More of the City's History: The Abandoned Warehouses of La Paz.

Ever wonder what the story is behind the large abandoned warehouses along Colosio just east of Abasolo and along Las Garza around Tienda Ley? Here's the story:

Starting in the 1940s, the Valle de Santo Domingo (known locally as El Valle), some 100 miles north of La Paz, was the site of an intense agricultural effort sponsored by the Mexican government. Some years earlier, the federal government had discovered an aquifer of fresh water under the parched desert and decided that, given the lack of inhabitants in the region, it would be a splendid place to send some of the overflowing population from the mainland.

Under the ejido system, the federal government had been creating colonies of peasants on government lands in less-populated regions of the country to help deal with the growing population of the nation. Since its historic lack of water had made El Valle a difficult place to live, there had been little interest in developing it privately so most of El Valle had remained in government hands. The discovery of massive water reserves under the valley floor was excellent news for the planners in Mexico City.

By 1949, several ejidos had been founded, depended on deep wells bored by the government. Pumps were also provided to pull the water up to the surface, where it made the desert bloom. The first grading and paving of the road between El Valle and La Paz was done at this time to transport supplies out from La Paz and the agricultural output back to La Paz, where it was processed before being embarked at the municipal pier.

The lands of Santo Domingo Valley proved very fertile, for the pier in La Paz was routinely overwhelmed. In those days, Pichilingue, Puerto San Carlos and Puerto Lopez Mateos didn't exist (those ports began cargo operations in the late 1960s). During the early 1960s, I remember seeing trucks loaded with cotton and wheat lined up along the malecon from the municipal pier (just south of the Hotel Perla) all the way down to the end of the Esterito, in front of the old Seguro Social Hospital (which was brand new then).

The large warehouses we now have in the south side of the city date from that period, when they were used to process and store the Valley's production (other nearby areas, such as Los Planes, also contributed to the flow). It was common to see bales and bales of agricultural products in the fields surrounding these buildings, awaiting ships.

Sadly (for the industry in La Paz, at least), once San Carlos (a deep-water port on the Pacific Coast about 50 miles away from Santo Domingo Valley) opened for business in around 1967, the warehouses and agricultural factories around La Paz were abandoned in favor of similar facilities in the Santo Domingo Valley (today some can be found outside Ciudad Constitution, also abandoned). With a direct access to the Pacific Ocean, it made little sense to send products down to La Paz for processing before returning up to San Carlos. Over the long haul, it didn't matter much. The aquifer has practically been drained and no longer has the water for such production. Less water-intensive crops on a smaller scale have replaced the former bounty of the Valley.

Although many of the old factory-warehouses around the south side of La Paz have been abandoned and appear to be awaiting demolition, a few of these old facilities have been reconditioned for other uses. One sees several of them around Tienda Ley on Las Garzas. The municipality has apparently taken over a couple of the more handsome buildings, as evidenced by the State Seal on them.

This building is on Colosio, just up from Abasolo, across the street from another one


What that same building looked like 50 years ago.


Some just south of the Tienda Ley on Las Garzas


Two of the warehouses that seem to used by the BCS government today

Rich history. I just love these sort of postings of historic Baja (and California) Bajatripper.....you sound like a Cultural anthorpologist

More.....more history please.