San Justo, Buenos Aires
San Justo, Buenos Aires
| San Justo | |||
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| Coordinates: 34°40′S 58°33′W / 34.667°S 58.55°W | |||
| Province |  Buenos Aires |
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| Partido | La Matanza | ||
| Founded | 1874 | ||
| Elevation | 26 m (85 ft) | ||
| Population (2001 census [INDEC]) | |||
| - Total | 105,274 | ||
| - Density | 6,958/km2 (18,021.1/sq mi) | ||
| CPA Base | B 1754 | ||
| Area code(s) | +54 11 | ||
| Website | http://sanjustoenlinea.com | ||
San Justo is a city and the seat of government of La Matanza Partido, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina.
On the initiative of Judge Lino Lagos, the settlement was founded on December 25th, 1858 on land requisitioned from Justo Villegas, a prominent landowner. The civic center was built in the Spanish Colonial form, with a park and the town hall, the church, the bank and the police station on each one of its sides.
San Justo is a relatively prosperous city enjoying a variety of commercial and cultural resources. Its strategic location on National Highway 3 and Provincial Highway 4 (the Greater Buenos Aires beltway), make it among the most active, for its size, in the county.
Pedro Bonifacio Palacios, an Argentine writer, was born in San Justo, and had one of the main streets of the city named in his honor under his nickname Almafuerte.
The area is today represented in the Argentine Lower House of Congress by Lidia Elsa Satragno, who was born in San Justo on November 11, 1935. She's widely known as an entertainer in Argentina by her nickname, Pinky.
The Plaza San Martin is the center of La Matanza and, in a four-block radius, it's located its civic center where nowadays stand the main institutions of the Partido.
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History
In 1852, the magistrate D. Lino Lagos made the first applications for the land needed to establish a capital city in La Matanza. However, it was not until 1856 that the land was handed. José Gorchs, representing the heirs of Don Justo Villegas, proposed that the foundation took place in the lands they possessed and was willing to donate them to the community.
There they would build a municipality, a church, school and security management. The handed lots also included lands for the construction of a cemetery, a market and a residential area. On December 25th, 1856 the city is founded and, as request of the heirs of Don Justo Villegas, it's decided to give the city the name of San Justo.
Don Merlchor Romero was in charge of the demarcation of the village, it was adopted on November 13rd, 1857 by the Survey Department of the Province, thus being limited to a square league.
The economy was based mainly on livestock and agricultural activity, being the most predominant the grain production. After 1852 there were some changes regarding the livestock activity such as cattle breeding being displaced by wool-bearing (preponderant until the late nineteenth century).
Society and Economy
San Justo became an important industrial center during the 1940s and 1950's. The city, however, suffered the loss of a sizeable portion of its industrial base after 1980. Shantytowns (referred to as villas miserias in Argentina) blight numerous abandoned lots in the city, particularly in the western half, though public housing efforts have been recently stepped up, a process of revitalization aided by the return of numerous industrial and wholesaling employers. San Justo continues to grow and, as fewer than 20% live in substandard housing, most of its 36,000 households are middle-class and continue to enjoy quiet neighbourhoods.
Education
San Justo residents can avail themselves of numerous primary, seconadry and tertiary schools, the best-known of which are probably the "Almafuerte" School, an award-winning public school, and the San Justo Parochial School.
The National University of La Matanza is located in San Justo, and is now a leading center for education, sports and cultural activities in the area.
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