The settlement of Corral originated as the headquarters of the Valdivian Fort System, which was built in 1645 to protect the city of Valdivia. At the time, Spanish ships sailed along the Valdivia River to Valdivia, but Corral soon took over the role of receiving major ships. The fort of Corral had no more than four cannons until 1749.[6] Renewed interest in the defense of Valdivia led Juan Zermeño to expand and improve the fort between 1767 and 1773, when work was halted to focus on the battery of Chorocamayo. The renovation was executed by Juan Garland, who extensively modified Zermeño's plans.[6] Indigenous Cuncos, who were at war with the Spanish, had planned to attack Corral in 1770 and had built for that reason a road from Punta Galera to the port, which the Spanish garrison dismantled.[7][clarification needed]
Through the early 20th century, Corral was an important port for traffic between the Pacific and the Atlantic Oceans, as Chilean port were declared open to ships sailing under any state flag.[further explanation needed]
Hydraulic sawmills were built in Corral in 1847–1848.[10]
Decline
The destroyed center of Corral in Autumn 1960
Corral's economy experienced a series of events in the 20th century that led its decline. Train routes that connected Valdivia and Osorno to central Chile, as well as the opening of the Panama Canal resulted in the loss of most domestic and international traffic to in Corral.[citation needed]
Corral was for a time[when?] an important whaling port.[14] The local whaling industry was disrupted for the duration of the First World War, when it was impossible to import needed supplies, but resumed afterwards.[14]Whaling in Chile declined dramatically in the 1960s and ended altogether in 1983.[15] Remnants of whaling infrastructure are still visible on land.[14]
The decline of Corral culminated in 1960 with the Great Chilean Earthquake. With a magnitude of 9.4–9.6, it remains the largest ever recorded. Houses, roads, and port facilities were destroyed. The resulting tsunami obliterated the neighborhood of Corral Bajo and approximately 30% of nearby Corral Alto.[16] Among the losses were a series stilt houses between Corral Bajos and Amargos.[16] After the earthquake many families in corral relocated to the neighborhood of La Aguada.[17] As of 2015, only one pier, privately owned by a local company for the shipping of wood chips, remained.[18] The maximum permissible draught is 12.20 metres.[18]
According to the 2002 census of the National Statistics Institute, Corral spans an area of 766.7km2 (296sqmi) and has 5,463 inhabitants (2,864 men and 2,599 women). Of these, 3,670 (67.2%) lived in urban areas and 1,793 (32.8%) in rural areas. The population fell by 5.2% (302 persons) between the 1992 and 2002 censuses.[3]
12Angulo, S.E. (1997). "La Artillería y los Artilleros en Chile. Valdivia y Chiloé como antemural del Pacífico". Militaria: revista de cultura militar, 10, pp. 237-264
↑Guarda O.S.B., Gabriel (1980). Conjuntos urbanos arquitectónicos Valdivia, ss. XVIII-XIX (in Spanish). Ediciones Nueva Universidad. p.83.
↑It was the first steel mill in South America and was estimated to cost over two million US dollars.[further explanation needed] "First Steel Mill in South America". American Machinist. Vol.32. 14 October 1909. p.668.
↑Finer, Herman (1947). The Chilean Development Corporation(PDF). Montreal, Canada: International Labour Office. p.30. Archived from the original(PDF) on 11 August 2015. Retrieved 11 August 2015.
↑CORFO subsidized a reorganization to try to save the facility.[when?][why?] Butland, Gilbert J. (1951). Chile: an outline of its geography, economics, and politics. London: Oxford University Press for the Royal Institute of International Affairs. p.97. The reorganization included an expansion to try to reach production of 29,000 tons a year. Prebisch, Raúl, ed. (1954). Study of the Prospectsof Inter-Latin-American Trade(PDF). New York: United Nations. p.101. Archived(PDF) from the original on 11 August 2015.
12Navarrete, Daniel; Carrillo, Daniel (2020). Sesenta historias del Terremoto del 60 (in Spanish). Libros Verde Vivo. p.20. ISBN9789560919069.
↑Schwerter Langenbach, Carolina; Basso Zapata, Ismael (2010). Reconstrucción de la memoria histórica del barrio La Aguadam1906-2010 (in Spanish). Unidad de Comunicaciones Consejo de la Cultura y las Artes Región de Los Ríos. p.36.
12Ian Taylor & Company (2015). "8.13 Corral". Port Information Chile(PDF). p.71. Archived from the original(PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 11 August 2015.
Bibliography
Guarda Geywitz, Fernando (1953). Historia de Valdivia (in Spanish). Santiago de Chile: Imprenta Cultura.
External links
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