Humberstone and Santa Laura Saltpeter Works
{{Infobox UNESCO World Heritage Site
| image = Humberstone.jpg
| image_upright = 1.2
| caption =
| official_name =
| location = Tamarugal Province, Tarapacá Region, Chile
| part_of =
| includes = Humberstone, Chile {{coord|20|12|30|S|69|47|43|W|region:CL-TA_type:city|display=inline}}
Santa Laura, Chile {{Coord|20|12|40|S|69|48|45|W|region:CL-TA_type:city|display=inline}}
| criteria = {{UNESCO WHS type|(ii), (iii), (iv)}}(ii), (iii), (iv)
| ID = 1178bis
| coordinates = {{Coord|-20.209|-69.805|region:CL-TA_type:landmark|display=title}}
| year = 2005
| extension = 2011
| area = {{convert|573.48|ha|acre|abbr=on}}
| buffer_zone = {{convert|12,055|ha|acre|abbr=on}}
| locmapin = Chile Tarapacá#Chile
| map_caption =
}}
Humberstone and Santa Laura Saltpeter Works are two former saltpeter refineries located in northern Chile. They were declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2005, as a testament to the historical importance of saltpeter mining in Chile and the culture and social agenda that developed around it in the late 19th century.{{cite web|title=21 World Heritage Sites you have probably never heard of|work=The Telegraph |date=4 February 2016 |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/travelnews/10999939/21-World-Heritage-Sites-you-have-probably-never-heard-of.html|publisher=Daily Telegraph}}{{cite web|title=Humberstone and Santa Laura Saltpeter Works|url=http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1178|publisher=UNESCO |access-date = 28 March 2021}} The works were placed on the World Heritage List in Danger that same year, due to the fragility of the derelict buildings, but was removed in 2019.{{cite web|title=The Humberstone and Santa Laura Saltpeter Works site (Chile), removed from the List of World Heritage in Danger|url=http://whc.unesco.org/en/news/1997/|publisher=UNESCO |access-date = 26 March 2021}}
Geography
Humberstone and Santa Laura are located 45{{nbsp}}km east of the city of Iquique in the Atacama Desert in the Tarapacá Region in northern Chile. Other saltpeter works or "nitrate towns" include Chacabuco, Maria Elena, Pedro de Valdivia, Puelma and Aguas Santas.
= Humberstone =
File:Oficinas salitreras de Humberstone y Santa Laura, Chile, 2016-02-11, DD 82.jpg|View of Humberstone
File:Humberstone-- Joline & Neil.jpg|Humberstone Locomotive
File:Humberstone Church.jpg|Humberstone Church
File:Humberstone Theater.jpg|Humberstone Theater
File:Oficinas salitreras de Humberstone y Santa Laura, Chile, 2016-02-11, DD 61.jpg|Exterior of the theater.
File:Oficinas salitreras de Humberstone y Santa Laura, Chile, 2016-02-11, DD 23.jpg|Entrance to Humberstone.
= Santa Laura =
Santa Laura.JPG|Santa Laura plant
Santa Laura 5.jpg|Saltpeter Works
Santa Laura Machinery.jpg|Abandoned Machinery
History
{{unsourced section|date=May 2020}}
In 1872, the Guillermo Wendell Nitrate Extraction Company founded the saltpeter works of Santa Laura, while the region was still a part of Peru. In the same year, James Thomas Humberstone founded the "Peru Nitrate Company", establishing the works of "La Palma". Both works grew quickly, becoming busy towns characterized by English-style buildings.
While La Palma became one of the largest saltpeter extractors of the whole region, Santa Laura did not do well, as production was low. It was taken over in 1902 by the Tamarugal Nitrate Company. In 1913 Santa Laura halted its production until the Shanks extraction process was introduced, which enhanced productivity.
However the economic model collapsed during the Great Depression of 1929 because of the development of the synthesis of ammonia by the Germans Fritz Haber and Carl Bosch, which led to the industrial production of fertilizers. Practically bankrupt, both works were acquired by COSATAN (Compañía Salitrera de Tarapacá y Antofagasta) in 1934. COSATAN renamed La Palma into "Oficina Santiago Humberstone" in honor of its founder. The company tried to produce a competitive natural saltpeter by modernizing Humberstone, which led to its becoming the most successful saltpeter works in 1940.
Both works were abandoned in 1960 after the rapid decline that caused COSATAN to disappear in 1958. In 1970, after becoming ghost towns, they were declared national monuments and opened to tourism. In 2005 they were declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
In 2001 Humberstone was remodeled when it served as a film set for the soap opera Pampa Ilusión. The celebration of Saltpeter Week, authorized by Óscar Andía, was the key for the expampinos to fight to protect the office. This is how the Corporación Museo del Salitre (Saltpeter Museum Corporation) was formed, which took steps to transform both saltpeter offices into World Cultural Heritage by Unesco in 2005. The museum's mission was to protect the saltpeter offices.{{Cite web |url=https://whc.unesco.org/es/list/1178 |access-date=2025-05-10 |website=whc.unesco.org}}
See also
References
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External links
- [http://www.albumdesierto.cl/ingles/2humber.htm Oficina Humberstone, formerly La Palma]
- [http://english.ohmynews.com/articleview/article_view.asp?menu=c10400&no=223630&rel_no=1 Chile's Mining Past Draws Tourists North: Santa Laura's pictures explaining saltpeter process] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060426232036/http://english.ohmynews.com/articleview/article_view.asp?menu=c10400&no=223630&rel_no=1 |date=2006-04-26 }}
- {{Cite book|chapter=Decision: 29 COM 8B.51|title= Decisions of the 29th Session of the World Heritage Committee |location=Durban |publisher=UNESCO |year=2005 |pages=142 |url=https://whc.unesco.org/archive/2005/whc05-29com-22e.pdf }}
- [https://artsandculture.google.com/story/XQVRfkn12rzafA Explore Humberstone and Santa Laura Saltpeter Works in the UNESCO collection on Google Arts and Culture]
{{World Heritage Sites in Chile}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Saltpeter works in Chile
Category:Museums in Tarapacá Region
Category:History museums in Chile
Category:Ghost towns in South America
Category:Former populated places in Chile