An interesting day to say the least!
Trip Start
Mar 16, 2010
1
21
65
Trip End
Sep 11, 2010
Humberstone, Tarapacá, Chile
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Humberstone is located 48 km east of the city in the Atacama desert. It is now a so called ghost town. Its original use was that of a saltpetre (Chilean nitrate) work or "nitrate town". There are many of these so called nitrate towns around this area, one of the other more famous ones being called Chacabuco. This however is a special case since it was also used as a concentration camp during Pinochet's regime, and to this day remains surrounded by lost landmines - no visit there then!
Saltpeter (NaNO3) was mined from caliche ore and was used in explosives before World War I. At that time it was Chile's main export item. Following the introduction of artificial nitrates after the first war, the world market for saltpeter collapsed and Chile's economy and history took a very different turn.
Humberstone was not this towns original name, and was only named this in the 1930´s after its founder James Humberstone - a British Chemist. It was founded in 1872 under the name of La Palma, its owner being "The Peruvian Nitrate Company" (James Humberstone). During the economic collapse in 1929 the company was almost bankrupt and was bought by another company which modernised the town, letting it become the most sucessful saltpeter works in 1940. The town however was abandoned in 1960 due to the rapid decline of the nitrate industry and in 1970, after becoming a ghost town, it was declared a national monument and opened to tourism. In 2005 it were declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
At its peak, Humberstone was home to almost 4000 Chilean, Peruvian and Bolivian workers. These workers were paid a dismal minimal wage, and only in tokens that they could spend at the companies shops. This meteoric rise in 1933-38 was made even more miraculous considering it was post-Great Depression of 1929. This small but heavily populated town was still intact even in 2010. Of course it is nicknamed the ghost town for a good reason- there is no one there! A town which has all of its old amenities but no one to use them. For this reason as we entered the town of Humberstone there was an eerie feeling about the place. It was the forgotten city with the tumble-weed effect and the swinging white chair in the square that is often seen in scary movies!
Our first stop in history was the tool shop and the blacksmiths- it contained all the original tools from mid-19th century. We continued in the direction of the plaza passing the nitrate railway with the old train still on the rail. Next it was surprisingly the museum of original doors and windows. To some this would not sound hugely appealing but to us it was certainly fascinating. With doors and windows dating back to the original town of La Palma (Peruvian Nitrate Company´s name for it) of 1872. Doors and windows that were there nearly 140 years ago gave us our first real insight into life at La Palma/ Humberstone. Furthermore this experience was made even more valuable by seeing the black and white photos of the original buildings with their respective original doors/windows intact.
Next was La Bodega (Winery/ Liquor Store), which had original bottles of beer, an original Coca-Cola sign dating back to the 1930s or maybe late 1940s. Pre-war period at least. This was a surreal experience and we felt like we were being transported back in time about 100 years. After exploring these hidden trasures and two sports that are not correctly marked on the map; we headed for the church. The church was extremely well-preserved and most likely had been refurbished recently as still to this day holds regular functions and even services/marriages!! The hotel was our next objective- again a wonderful and celestial experience. It did not have as many as the orginal features as some of the other buildings we had visited but still we were able to be transported back in time. Sites included the bar, the games room, the arga, the sleeping quarters etc. Luckily all the rooms had signs above them depicting the function of each room (in Spanish of course).
All we need to say next is that we saw the theatre!! A fantastically well-kept theatre, not for all the salt miners to visit, as we were pretty certain that high entrance fees would have had to have been paid. After being shocked by the beauty, the standard and the age of the theatre we headed westwards passing the jam shop on the way!! We soon arrived at the hospital, which was quite run down but still had a rather disturbing influence on us, due to knowing that the healthcare, daily purchases and life was all contained within the walls of Humberstone. A completely self-sufficient town! There was no chance for self exploration! The workers were paid in vouchers and not in any form of cash or legal tender. So their earnings were completely worthless elsewhere, resultantly this led to workers´ strikes for better pay and condition. No freedom of choice or freedom of movement, it was quite like a modern day slave-labour camp!
We saved the most dramatic and terrifying experience to the end- the school. This was really a scary experience as they had the original desks, the same hallways and doors, so it didnt take a lot to imagine what it would have been like on a busy Monday morning. One could almost hear children laughing, screaming, talking + it had an eerie echo too. On one of the senior classrooms it had an account by one of the teachers written after the closure in 1959. It described how he learnt many trades while living at Humberstone and endured much hardship and furthermore he would strive to the utmost to prevent his children from having such a scary experience as he had there. He said that the memories will never disappear, and the pain and anguish that he experienced will never fade away.
After taking in the horrors of the school, we took a more uplifting stroll to the union building and then past the managers´ dwellings. The trip was rounded off by seeing the infamous swimming pool. A swimming pool made out of simply a ship´s hull. This amazing piece of engineering/construction was made even more wholesome by the diving boards, the stands for the spectators, the changing rooms to the rear, and a a cog or machine which purified the water and last but not least a bar in the corner which simply epitomised the division of labour and enforced a clear class structure- a sign of colonialism maybe. The last stretch consisted of visiting the market- fish, meat, veg, crafts and all sorts and the stores that surrounded the plaza.
Not a bad tour for 66p (student) and a bus for 2.34- a great experience all in all and a multitude of things to see and simply to never forget.
One word for you... Humberstone.
