Villa Urquiza, Entre Ríos Province, Argentina

🇦🇷 Villa Urquiza (Entre Ríos) is a village and municipality in Entre Ríos Province in north-eastern Argentina. The municipality includes the town of the same name and a rural area made up of Colonia Nueva and La Balsa (Old Colony). It is located 42 km (by asphalt) north of the provincial capital. It was founded by General Justo José de Urquiza in 1860 on a colony that originated in 1853. Villa Urquiza, along with Esperanza (Santa Fe) are the two oldest immigrant colonies that have managed to stay in the country. Villa Urquiza is currently a summer village on the coast of the Paraná River.

History By order of Urquiza, on September 1, 1853, it was established by Colonel Manuel de Clemente with several families of German soldiers who fought in the Battle of Caseros the first agricultural-military colony of Argentina (First Agricultural-Military Colony Las Conchas). The confederation government granted 100 pesos each and farming elements, but these ex-military sold or abandoned their farms. In 1855 the military commander of the Paraná Department, Colonel Doroteo Salazar, took over the colony, settling a German family spontaneously, which gave rise to a new settlement of settlers.

In 1856 the government of the Argentine Confederation made a concession of 12.5 leagues of land in the area of the Conchas stream5to the businessmen Vanderest and Saint Hilaire, establishing a group of settlers from Germany. Also in 1856, a concession of 400 blocks was made for the installation of families in Belgium, expanded the following year with another 600 blocks. In 1857, another concession was made in which 8 families from the canton of Valais of Switzerland were established, who had come to the country to settle in the failed Aldea San Juan in the province of Corrientes. On August 4, 1857, the government established a school for the children of the settlers. The abandonment of the concessionaires caused the national government to take charge of the settlers, renaming Colonia Urquiza by decree of 1858.

By provincial law of September 10, 1860, it was founded within the Villa Urquiza colony to be the provisional head of the Paraná department, because the city of Paraná was the provisional capital of the Argentine Confederation and was federalized and separated from the territory of Entre Ríos. The law was passed on September 7, 1860: Art. 1°. Erect a Villa called Urquiza on the coast of the Paraná River in the District of Las Conchas, Department of Paraná, with the provisional character of Head of that Department; Art. 2°. Design a square league of land for the new Villa and its suburbs; Art. 3°. Authorize the Fr. E. to make the expenses demanded by the delineation of the Villa Urquiza.

A decree of October 25, 1860 set the date of December 8, 1860 for the solemn installation of the villa. On December 2, 1861, the city of Paraná was reinstated to the province of Entre Ríos by a decree of Governor Urquiza, so Villa Urquiza remained a delegation within the department, which included the Tala and Antonio Tomás districts and with a political delegate at the head and a justice of the peace.

Some time later, families of immigrants from Switzerland, Germany, the Basque Country and France would arrive.7In 1876, a 3-league expansion called Colonia Nueva was established.

On May 13, 1872, the law of municipalities was sanctioned, and one was established in Villa Urquiza. After elections, the first municipalities were installed in the province on January 1, 1873.8The following year the municipality was abolished due to lack of budget.

On November 9, 1889, Governor Basavilbaso decreed the new creation of the municipality of Villa Urquiza: Art. 1°. The Delegation of Villa Urquiza is constituted in a municipality with the prerogatives agreed by the Organic Law of Municipalities; Art. 2°. The municipality will be divided into urban barracks and sub-urban districts, in the manner determined by the municipality; Art. 3°. The Municipality of Villa Urquiza will be composed of a mayor and six councilors as provided for inc. 7th art. 186 of the Constitution.

However, the municipality did not become effective and in the 1970s a governing board was established. The second-class municipality was finally created on October 15, 1985 by decree 4090/1985 MGJE of Governor Sergio Montiel.10The municipal ejido was extended by law 8860 of September 13, 1994 to include part of the jurisdiction of the governing board of Colonia Crespo. After the constitutional reform, the categories of municipalities were abolished, taking effect in Villa Urquiza on December 10, 2011.