers who did not fit into the canons established by the English
had to leave Conchillas. The lifestyle of the time was clearly marked
by the company’s good behavior standards. This is what Raúl Titi
Repetto – 91 years old, a native of Conchillas, and the grandson of
the manager of the Casa Repetto inn – tells us:
If the English didn’t like the person, they would kick them out. If the
police chief was not to the liking of the English, they wouldn’t give
him a house to live in. They were strict and severe. That’s why many
people went to live in Pueblo Gil. The English, if they didn’t like
something, they’d throw you out.
Former Evans House premises at Pueblo Hill.
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Pueblo Gil houses.
89

Alberto Zabkar holding a replica
of the original Evans House’s sign.
90

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Evans House’s receipt.
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Mr. David Evans, A Local Promoter
As kids, we would go to Casa Evans and buy two cents of candies and two cents of
cookies. You’d go in and first there was the counter, then, the manager’s office, and
then Mr. David’s office. In the basement, there were the cheese and wine. Then there
was the clothing store and the jewelry. Further away, there were the saddlery and the
shoe store. You chose whatever you wanted, and there was a little office at the back of
the premises where you paid.
Celestino Fernández 7
Evans’ House would give local farmers the opportunity to take their production to
bigger markets. They brought it to Conchillas, and Evans’ House would send it to
Buenos Aires, Montevideo, or other places.
Pedro Repetto 8
Evans was very kind-hearted. Before my dad passed away, he asked all his children
to visit Evans’ grave and to bring him a flower every time we went. He used to do it
himself. He was truly grateful for everything Evans had done for him.
Jorge Dominguez 9
The letter can be found on the Junta Departamental de Colonia
website. It is dated February 9, 1987, and addressed to Mr. Mario
Peirano, a Notary Public in the departmental government. The letter
– signed by then-president and secretary of the Junta – was intended
to define and substantiate the names for the town’s streets that were
still unnamed at that point.
The first name on the letter is that of David Evans, which is
described as follows:
The only survivor from a ship that sank off the coast of Conchillas.
He was a cook and started with a small shop. In the heyday of
Conchillas, his business was known internationally. It had its own
currency, and exported and imported goods directly from England.
Besides being a successful businessman, he used to help the
local farmers, as well as his employees and neighbors. He is well
remembered by everybody in the town for his generosity and his
Christmas parties.
7
Carpenter, a life-long resident of Conchillas.
8
Former president of Conchillas’ Sociedad de Fomento.
9
Lives in the port area; his father worked for the company.
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Thomas Ronald, Paul Thomas,
and Mary Rose Evans (children
of Thomas Evans Acosta, and
grandchildren of Edgar Evans
-a nephew of Mr David Evansand
María Elena Acosta) with
their families.
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Conchillas celebrated its first century of existence in 1987, and
its inhabitants decided that it was a good time to name some of
its main streets that, until then, had just single-letter names – K,
T, U and little else. Hence, the Community Board drew up a list
of prominent figures in the history of the town, and invited the
inhabitants to choose their favorites. The name that obtained the
most votes would be the chosen for the Main Avenue – the street
that crosses the town and connects the arterial road with the port.
David Evans was the outright winner with more than 200 votes.
Then came Juan C. Muchada: doctor and philanthropist in the area.
Among other names included were 24th October, the date of the
town’s founding; Thomas Walker, one of Charles Hay Walker’s sons
who lived in the town; Dr. Kyle, another doctor at Conchillas in the
early days; Héctor Capandeguy, a partner in the firm Capandeguy &
Urrutia who bought the land from the English when the company
left Uruguay; and Los Inmigrantes, in honor of all the foreigners who
arrived in this land to work shortly after the town’s foundation.
Weeks later, the Departmental Board complied with the Community
Board’s request. Since then, Conchillas’ memory is also evoked on
those streets that cross and meet.
Even though a good part of Conchillas’ inhabitants never met
David Evans in the flesh, the spirit of this Welshman who survived
a shipwreck off the coast of Uruguay shows up every time someone
from the area has to answer the question of “what makes Conchillas
special?”
Evans arrived in the town at a decisive moment – it was the first
years of the 20th century and the company town was already in
full operation. The inhabitants required food, supplies, and other
provisions, and it was then that Mister Evans, or Mistereve (as
he was usually called), settled in the port. He started to feed the
company’s employees, and was soon incorporated into the C. H.
Walker & Co. city system.
At the time, Conchillas was home to two sons of Charles Hay Walker:
Thomas and Charles. The former was always more closely linked to
Conchillas’ society, since he was head of the stone and sand export
company. Charles, on the other hand, was in charge of the estancia
Las Conchillas and devoted himself to the agricultural business.
Hence, it was Thomas who asked Evans to take charge of the
general store. So important was the figure of the cook and so urgent
the need to feed the people (according to estimates at the time,
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C. H. Walker & Co. had more than 2,000 employees), that the
company built a huge building for him in record time – in fact, they
completed it in less than a year. The construction, which was carried
out by another Welshman named William Lumsden, involved 400
workers. It was built with stone walls, a zinc roof, and a typically-
British industrial aesthetic. Between 1910 and 1911, Evans House, or
Evans & Co. as it was called in English, was ready for operation. It
was the first and only general store in Conchillas, and it had a branch
in Pueblo Gil. The company never allowed any other business to
compete with Evans’ store.
Román Chelo Fonte is 83 years old. He didn’t get to live during the
peak years of Evans House, but his father, who worked in the port
for years, did. Fonte relates the arrival of Evans as it was told to him
by his father:
First, he started with a little store where he sold ready-to-eat food—
the people who worked at the quarry would go there to eat something
fast. The Walkers liked him and helped him build the general
merchandise store. I don’t know how many employees it had, but
they were a lot. Just to get the stuff out of the warehouse, there were
five of them. In the fabric store – there were a lot of seamstresses at
Conchillas – there were three. There may have been 30 people.
In a 1987 supplement to a Colonia newspaper, on the occasion of
Conchillas’ centenary, Evans House is remembered in the following
terms:
Countryside people would find themselves with an impressive store
that covered almost all their needs, where they could pay either in
cash or in credit, to be paid at the end of the month for those who
lived on a salary, or until the harvest for the country people… There
was no begging in the streets.
After Román Fonte’s father stopped working at the port, he started to
work the land, and his production would go directly to Evans House.
“We would buy the supplies all year round and it was paid for with
the harvest. There was a red covered notebook where everything was
written down. My father even bought a tractor that way,” Fonte says.
It is said in the town that anything could be bought at Evans House
– from a bottle of gin to a tractor, from sore throat pills to a stove,
from flour to a Ford T. Many of the items sold at Evans House came
directly from England. Sometimes, the customers would pay in cash,
but other times, their purchases were written down in the notebook,
and the debt was paid off at the end of the year without interest.
Evans and his employees trusted their customers, because at the end
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of the day, they always had to come back. Raquel Chocho was born
in Miguelete, a few minutes away from Conchillas, and remembers
how things were done at Evans House:
My uncle or my father bought a Ford T and paid for it at the end of the
year. No special receipt was given for the purchase; it was recorded in
the same notebook where the bread and sugar were usually written
down too.
However, in addition to the credit notebook, there was something
else that made Mr. David’s store unique. That gesture is so symbolic
for the community that even today, more than 50 years after its
disappearance, the town’s voices repeat it almost in chorus: children
would leave the store with a handful of candies and women, with a
flower. The research paper from The School of Humanities describes
it in the following terms:
Evans House also exported cereal and, in turn, supplied the “people
of the countryside”, becoming the link between the activities of
the town and that of the rural area, as well as a promoter of the
interactions between both, through an intense commercial and social
exchange.
Evans House developed such frantic activity (the train tracks, for
example, passed through there to pick up exported merchandize
and to bring in the products that were sold there) that the store had
its own currency to facilitate transactions. The employees of C. H.
Walker & Co. received their salaries in pounds sterling, so Evans’
currency – worth 10 and 20 Uruguayan “centésimos” – was only
used to buy goods there. It is said that these pieces were minted
in Buenos Aires and that their circulation was authorized by the
Uruguayan Government. Some of the local inhabitants still preserve
them to this day.
Evans’ photograph occupies a privileged space in the former general
store building. There, on a piece of furniture, surrounded by dozens
of objects that speak of the history of the place, he can be seen with
his bushy moustache, his glasses halfway up his nose, his serious
rictus, and his sober and formal clothing typical of the time period.
He died in 1938 without leaving any descendants.
He will be forever remembered as one of the most forthcoming
and generous Englishmen of Conchillas (even though he was
born in Wales). While the Walkers had turned their backs on the
town, mixing themselves the minimum and indispensable with
the employees, Evans was an approachable, pleasant, and helpful
entrepreneur. It is said that during World War I, no one went hungry
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there, and that was thanks to Evans, who gave the bigger families
free bags of flour so they could eat.
No wonder, then, that the street that runs through Conchillas bears
his name.
101

Diana Chaves showing an Evans coin that belonged
to her grandfather.
102

An Evans House Group meeting.
103

104

105

106

107

The former Conchillas Hotel, which,
back in the day, was managed by
Mr. David Evans.
108

109

A china egg cup from the
Conchillas Hotel.
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The Golden Age Symbols
The Walker company threw a great party to celebrate the end of World War I. The
entire population was asked to dress up in typical English costumes. It was called
the Festival of Harmony.
Raquel Chocho 10
The 20 th century was already well into its first few years and
Conchillas was living a period that has since come to be
remembered as the Golden Age. Work in the quarries and the
locomotives was intense – the noise of the train and the dust of the
rocks had become the hallmarks of the town.
Conchillas continued to grow. The Arquitectura magazine explains
it as follows:
As of 1910, the construction of some fine buildings will give the town
its definitive appearance. Located on the west side of the main street,
they stand out from the housing framework for their morphological
value-- they are true monuments erected by the English as a means
of celebrating their own work to the community’s benefit.
Evans House, the Conchillas Hotel, the Anglican school and temple
(located in the same building), and the cemetery were built during
this time. And, of course, the arrival of light, one of the greatest
prides of the Conchillas society.
Even though it has been closed for many decades now, the Hotel
Conchillas is considered to be the representation of the luxury and
elegance that the English valued so much – at least by the local
people. Cristina Fernández, one of the organizers of the Tea Table
Contest, an event that has been held for some years now, says that
there was a time when the hotel was always very busy. “Every
Saturday, people came to have tea and play tennis at Conchillas’
hotel,” she says.
There are some amusing anecdotes about the hotel that are
unfortunately impossible to confirm, although interesting,
nonetheless. Conchillas’ memory is full of them—like the one where
10
One of the Conchillas Tea Table Contest organizers.
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Argentine President Juan Domingo Perón and his wife Eva Duarte
spent a few days at the hotel. Rumor has it that Perón and Evita
would’ve spent their honeymoon there!
But one thing can be taken for certain: the building – by British
builder Henry Pepperall – was designed and built so that every time
a visitor or senior staff from the United Kingdom would arrive at
Conchillas, they would have a comfortable place to stay. The twostory
building with stone walls and a zinc roof is organized around
a U-shaped courtyard. It featured 40 rooms with capacity for 200
people, and a beautiful park with native and exotic trees. The two
tennis courts and the bocce court are located in the back; in the
courtyard subsoil, there is a one million-liter water tank. That water
was used for the bathrooms and everything related to the hotel’s
services.
All the objects from the hotel’s heyday were brought from London,
including the furniture, the glassware, the silverware, the tablecloths,
the dinner service, the carpets, and everything that gave the hotel its
sophisticated flair – it all came from England’s capital. Today, some
of those items are found in the homes of Conchillas’ inhabitants.
Construction on the Conchillas Hotel began in 1910 and was
completed in 1911. That number can still be seen above the front door.
Some blocks ahead, there was the school and the temple, which
were two mainstays of the English era. Every worker with schoolaged
children was forced to send them to school. In Conchillas
school (later on, two other school venues were opened: in the port
and the quarry number 5), teachers were English, and besides
teaching the usual subjects, they instructed pupils in other topics
such as order, hygiene, and discipline. Raúl Repetto remembers
those school years in the following terms:
The English would give us everything, we had no expense. The
company would pay the teachers, they gave us the notebooks,
everything. At the end of the year, every child who went to school was
given a toy. They were a luxury, those toys, they were brought from
England.
The school was closely linked with the church – Repetto tells that
there was a pastor who came from the United States to teach
religion. The Sunday mass was a meeting place for a good part
of Conchillas’ residents.
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A room in the former Conchillas Hotel,
currently a private home.
Wood-burning stove in the Conchillas Hotel.
113

Dining-room in the former Conchillas
Hotel, currently a private home.
114

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The cemetery, located two kilometers away from Conchillas, also
preserved the traditions of the company owners’ country of origin.
When it was built, it was stipulated that the British should be
buried on one side and the rest of the dead, on the other. On the
tombstones, it can be seen exactly where each one came from. One
could find epitaphs in English, German, French, Italian, Spanish,
and other languages such as Yugoslavian and Danish. In 1992,
one of the scenes from Maria Luisa Bemberg’s film “De eso no se
habla” (I don’t want to talk about it), starring Luisina Brando and
Marcello Mastroianni, was shot there. Esther Giribone, a midwife at
Conchillas in the 1970’s, remembers the memorable occasion in her
book, “Por las calles de Conchillas” (Around Conchillas streets).
While she [Brando’s character] was cleaning her husband’s grave, a
circus was passing by on the street. There was a considerable state
of agitation in the town, with artists all around, and a circus featuring
from dwarves to lions. That day even the school classes were
suspended.
According to several pieces of research of the School of Humanities’
Department of Archaeology, the health services arrived with Dr. José
Kyle, an Argentine of Irish descent who was hired by the Walker
company to take care of the employees, who in turn, had a modest
amount deducted from their salary for this purpose. Until then, the
closest doctors were in Carmelo or Colonia. In the beginning, Dr.
Kyle would see his patients in an office located about 250 meters
away from the cemetery.
Juana Buenaventura Tarter, better known as Doña Lola, was his
nurse for a long time. Although she had no formal training as a
nurse, she learned quickly and has helped many local women give
birth throughout her career.
A street in the village bears her name since 2007. The letter
submitted by the members of the “Amigos de Conchillas” Committee
remembers this episode in the following terms:
Charles Hay Walker commissioned the British builder Henry
Pepperall the construction of the hotel on the right side of the access
road to Conchillas. One of the main foremen was the Spaniard
Evaristo Touriño, together with Luigi Cremasco. At one point, Walker
called Touriño and asked him, once the hotel work were completed, to
build a house opposite the hotel for himself and his family, providing
him with the land and materials for the work, and also suggesting that
his wife Lola Tarter de Touriño act as nurse in the practice that would
be built about 200 meters away from there in a side street. The young
lady gladly accepted this new task, and thus became the first nurse
in the town. “Doña Lola”, as she is still remembered in the town, was
116

Tombstones with epitaphs in German
in the English Cemetery.
117

The English Cemetery.
118

119

The Festival of Harmony was held every year
to commemorate the end of the war.
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exceptionally responsible and devoted to her work, so much so that
later she opened a delivery room in her own home where the doctor
could do his job more comfortably than in the women’s homes.
She carried out this task for more than sixty years, helping first
Dr. Kyle and then Dr. Juan A. Muchada, José Salisburi and
finally Dr. E. Luis García Díaz—all of them very much loved
and remembered professionals in Conchillas to this day.
During those thriving decades, Conchillas lived with its back
to Montevideo, and facing both Buenos Aires and England. C.
H. Walker & Co. was in close contact with England through the
telegraph. The town was also granted an Argentine Consulate, and
by the 1920s, the steamships El Luna, Viena, and Carmelo were
making the Buenos Aires-Colonia-Conchillas-Carmelo route.
The Arquitectura magazine article describes Conchillas’
self-sufficiency in the following terms:
Although the Walker company had been given the Uruguayan
Government endorsement, the existence of Conchillas was
almost unknown in the country due to the little development of
communications at the time, and probably to the fact that the
authorities believed that the town would last just until the end of the
contract with Argentina.
However, there was a moment, during World War I, where the
national government decided to make its presence known. Activities
in the quarries had stopped and rumor had it that the works in
Buenos Aires were paralyzed due to the international context. To
calm the population, the president of the Republic (it is not clear if it
was Feliciano Viera or Baltasar Brum) arrived at the Conchillas Hotel
and gave a message to the workers, who were deeply worried about
what the future might hold for them.
Apparently, after the war ended, work was resumed in Buenos Aires,
and Conchillas returned to normal. During the first years of the
1920s, the English brought the light to Conchillas. According to oral
accounts, power was generated by an engine that first ran on coal
and then on fuel.
Canteras y médanos (Quarries and dunes), a 1987 book by Julio
César Neves, states that Conchillas was the first town in the
country’s interior to have electric light. Others prefer to be a little
more cautious and just say it was “one of the first towns to have
electric light.” The Anglo meatpacking plant area in Fray Bentos was
also among the first places to have electric power.
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Light was kept on until 10 pm during the winter months and until 11
pm during the summer, but not all accounts agree. Neves claims that
the only two exceptions were weddings and funerals.
In addition to the tangible and easily visible infrastructure, the era
of the English also left behind a few customs. Some of them are still
part of the community’s lifestyle, while others belong to its cultural
heritage. These include memories and anecdotes that grandparents
told their grandchildren, and those that only come to light when
someone asks about those years. There is the five o’clock tea, for
example, that can be served with a traditional English cake or with
toast spread with marmalade made with oranges from the trees that
have been in the village forever.
There’s also football. Conchillas’ team would’ve been one of the first
in the country’s interior, and the area would’ve had a division with
more than a dozen teams. According to Adriana Alonso, a member
of the “Amigos de Conchillas” Committee, the Club Uruguayo F.C.
was founded on June 23, 1917. “Although it is known that it existed a
long time before that,” says Alonso. In August 1919, the English ship,
Southampton, reached these coasts, and its crew played a football
match with the Conchillas’ team, as recorded in the logbook.
When work was halted after the outbreak of World War I, the
company is said to have encouraged people to engage in recreational
activities such as football, of course, but also bocce, basketball, and
volleyball.
There were also a few important celebrations. Carnival was
celebrated in the streets featuring orchestras and a colorful
parade. Then there was the Festival of Harmony. The event had a
countryside feel to it: women wore wide-brimmed hats, and there
was music and dancing. When the school year was over, there was
also a celebration – Celestino Fernandez vividly remembers those
huge, fun picnics with liters and liters of lemonade and tea, and
plenty of buns. At another one of these parties, the famous rotten
pot was served. “It was a thick soup with everything in it. It was
exquisite,” says Raquel Chocho.
Out of all the celebrations held by the English, only one was a
national holiday: August 25th, Independence Day. The other national
holidays did not exist in that small independent place that lived for
decades turning its back on the rest of the country.
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In the early 1930s, the owners of C. H. Walker Co. did not yet know
that their days in the country were already numbered.
Ángela Allio holding her greatgrandmother
(Delia Mellerio)
tennis racket at the Conchillas
Hotel court.
123

Some houses in Conchillas Port.
© Celena García
124

125

126

127
Games & memories
of youth, Conchillas.

2
128

CHAPTER
2
THE
DARKEST
YEARS
129

130
Libertad Cinema in Pueblo Gil.

131

132

133

134

135

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The Darkest Years
It was a totally unprecedented situation – a whole town was sold with
people and everything.
Adriana Alonso 1
There were no customs, everything went in and out without a hitch. We even had an
Argentinean consul. When the English left, everything changed.
Rivera Joaquín Pepe Raffo 2
One day, without further ado, and with the same easiness with
which the waves of the Río de la Plata lap the shore of Conchillas,
C. H. Walker & Co. closed for good. It was during the early 1950s
when the sound of the locomotives died away and silence claimed
the town. The dust from the quarries stopped blowing in the wind.
Suddenly, Conchillas’ prosperity was over, leaving on its own a
community that, to a great extent, had generated a total dependence
on the company.
News came, once again, from across the river. This time, however,
it was not too encouraging. The relationship between the Uruguayan
and Argentine governments was going through a difficult time, and
that was affecting the trade links between both countries.
In Silvia Mercado’s book, El relato peronista (Planeta, 2015), she
summarizes those years in the following lines:
There is a long history of tension between the two countries, which
reached an all-time peak during World War II. The conflict led to clearly
contrasting feelings in both countries, and the situation worsened even
more when Juan Domingo Perón won the national election.
Perón and Luis Batlle Berres – Uruguayan President between 1947
and 1951 – made an attempt to improve the situation on February
27, 1948. The meeting was held on neutral ground. Perón and Batlle
Berres shook hands somewhere off of La Agraciada beach, some
kilometers away from the port of Conchillas. The Argentinian head
of state arrived on the Tecuara, the Uruguayan President, on the
1
Member of the “Amigos de Conchillas” Committee.
2
Grandson of Conchillas’ historical telegraphist.
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Capitán Miranda. However, the meeting didn’t have a significant
impact, as Mercado describes:
The two presidents issued a joint statement in which they
highlighted the most important agreements reached at the meeting:
the establishment of a ferry service, the free movement of people
across the Argentine-Uruguayan border, the creation of a permanent
committee to regulate trade relations between both countries, and
a declaration of intent to end border disputes through international
arbitration. But they were general comments rather than concrete
proposals, and the Uruguayan newspapers expressed a certain
disappointment with the meeting, which was vital to the country’s
interests. At the end of the day, the document was not signed, and
the personal distance between Perón and Batlle was not settled.
Seventy years later, journalist Emiliano Cotelo opened his radio
program, En Perspectiva, with an important statement. It goes as follow:
In 2018, Uruguay resumed exports of stone chips to Argentina. This is
a wonderful news that encourages us to dream about the comeback
of a mining industry that came to employ 14.000 people only in the
department of Colonia. In the first half of the 20th century, Uruguay
used to supply Argentina with this type of rock for the production
of concrete, a key element in the construction industry. But Buenos
Aires authorities put an end to that thriving business around 1950,
when General Juan Domingo Perón was first elected as president.
One of the many businesses that were seriously affected by this
political climate was Walker’s. In Dupré’s Historia del departamento
de Colonia, he describes it as follows:
Everything was about to change because of the retraction of the
Argentine markets and Britain’s dire economic situation in the
aftermath of World War II. It was a challenging economic climate
the company was unable to cope with.
On March 31, 1953, C.H. Walker & Co. sold its company town to
the Uruguayan firm, Capandeguy-Urrutia. Of the more than 4,000
hectares that the English had purchased at the end of the 19th
century, the Uruguayan businessmen acquired 3,800. The cemetery,
Evans House, which was in the hands of David’s nephews at that
time, the hotel, the temple, and Thomas Walker’s Estancia were left
out of the deal. The rest was sold off in an unprecedented event.
Capandeguy and Urrutia were responsible for dividing up the land
and separating the houses according to the Land Registry, while
offering their occupants every chance to become legal owners.
After the land was sold and the company was dissolved, a long
process began to ensure that all C. H. Walker & Co. employees
would have their work years credited for their eventual retirement.
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The extensive exchange of correspondence can be studied today
at Evans House thanks to a native from Conchillas who bought
folders and folders of documents at auction. The person in charge
of striking off the English company was a Price Waterhouse Peat
& Co. employee named Rivas. His first letter is dated September 2,
1952 and is addressed to Agustín Conti, a resident of Conchillas who,
according to the correspondence, worked on the dissolution process.
The said letter is written in the following terms:
I spoke to Mr. Capandeguy regarding the possibility that you can render
us certain services that I, as liquidator of C. H. Walker & Co., could
request from you, while committing, in turn, to providing appropriate
remuneration. Mr. Capandeguy has certainly no objection to your
rendering these services to us, and it is in the assurance that you will do
so that I am including an official letter which Mr. Thomas received from
the Industrial and Commercial Retirement Pension Fund concerning
the workers who have rendered services to the company.
Fermín Capandeguy, the grandson of Héctor Francisco Capandeguy,
lives in the rural area of Conchillas. He deeply admires his
grandfather, who he considers to be a visionary. He goes on to say:
I don’t know how the business was born, but things were different
back then—they were not interested in doing a huge business, but in
serving all parties. Up to this day, people still tell me about how they
were given every chance to buy Conchillas’ houses, including those
who worked the land.
Capandeguy also remembers the stories of how Conchillas lost its
colors and became gray during those years:
There was nothing left. My father came to see how the locomotives
were scrapped. Those who stayed did so because they worked the fields
or had some business, but most of the people went to Colonia, where
Sudamtex 3 was. The town went into a great depression at the time.
Roman Fonte was a teenager when C.H. Walker & Co. filed for
bankruptcy. His perception today is that Conchillas “was left
in absolute poverty.” He says:
The stone and sand quarries were closed. David Evans had already
died and his nephews couldn’t keep Evans House alive, so the shop
was closed down and they left the town. The young people were all
gone, and many of them went to Buenos Aires, while others went
to Colonia to work at Sudamtex. Just the retired people stayed in
Conchillas. Once, they told me that Conchillas was going to become
a ghost town, and they were not entirely wrong in saying that.
3
Editor’s note: A large textile factory that operated from 1945 to the beginning of the 21st century.
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Carlos Roselli, a former worker in the quarry, bought the sand quarry
before the end of the 1950s. From there, Roselli Exportaciones S.
A. resumed exploitation to export sand to Buenos Aires. Although
prosperity never again reached the levels of the British company’s
decades, new jobs were generated. Anyways, as Brum and Lezama
state in their paper, during those years, “the place was more a
focus of emigration rather than of immigration.” According to data
from the National Institute of Statistics, Conchillas went from 3,149
inhabitants in 1908 to 825 in 1968.
Most people left the town, but some stayed, such as Thomas Walker,
who had married Maria Elena Acosta, daughter of the town’s police
chief and widow of Edgar Evans, Mr. David’s nephew.
They lived in a estancia a few miles away from Conchillas, the
same one where Walker Sr. had settled after arriving in the country.
In 1959, just like every year, the couple left their home while it
underwent its annual maintenance. But this time, things didn’t
exactly work out the way that they were planned to. According to
accounts at the time, the roof of the house was covered with pine
needles, and because the workers needed to paint the roof, the
pine needles had to be removed. One of the workers took up the
unfortunate idea of using a blowtorch to do the job. The pine needles
quickly caught fire and set the rest of the house on fire.
It is said that when Walker heard the news, all he did was ask with
perfect composure if his dogs were all right. When he returned to
the spot and saw what it was left of their house, he told his wife, “On
these ashes we will build our new home.” Hence, the stone walls
were pulled down and architect Miguel Angel Odriozola, was hired
to build a brick house with tiles, more in line with the American
housing style.
In the 1970s, the couple moved to Montevideo. Thomas died in 1975,
at the age of 83. His brother Charles had left town years before
shortly after the company went bankrupt and the land was sold with
an intent to settle in the capital. In July 1957, during one of his visits
to Thomas in Conchillas, he had a heart attack and was buried in the
local cemetery.
The British presence began to gradually disappear, but their legacy
was already firmly established. Pedro Repetto, a member of a family
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that had always cherished the customs and traditions of the area,
explains it as follows:
It’s a town like nowhere else in the country. It’s unique. Conchillas
came to be a dominant center, with both political and economic
power, and also the river. It was a very singular town, it was like
a capital – it had a port, its own currency, and there was electricity,
running water, drinking water, and even a sewage system, that,
though peculiar, fulfilled its purpose. The town didn’t depend on
anyone. Later, over the years, everything changed, and people started
to depend on the government. But for decades, it was a mini-colony
without being one. Without realizing it, the farming community
had built the economy in the area. When Evans House closed, the
Sociedad de Fomento took over and the economy continued to work.
The area had always depended on the farming system—there were not
only cows, but also vineyards, cheese, beehives, calves, and sheep.
In an article published in the Galería magazine in 2008, Francisco
Rossellino, the son of an Italian blacksmith who was 89 years old
at the time, described the advantages and disadvantages of the
company town era:
There was more job security and people had their jobs guaranteed for
years, so they didn’t have to worry about it. But from a certain point of
view, that was not entirely positive, because it didn’t encourage people
to improve or start a business, because you couldn’t. You couldn’t
say: “I’m going to put up a stall to sell candy or hot dogs.” Everything
belonged to the English, so we got used to depending on them.
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Roasted-on-embers lambs during
Conchillas’ centennial festivities.
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Keeping Traditions Alive: A Century Of History
Conchillas has to be loved and respected. Architecture is past as well as present.
When tourists come, they are filled with wonder at the architecture.
Adriana Sosa 4
In 1976, the national government put the focus on the country’s
interior and decided to highlight some cultural assets by declaring
them historical monuments. The department chosen at that time
was Colonia. The directive issued on August 24, which can be
read on the Centro de Información Oficial’s website, lists 38 spots
including buildings, bridges, churches, squares, parks, houses, ruins,
and avenues. Most of them are located in Colonia del Sacramento,
but when you move closer towards the end of the list, the following
appears:
Houses of the first settlers, former Hotel “Evans” [sic], currently used
by the Evangelical Baptist Mission, Parcel No. 575, block 39, lot 21,
Pueblo Conchillas, Seventh Judicial Section.
The Committee for the Cultural Heritage of the Nation had been
created five years earlier by law 14040. Article 2, which can also
be read online. This law establishes the responsibilities of the
committee, amongst them were, “keeping the Government advised
of the identification of possible assets to be declared historical
monuments” and “ensuring their preservation and adequate
promotion within the country and abroad.” Article 8 stipulates,
in turn, that it is prohibited “to make any revamping that alters the
lines, character or purpose of the building.”
One of those early settlers’ houses that remains intact, even though
it was built more than a century ago, is Esther Giribone’s, who says:
In my opinion, Conchillas’ most special feature is its architecture,
because it’s unique in South America. The typical houses, the
cemetery, Evans House, all of them are very typical buildings of here,
and therefore they must be highlighted, so that people come to visit
and offer a new source of income.
4
Conchillas tour guide.
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Ten years after several of the buildings in the town were granted
historical monument status, the inhabitants of Conchillas decided to
meet regularly to discuss their common interests. The 1980s were a
particularly difficult period for the community because exports from
the Roselli firm stopped, and many years would pass before they
were resumed. It was against this backdrop that the community of
Conchillas decided to celebrate its centenary, although nobody was
entirely sure of which would be the most appropriate date to do it.
Giribone, who was the Minutes Secretary to the Centenary
Committee, tells in her book, Por las calles de Conchillas (Around
Conchillas streets) exactly how the date was decided:
We looked in the cemetery, on the oldest graves, in the local
government offices, in the parish of Carmelo, because births at
the time were recorded in parish registers, there were no courts.
Eventually, a silver salver was found that had belonged to a family
in which the father happened to be a director in the Walker company.
The salver had an inscription on it: October 24th 1887, which made
reference to the company’s establishment date.
According to a 2007 Colonia’s regional government meeting in which
more streets of the town were named, Cottington used to celebrate
Conchillas’ anniversary every year with a typical asado. When he
retired after 30 years of work at C. H. Walker & Co., the company
gave him the famous silver salver in gratitude for his services. Many
years later, the salver ended up in the hands of his granddaughter,
Dilma Cottington, who now lives in Carmelo. So, that’s the story
of how Conchillas celebrated the centennial anniversary of its
foundation on October 24, 1987.
Colonia’s newspaper, Enfoques, published a special 20-page supplement
on occasion of the town’s anniversary. The publication, titled
“100 Years Of Faith” paints a vivid portrait of the feeling of those
years, in which Conchillas inhabitants still looked back nostalgically
to the time when C. H. Walker & Co. owned the place.
The 100-year celebrations are still fondly remembered in
Conchillas—it was a great party packed full of memorable moments,
in which the whole community were involved. There were days
and days of celebration full of shows (one of them was a children’s
theatre performance in Pueblo Gil), dances, fishing, football
championships, an antique car rally, horse and carriage parades,
carneada (the typical cow or sheep slaughter), asado (meat grilled
on embers), and a multitudinous lunch. Not only was it a major
historic event, but it also left a legacy: the Elderly Care Home and the
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Cultural Center, two spaces that were founded thanks to Conchillas’
centennial. In addition, the event also served as the seed of what
would later become the rural high school.
And there was another seed that began to germinate during those
years. The purpose was clear: to enhance Conchillas. With that idea
in mind, the community became stronger and more close-knit. Many
people had finally grasped the distinctive value of their town, and
began to feel proud of their history.
Capandeguy describes it as follows:
If you think about it, a village was created out of thin air. All this were
fields, with more or less trees, but just fields. And a town was formed,
a very distinctive town indeed. All began with some metal sheets that
later became structures; it was one of the first places in the country
with artificial light; it had a thriving industry and the country’s second
largest port in terms of tons; it even had its own currency, its own style
of building... There was a great pride in what was being done here.
There were still a few years to go before the dawn of the longawaited
21st century, but the seed of pride was already beginning
to sprout in Conchillas.
The Pink Lapacho Festival, a fairly new
tradition in the area.
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Folk dances exhibition during
Conchillas’ 130 anniversary
celebrations.
146

147

3
148

CHAPTER
3
PROTECT,
PRESERVE
LOVE
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150

Protect, Preserve, Love
After the CAIF house was bought, we began to entertain the idea of buying the hotel.
It was a crazy idea, but we can be as crazy as we want—the hotel had to be saved for
the community. After all, it’s the icon of the town along with Evans House. But Evans
House has already been recovered.
Leticia Repetto 1
It was December 2006 and Aníbal Cabrera, President of Conchillas’
Local Board at the time, was riding his horse through the
countryside when his cell phone rang. It would be the first call of
many. On the other side of the phone, journalists from all over the
country wanted to ask him about a story that was spreading like
wildfire: the Spanish firm, ENCE, had finally decided to install its
pulp mill in Punta Pereira. A few months before, all indications
pointed towards a plant location just north of Fray Bentos.
Apparently, the plans had changed.
Cabrera clearly remembers that time: “Just the dairy farms and the
farms were left in Conchillas, nothing else.” They were hard years, as
Martín Lacava, resident of Pueblo Gil and grandson of the owner of
the general store also recalls: “It was a frozen town.” Milton Allio, a
neighbor of the port area, agrees, “Conchillas was a town of retirees
– people came here to spend their last years.”
The news was greeted with utter astonishment in the Conchillas
area. The town’s name made headlines in the national press
(“Conchillas: hopes and fears,” Búsqueda, June 2008), and even
abroad (“Colonia celebrates ENCE pulp mill relocation,” La Nación,
December 2006). All of a sudden, Conchillas was no longer a
godforsaken place. The inhabitants became enthusiastic, they
made projects, they established new businesses, new committees
were created to oversee the installation of the plant, and letters
were written to the company about the possible impacts in the
area. But the initial enthusiasm faded away as quickly as it was
born. Unfortunately, ENCE never got around to building the pulp
mill. However, some sparks were ignited along the way, such as
1
Literature teacher at Conchillas High School.
151

Public School Number 104.
152

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the one that triggered the creation of the Friends of Conchillas
Committee.
Gianela Fonte - 49 years old, daughter of Román, who was a man
of the countryside, still remembers that day. A call was made for
an open meeting to discuss the concerns regarding the possible
installation of ENCE. On January 16, 2007, about 200 people
gathered in one of the premises of the agricultural cooperative with
the same idea in mind: to create a committee that took charge of the
village affairs. It did not have a name nor members yet, but by the
end of that day, the new Friends of Conchillas Committee had
14 members that included seven regulars and seven substitutes.
Fonte, Adriana Alonso, and Adriana Sosa are the only three
members who still remain from that time.
In May 2009, two years after the creation of the Friends of
Conchillas Committee, the area was all over the press again after
the national government website issued a press release with the
following headline: “Stora Enso bought ENCE’s forestry fields and is
considering to build a pulp mill.” Four months later, in September,
the company Montes del Plata was created in Uruguay from the
union of two companies working in the forestry sector worldwide:
Arauco from Chile and Stora Enso from Sweden and Finland. Both
companies already had forestry fields in the north and center of the
country. Fonte recalls it as follows:
We wanted Montes del Plata arrival to be as well ordered as possible.
As Botnia was already operating in Fray Bentos, we went to see how
they were working there. Rio Negro’s local government helped us a
lot along the way. They advised us to take care of everything related
to traffic circulation, and not to neglect security issues. We came
back with a much clearer picture of how to get started. We came
into contact with Dinama and all that helped us a lot. Together with
some technicians who came from Montevideo, we wrote a thorough
document of what we wanted for Conchillas, which was then given to
Montes del Plata at the end of 2009.
It was a breath of fresh air—Conchillas residents began to meet,
to talk, to dream, because they knew that the establishment of a
company like that could be a turning point in the area. A new strength
had entered the village, as it was shown with the recovery of Casa
Evans. The mythical building of Mr. David’s general store had been
bought by the agricultural cooperative, but since the cooperative has
been out of business for decades, Evans House had accumulated a
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crippling debt and was due to be foreclosed on by the bank on May 27,
2009. The news was a dreadful shock to Conchillas’ people.
On the first days of May, Adriana Alonso, Mario Colman, Celestino
Fernandez, Pedro Repetto, and Adriana Sosa went to Colonia’s
Departmental Board to put forward their arguments as to why Evans
House could not be foreclosed on. Repetto read an extensive, moving
text before the local councilors. Here, we reproduced a part of it:
That building is a historical bastion that still bears traces of its
founder, in the conviction that work and effort make us better
people, that honesty and solidarity are the main engines for a town’s
development. That’s why losing this symbol is so painful to us,
because we are not only losing a piece of our history, but also of our
culture. For some time now, we’ve been enjoying the opportunity to
meet there, to spend time together, to share the joy of our children in
the annual high school festival; the Escuela del Hogar works there all
year long, there we celebrate our town’s anniversaries, and do charity
work for different institutions. These are our reasons. We appeal to
the President’s sensitivity so that the interests of the community,
which today expressed itself surrounding Evans House in a symbolic
embrace, are not put aside.
A few hours before that meeting, dozens of men and women hailing
from the Conchillas area joined in a symbolic hug to show their deep
attachment to the building. To this day, that loving gesture remains
one of the most impressive demonstrations of the community’s
strength and togetherness.
A few days later, on May 12, 2009, the subject was discussed in the
Chamber of Deputies of the National Parliament. And the person
responsible for putting it on the table was Colonia’s representative,
Miguel Asqueta.
In this town, there is a historical and cultural bastion known as Antigua
Casa Evans (former Evans House) which occupies a large parcel,
the number 527. The building also goes by the name of “El galpón
de la cooperativa” (The cooperative’s warehouse), and many social
and recreative activities are currently undertaken there. This place
is intrinsically connected to its founder, David Evans. [...] Losing this
symbol would be terribly painful, since we would be losing not only a
piece of history, but also a piece of our heritage and our culture. The
people of Conchillas and of the entire department of Colonia hope for
preserving this unique building in order to transform it into a great
cultural center, which could be called “Evans Cultural Center.”
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What followed was an extensive journey with a very celebrated
finale. Fonte vividly remembers it:
Eventually, in 2010, the Banco República bought Evans House and then
sold it to Colonia’s local government. We had come to an agreement
where they would sell it to the local government. The departmental
board voted that the local government would take over, and the town
resolved that the house should be for everyone. So, we negotiated
with the BROU board, and came up with that proposal. Colonia’s
government finally gave the house to the Committee of Friends.
However, the Committee of Friends’ drive and commitment did not
stop after recovering Evans House back. In 2011, they became a civil
association with legal capacity whose aim was established in the
following terms:
The establishment of a venture like Montes del Plata in the vicinity
of our town was a thrilling experience for our community, which
combined uncertainties and doubts with expectations of a sustained
socio-economic development. Anyway, the strong socio-cultural
impact expected with the completion of the project is certainly
a great opportunity not to be wasted. Therefore, we will put an
emphasis on the comprehensive development of the area, which
should become apparent not only in the area of job creation, but
Members of the Conchillas’ community pay a visit to Montes del Plata
industrial plant.
156

also in the preservation of Conchillas, our lifestyle, and the unique
beautiful buildings that fill us with pride – in short, of our identity.
Building up on those ideas, they continued to work.
A few months earlier, in January 2011, Montes del Plata had
confirmed their investment in Conchillas, and in June, building work
began in Punta Pereira. From the very beginning, both Stora Enso
and Arauco understood that an effective communication would be of
the essence. They also knew that paying attention to sustainability
issues – a field that both companies were well-known for taking
care of – was crucial for Montes del Plata to develop in harmony
with its natural and social environment. Hence, the company
conducted some inquiries to analyze what impacts the new plant
was going to make on the community. In doing so, Montes del Plata
understood what the territory was like and what Conchillas was like,
what their expectations were, their fears, and how each and every
decision made by the company was going to affect the area, whether
positively or negatively. The focus was on avoiding, minimizing, or
compensating for every negative impact, and enhancing the positive
ones. Carolina Moreira, head of Sustainability and Communications
at Montes del Plata, explains it in the following terms:
We wanted to take responsibility for the possible impacts at all the
different stages, and we were going to accord the same importance to
both real impacts, and fears and expectations. A clear example was
people’s fear about a possible increase in crime. In the end, it didn’t
happen. Actually, crime slowed down during that period, but the
arrival of about four thousand people from other places could give
rise to uncertainty, so we planned in advance to manage that aspect.
As a result of all the inquiries, the observation, and the open
exchange of ideas within the community, the many different actors
involved with Montes del Plata realized early on that C. H. Walker &
Co. had left a massive void in Conchillas, and that there was a risk
that the new company would end up occupying the same position.
Moreira explains it as follows:
We didn’t want to occupy the same position that the Walker company
had occupied before; we wanted to make clear from the beginning
that we had a different approach. We knew that the positive impacts
– economic growth, tourism, and employment – were going to
encourage development in the area. Local development has to be
focused on the community, and not to be promoted from someone
in the outside. That was the approach that we wanted to adopt.
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158

Some of the tables of the 2019 Tea Table
National Contest.
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One of the first steps was to create the Local Development Forum,
which was to be used as a meeting space for community members
to express concerns, expectations, and opinions about Conchillas’
future. The idea was to develop a common vision where people
could come together to work on improvement projects for the
community. The next step was the creation of the Montes del
Plata Fund, so that these initiatives could be financially supported
and implemented. “Our role has always been to facilitate, but the
projects have to be carried out by the community. Our focus is on the
projects’ long-term sustainability,” says Moreira.
With all this going on, the community enthusiasm gained even more
momentum, also spurred by Montes del Plata’s employment and
employability program. These actions put particular emphasis on
the need for the younger generations to follow up in order to receive
the opportunity to study a career or to stay working in the area, as
well as on encouraging entrepreneurial culture.
Against the backdrop of a reinvigorated town, Conchillas
achieved a considerable impact from tourism. In 2013, the
Ministry of Tourism created the Tourist Town Award. The
project submitted by Conchillas’ Committee of Friends, A
Magic Encounter with Conchillas’ industrial past and present,
was chosen as the winner among 14 other projects. From there,
Conchillas became the 2013 Tourist Town in the award’s first
edition. In addition to receiving 30,000 dollars, the prize was
given widespread coverage, especially under the umbrella of
Uruguay Natural and the Ministry of Tourism. In the video that
promotes the town as a tourist destination, which can be seen on
Uruguay Natural’s website, several inhabitants of Conchillas tell
their history and highlight some of Conchillas’ most outstanding
features and activities like the Tea Table National Competition,
which has been held since 2013. Other activities include playing
football, going fishing, and all the activities related to the river
and its glorious sunsets.
The 30,000 dollars were earmarked for the revamping of Evans
House. The works were managed by a group of neighbors who
joined the Friends of Conchillas committee and created the Pro
Evans House Commission, and to the financial support of the
Montes del Plata Fund. The iconic building reopened its doors
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during the first few days of September 2016. Alonso explained
it as follows to the Colonia Ya website:
Evans House will feature cultural and social activities, reclaiming
the major importance it had when it first opened. Seven years have
passed since May 8, 2009, when our town and all those supporting us
joined in a symbolic hug around Evans House as to protect it from the
imminent foreclosure.
As an instrumental player in all of these achievements, Fonte
remembers those years: “When we think about all that was done
between 2007 and 2017, we can’t believe it. We’ve done a lot.”
The town’s Tourist Office located in Evans House is looked after
by Adriana Sosa, a tourist guide deeply in love with the place who
is always ready to tell the history of Conchillas. Another room also
houses a good part of what is preserved from the English era: there
is an ancient Anglican Bible, a tea set, a porcelain doll, and the
celebrated notebooks where the store purchases were written down,
among many other treasures. But there’s plenty of other activities
that are carried out in the house. In its largest room, for example,
events such as the Tea Table National Competition and the Business
and Trade Association meeting are held, as well as birthday parties
for young Conchillas’ girls who are celebrating their 15th birthdays.
During the week, the rooms of the former general store are filled
with sounds, music and voices. Ballet and English classes, among
others, are conducted within its walls. In short, it is a building more
than a century old that is full of life.
161

Youth & Children’s Orchestra in the
7th edition of the Tea Table National
Competition.
162

163

English biscuit boxes exhibition in
Evans House. Mirta Gaye’s collection.
164

165

166

167
The Pink Lapacho Festival, 2019.

Charity sale to help Conchillas’ “Escuela
del Hogar” and Elderly Care Home.
English biscuit boxes exhibition in Evans
House. Mirta Gaye’s collection.
From left: Karina Cabrera, María Repetto, Mercedes
Brochini, Cristina Fernández & Raquel Chocho
(“Un Sueño nos impulsa” Group); Diego Taborda
(jury), Nicolás Barriola (BMR). María Barriola (jury),
Mónica Devoto (jury), Luciana Andión (jury)
& Mónica Bacchi (Ministry of Tourism).
168

7th edition of the Tea Table National
Competition in Evans House.
Youth & Children’s Orchestra of Dolores.
Public School Number 65 children
performing the minué federal dance
under the watchful eye of their teacher
María Inés Alza.
169

Drawings scavenger hunt with
illustrator Josefina Jolly.
170

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173
Municipal Beach at Port Conchillas
(also known as “de los Pinos” beach).

174

175

Municipal Beach at Port Conchillas
(also known as “de los Pinos” beach).
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The Beating Of a Community
Everybody knows each other here, and that creates a bond of trust. We must not lose
that sense of mutual respect. Getting support to do things did us a lot of good, Montes
del Plata did us a lot of good.
Milton Allio 2
Now, there’s everything for the kids: roller skating, ballet, English, soccer. We didn’t
have that before. Conchillas is no longer a godforsaken town.
Susana Banchero 3
No matter if it’s summer or winter – the port is always the favorite
meeting place for Conchillas’ people. At that precise spot, where
the Rio de la Plata waters mingle with those of the San Francisco
stream, it is the exact place where the town was born more than
130 years ago – and it’s in this place where the neighbors warmly
greet each other: “Hello, how are you?” or “Good afternoon” or “Nice
to see you.” “What makes Conchillas special is its people. We greet
everyone, even if we don’t know them. Hello and goodbye are of the
essence. And if we are on the road, it’s the same thing: we greet each
other with the car lights or with a gesture. It’s a habit we have. We
are a town after all,” Susana Banchero explains. Celestino Fernández
agrees: “Greeting is mandatory in the whole area. If we don’t greet
each other, then something must be going wrong. Even the young
people do it.” While Pedro Repetto highlights the fact that neighbors
are all equal, no matter what: “There is no difference between those
who have 1,500 hectares of land and those who have none.”
It certainly is a close-knit community, in which everybody enjoys
sharing the common spaces. At the port, visitors may use the
barbecue facilities, go to the beach, admire the sunset, practice
water sports such as fishing and motorboat rides, drink mate and
chat inside the car, and all that without disturbing the peace of the
surroundings. Local people say that the place has improved a lot in
the last few years. Montes del Plata and the community of Conchillas
have made a winning combination indeed.
2
Member of Conchillas & Puerto Conchillas Neighbors Committee.
3
Member of the Pink Lapacho Festival Organizing Committee.
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Montes del Plata’s road safety program
“Dale Paso”, 2016.
People in charge of establishing the first CAIF center in Conchillas.
From left: Milagros Domínguez, Romina Espinosa, Ángeles Aguilar,
Leticia Repetto, Marcela Beltrame & Virginia Pages.
Publishing production workshop by Pía Supervielle.
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Daniela Hernández & Pedro Repetto.
Raúl Machado.
The work group in charge of giving a name to Port Conchillas streets.
Jorge Domínguez.
Celestino Fernández & Margarita Chileff.
179

Local people attending publishing production
workshops.
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Banchero came to live in Conchillas in 1981. At first, he lived
downtown, and he admits he didn’t like it, but everything changed
when he moved to the port area. He says there are images, such
as the moon reflecting on the river, that he’ll never forget.
Progress has brought us about many beautiful things. The port is
totally changed: it’s more sorted out, there are many more houses,
the streets are lit up. Montes del Plata ceded the use of the piece of
land 4 where the park of the pink lapacho is located to the community,
and now we all can enjoy it. The company also planted lapachos, and
with a group of neighbors we created the Lapachero Group to help in
everything we can-- we have organized the Pink Lapacho Festival for
four years now, with shows, contests, and games for the children.
Throughout these years, other committees were formed, such as
the Comisión pro Caif Las Ardillitas, the Asociación Empresarial y
Comercial, a Rotary Club, and the Sociedad de Fomento Rural, which
is working again. In addition to these, there’s more soon to come.
Pedro Repetto, the former president of the Sociedad de Fomento,
says that Conchillas can be proud of itself, because the town
managed to weather the English departure, and has learned to
depend only on itself and its people. “The Casa de la Cultura
and the Elderly Care Home were created after the town’s 100-
year anniversary. Further on, the CAIF, the beach, the coastline
improvement, Evans House recovery, the museum project, and all
of this without a mayor who should have been in charge of managing
those affairs – it was the neighbors who pulled them off,” he says.
And not only did they see to the bigger projects, but also to more
lowly ones, such as having an outdoor market on Saturdays where
everything is sold, and keeping the town spotless: “We do take care
of this place. No one would dare to throw a piece of paper on the
street,” says Allio. The Islita Festival, which the Sociedad de Fomento
has organized for three summers now, is another successful project.
The donation of the piece of land known as Los Tres Clavitos is
yet another example of the harmonious relationship between the
community and Montes del Plata. A few minutes away from Evans
House, on Maestro Banchero Street, next to the Harmony Bridge and
to one of the stone quarries, there is a spot where the San Francisco
stream splashes over and around some rocks. This wonderful scene
creates a waterfalls. It’s a beautiful scene, but it had always been in
private hands. The last owner was Montes del Plata, who used to
4
Editor’s note: The company made the space available for public use.
181

extract stone from there. Anyway, Los Tres Clavitos – named like that
for the nail-shaped metal remains that are found at the spot – is also a
recreation place for Conchillas neighbors, and a very emblematic one.
Many generations of villagers have enjoyed many a summer afternoon
and winter Sundays there. At one point, Montes del Plata pledged that
once the exploitation at the quarry was finished, the piece of land
would be donated to the town.
In 2017, Conchillas’ high school science club decided to inquire into
what the true value of Los Tres Clavitos was for the local people, and
concluded that it was indeed an essential part of the area’s collective
memory. After presenting the project at the regional science club
fair, the students finally put forward the conclusions to Montes del
Plata. One year later, in October 2018, the company formally donated
Los Tres Clavitos to the community. A ceremony was held at the
spot, and the neighbors were thrilled and applauded enthusiastically
after listening to the touching words from the authorities. There was
even a ribbon cutting ceremony! Since then, Los Tres Clavitos has
belonged to the town.
For decades, the people of Conchillas and its surroundings have
remained deeply attached to the golden era of C. H. Walker & Co.
Those years, that inspiring and quite epic story, had largely shaped
the soul of the town and its inhabitants. But, as time went by and
new generations came to be, the images of David Evans and the
locomotives stopped to be so powerful, while others appeared.
There were new images of a Conchillas that was firmly planted in
the present and looking into the future. Many of those who had left
Conchillas because of the lack of opportunities took a chance and
returned, and new people arrived from more or less distant places,
bringing a breath of fresh air with them. On the other hand, the
grandchildren of the men and women who lived through Conchillas’
golden age became adults and were eager to leave their own mark.
Recovering Evans House and fighting to boost Conchillas’ tourism
profile are two successful examples of their strong commitment
and dedication.
Nowadays, Conchillas’ community is beating with renewed energy,
pride, and enthusiasm, but without giving up on its heritage and
traditions.
The story of Conchillas does not end here; it’s a living story that will
continue to be written.
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“Los Tres Clavitos” area.
183

184

185

Road to Conchillas.
186

The word is all over the place: in the conversations of neighbors
and on the sign that welcomes visitors to the village. Heritage. In
Conchillas, everybody talks about cultural heritage.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO) defines heritage in the following terms: “Heritage is the
legacy that we receive from the past, experience in the present, and
pass on to future generations.” “However,” it adds, “cultural heritage is
not limited to monuments and collections of objects, it also includes
living expressions inherited from our ancestors and passed on to
our descendants, such as oral traditions, performing arts, social
manners, rituals, celebrations, and the skills and knowledge related
to traditional handcrafts. Despite its fragility, the intangible cultural
heritage is crucial to preserve cultural diversity.”
Conchillas’ neighbors understand perfectly well what these words
mean. Some of the town’s most representative buildings were declared
a National Historical Monument by the National Cultural Heritage
Committee. Hence, the green sign with white letters announces
exactly what visitors are about to see with this wonderful national
historical landmark. But for some years now, the community has
been aiming for greater recognition. They already know that they are
a unique town with quite a remarkable history, but that’s no longer
enough. Nor is it to wallow in the nostalgia of what it once was. That’s
why Conchillas neighbors work hard and enthusiastically to keep their
heritage alive. Together, they thrive for the next generations.
Conchillas’ cultural heritage is alive and it lives on through its people
every day.
187

Vineyards in “El Bañado” area.
188

189

Acknowledgments
To the whole community of Conchillas, especially to those
who have given their time, their voice and their memories
to tell this story. Many thanks to Ángela Allio, Milton Allio,
Adriana Alonso, Susana Banchero, Mercedes Brochini, Fermín
Capandeguy, Aníbal Cabrera, Celedonio Cabrera, Karina
Cabrera, Diana Chaves, Raquel Chocho, Jorge Domínguez,
Amparo Fernández, Celestino Fernández, Cristina Fernández,
Gianela Fonte, Román Fonte, Esther Giribone, Carmen
Guerrero, Luis Gutiérrez, Daniela Hernández, María Graciela
Lacava, Martín Lacava, Raúl Machado, Franco Martínez,
Diego Montes de Oca, María Pía Pintos, Pepe Raffo, Leticia
Repetto, Edgardo J. Repetto, María Repetto, Pedro Repetto,
Raúl Titi Repetto, Irma Rossi, Adriana Sosa, Alberto Zabkar.
To the Colonia West Hotel for giving us accommodation and
a warm welcome after the long production days.
To the local media for closely following our work process,
especially to the journalists Miguel Guaraglia and Pedro
Chajía.
To Montes del Plata and its team: to Mariela Baráibar and
Florencia Guerrero for their generous support in the preproduction
process, to Iliana Boné and Mariela Costabel for
kindly receiving us at the Conchillas’ office on several autumn
Saturdays, and especially to Carolina Moreira for her careful
reading.

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