Remembering Tocopilla, Chile

Oct. 29, 2024

In the process of renaming and compressing all the photos in my photo album, I'm also revisiting the many places I visited, this blog is about one of those places.

At the end of March, 2023, I visied Tocopilla, Chile. While I was there exploring the town I came across an interesting church. What was interesting about it? Well, first, Tocopilla is on the northern coast of Chile which is all Atacama Desert. The Atacama Desert is one of the driest places on earth. There are no trees here other than the ones people have planted. And the church I came across is made of wood, all wood. The church is called "The Temple of Our Lady del Carmen".

The church founding date is disputed, there are two possible dates, one is 1861 and the other is 1873. It depends on which story you believe. And, since the source of the wood was obviously not anywhere in northern Chile, it was imported from Oregon, the wood used is Oregon Pine. The styling of the church is Neo-Baroque outside and inside are touches of Neo-Moorish and Neo-Gothic.

Here's a bit more about the history of the church and wood building in northern Chile in general.

In the 19th century, the Atacama Desert, despite its arid and harsh conditions, experienced a significant mining boom, especially with the extraction of saltpeter and copper. This brought an influx of wealth and foreign investments, which had a major influence on local infrastructure and architecture.

Sources of Wood: Since wood is not naturally abundant in the Atacama Desert, it had to be imported. The sources of wood for constructions like churches or administrative buildings primarily included:

• Lumber from North America and Europe: During the late 19th century, the increased trade facilitated the import of wood from the United States, particularly from Oregon and Washington. Pine and fir were highly sought after. Additionally, wood could also come from European countries, especially during the mining boom, as European companies heavily invested in the region.
• Local Coastal and Andean Resources: Although sparse, there were limited wood resources in the coastal regions of Chile or the Andean foothills. But, this wood was usually available in low quantities or not of high enough quality for building structures.

Cost and Accessibility: Using wood in the Atacama Desert was, of course, expensive due to the long distances and logistical challenges of getting it. Yet, the mining boom brought considerable wealth to towns like Tocopilla, which enabled the construction of infrastructure that might otherwise seem prohibitively expensive. Mining companies often sponsored or funded public projects, including churches, schools, and housing for their workers. These companies had the resources to import wood and other materials from distant regions to establish towns and provide services for their workers.

Why Wood? Despite the expense, wood was chosen because it was a more versatile and workable material compared to locally available stone or adobe. Wood was favored for its adaptability in construction, offering greater architectural possibilities, and allowing for faster construction.

One can speculate that the mining companies likely optimized their shipping operations by importing wood on the return trips of vessels that exported minerals, mostly copper and saltpeter (sodium nitrate), but also silver, gold, iron ore, lead, zinc, and manganese. This strategy would make importing wood to a desert area like Tocopilla more feasible, economically sensible, and logistically sound. Oh, and guano was a major export. Now, if you wondering, Guano? Isn't that bird poop? Yes, it is. And it is high in nitrogen, phosphate, and potassium, which are essential nutrients for plant growth, therefore, guano makes an excellent natural fertilizer. It was in the very late 19th century when synthetic fertizers were developed, and the guano export industy dropped to zero. Guano, along with saltpeter, was also a key reason for the War of the Pacific between 1879 and 1884 between Chile, Bolivia, and Perú.

So, while importing wood to the Atacama Desert was costly, the prosperity brought by the mining boom justified and enabled such expenses.