The site of Valparaíso was originally inhabited by the Chango people, who fished in its bay and called their settlement Quintil. Their presence was almost erased, however, with the arrival of the Spaniards.
Conquest
In 1536, Juan de Saavedra, a captain of Diego de Almagro's forces in Peru,
was the first Spaniard to claim Valparaíso. He sailed from Callao
on the Santiaguillo, to meet a supply ship for de Almagro's expedition.
The captain was so struck by the port's beauty that he named it after his
home city in Spain.
Map of the bay in 1728.
Colonial Years
Under Spanish colonial rule, Valparaíso served as the main port
for Chile's capital, Santiago. Raided by pirates and a center of contraband,
t was used as a port for small vessels bound for Callao. Valparíso,
along with many other colonial ports, was prohibited from conducting foreign
trade until 1791.
In that year, Charles V of Spain issued the Burbonic reforms, opened up
international trade in the Americas. Also in 1791, Valparaiso formed its
first town council and chose Jose Santiago de Moya as its first mayor. Eleven
years later, the Spanish crown granted Valparaiso a city title and a coat
of arms.
Independence and the "Golden Age"
Prosperity came to Valparaíso after Chile's independence in 1811.
It became the hub for trade between South America's Pacific countries and
the U.S., France, Germany, and England. All ships passing through the Straits
of Magellan and heading up the coast stopped in Valparaíso for provisions
and recreation. Both shipping and population boomed in what Chile had designated
its principal customs port. By 1834 Valparaíso displaced Callao as
the first port of the Pacific, and during the second half of the century
claimed more inhabitants than Santiago. This population included a new class
of bourgoisie, whose income grew with the success of sea trade in Valparaíso,
and large numbers of foreigners, especially English and Germans.
A sketch of the port in 1900.
Valparaíso's Decline
The city's prosperity diminished with the dawn of the twentieth century.
Steam navigation prompted ships to stop at Chilean ports further to the
north, where more coal was available. A severe earthquake (rated 8.6, killing
20,000 people) struck Valparaíso's central business district in 1906,
destroying roads and buildings. When the Panama Canal opened in 1914, ships
from the Atlantic no longer had to sail around Cape Horn, and no longer
needed to stop in Valparaíso. San Antonio, a small city further south,
opened a freight port shortly thereafter, taking over much of the traffic
of fruits and copper. With improvements in transportation, most businesses
and foreign consulates moved their headquarters to Santiago. By the 1960s,
most of the city's elite had moved their residences north to Viña
del Mar.
Valparaíso Under Pinochet
On September 11, 1973, the Chilean navy joined the rest of the armed forces
in staging a military coup, and took over the government buildings of Valparaíso.
The navy met armed rhuman rights violations. In 1990, just before the end
of Pinochet's rule, the Chilean congress was moved to Valparaíso
in order to revitalize the city.esistance from residents, many of whom hid
for days in the city's hills before being arrested. Like the rest of the
country, the port was subject to strict rules, curfews, censorship, and
human rights violations under Pinochet's rule.