Estancia Las Lomas, Las Rosas, Argentina

Date: [unknown] [unknown]
Location: [unknown]

Estancia Las Lomas and the
City of Las Rosas, Santa Fe, Argentina

Las Rosas Town Square, on land donated to the town by the Dickinson brothers.^[1]

History of Las Rosas City
From the year 1864, the first agricultural operations were begun in the region, starting with an important English, German and North American immigration. Among them was the Estancia of Las Rosas, owned by William Kemmis. The proximity of the train station of Cañada de Gómez allowed easy communication with the ports and populated centers. For this reason, new settlements were quickly established and in 1874 the brothers Alfred and Henry Dickinson arrived and acquired a territory belonging to the family Munro calling it Las Lomas.
Anticipating that this area would be transformed into a strategic place of passage and expecting other presentations, in 1888 the Dickinson brothers proposed to the Topographic Institute of the province of Santa Fe plans for a town called "Las Lomas". At the same time, William Kemmis made a similar request for a new layout called Las Rosas, which was finally approved on February 15, 1889. The Dickinson brothers donated the land for the first school, the church and the physical space to house the municipal authorities. With this wonderful example of cooperation, Las Rosas was born.
With the union of the two embryonic population centers, numerous benefits were obtained, consolidating the town as head of the Belgrano department and achieving a territorial jurisdiction over 71,000 ha. of excellent lands suitable for agricultural and livestock exploitation. The continuous growth of Las Rosas led in 1967 to the Town becoming the City of Las Rosas. One hundred and thirty-one years ago "Las Lomas" yielded its streets and squares so that a flower would grow there, thanks to the iron will of the pioneers and the fertility of their land, they would achieve what was once unthinkable. - Carlos Guillermo "Pocho" Soria, Las Rosas native

Ave-Dickinson in Las Rosas, named after the Dickinson brothers, co-founders of the city.

Las Rosas Municipal Building, on land donated by the Dickinson brothers to the community. The population of the city in 2010 was 13, 689.^[2]

The Dickinson's also donated land for the school
School Manuel Belgrano
and the church
Santa Rosa de Lima Church

Estancia Las Lomas
The Estancia (or ranch) of Las Lomas was established by the Dickinson brothers in the 1870's. Henry brought his wife there after their 1875 marriage and their only child, a daughter Ethel, was born there. It appears that his wife and daughter had returned to England by 1890. Although Henry continued to travel back and forth, after his wife's death in 1893 he seems to have spent most of his time at Le Mote, the estate he built in the English countryside. His younger brother Alfred married the daughter of the local bishop in Buenos Aires in 1886 and they raised their family at Las Lomas. And despite several visits to England, his wife and children did not return to England for good until 1906, although Alfred remained in charge at Las Lomas.^[3]
Alfred died suddenly of an appendix attack in 1909, while home visiting his family in England. And his brother Henry collapsed on a train platform and died in 1918. Henry had no sons, while Alfred's three sons were all commissioned officers in the British Army or Royal Navy, so the Estancia Las Lomas was abandoned by the end of the Great War.

The estancia had been long abandoned when Las Rosas born photographer Pocho Soria first began his exploration of the site.

He stated that when he "first visited the Dickinson house, it was in better condition and there were even bottles of wine in the cellar, after 97 years of being abandoned."

He also reports that "the house with the barn is the only thing left in the place, but before there was next to the house a school, a jail, a butcher shop"

Still remaining was the second floor, where the gunmen were located who defended the place from the attacks by the indigenous people of the area.^[4]

The curent owner of the property had expressed to Pocho a desire to demolish what remained of the estancia, so these ruins may no longer be there.

While exploring the site, Pocho discovered the remains of a family cemetery.

The stones are broken and not easy to decipher,

except for the burial of Alfred's daughter Eleanor.

1. ↑ All photos by Pocho Soria.
2. ↑ Wikipedia: Las Rosas, Santa Fe.
3. ↑ Memoirs of E Roger Dickinson, cited in Ancestry.com - James Mason Tree.
4. ↑ The late 19th century, time of the Dickinson settlement at Las Lomas, coincided with the elimination of the last serious resistance to European colonialism in Argentina. See the Wikipedia article: Conquest of the Desert.

• Thank you to Carlos Guillermo "Pocho" Soria for the photos and information for this page.