Chile

Humberstone and Santa Laura Saltpeter Works

WHS Score 3.2 Votes 23 Average 3.67

The Humberstone and Santa Laura Saltpeter Works represent the technical heritage and the social transformation brought about by the saltpeter industry.

Exploiting the largest deposit of saltpeter in the world, these two industrial sites were in use from 1872 until the mid-20th century to produce nitrate fertilisers for the rest of the Americas and Europe. Thousands of workers lived in company towns in this remote environment and developed a distinctive Pampinos culture.

Community Perspective: Humberstone has the best-preserved town remains, while Santa Laura is the more impressive for its industrial area but is in a bad and potentially dangerous condition. The sites lie only 2 km apart and can easily be visited by local bus from Iquique.

>

Site Info

Official Information
Full Name
Humberstone and Santa Laura Saltpeter Works (ID: 1178)
Country
Chile
Status
Inscribed 2005 Site history
History of Humberstone and Santa Laura Saltpeter Works
WHS Type
Cultural
Criteria
  • ii
  • iii
  • iv
Links
UNESCO
whc.unesco.org
All Links
UNESCO.org
Related Resources
News Article
  • Aug. 13, 2016 elmostrador.cl — Seeking to remove Humberstone and Santa Laura List from World Heritage in Danger in 2018

Community Information

  • Community Category
  • Secular structure: Factories and industry
Travel Information
No travel information
Recent Connections
View all (20) .
Connections of Humberstone and Santa Laura Saltpeter Works
Geography
Trivia
  • Built or owned by British
    The Humberstone works, originally called "La Palma", was run by the English company Gibbs + Co who acquired it after the War of the Pacific in which Chile obtained the nitrate area from Peru. Peru had just nationalised all the mines issuing certificates. During the war businessmen such as John Thomas North ("El Rey del Saltire") acquired these at a massive discount betting that the Chilean government (with whom they had contacts) would honour them - which they did. North then sold off the certificates on the London market to other entrepreneurs such as Gibbs.
Ecology
  • Hyper-arid
    "In the remote desert Pampa, one of the driest deserts on earth..." (OUV) - "The Pampa is one of the driest deserts in the world with virtually no annual rainfall." (AB ev)
  • Ratites
    lesser rhea
  • Saltpeter
    "The Chilean saltpeter works are unique in the world. No other rich seams of saltpeter are known to exist and nowhere else has a saltpeter industry developed of the same scope and scale" (AB ev)
Architecture
  • Art Deco
    The Theatre
  • Wooden architecture
    "The houses were simple, single storey, structures built of Douglas Fir" (AB ev) (the theatre and church are also built of wood)
Damaged
  • Ghost towns
    The Saltpeter towns were completely and totally abandoned by 1960, after the demand for natural sodium nitrate had been replaced by industrial nitrogen

    See www.atlasobscura.com

  • Destroyed or damaged by Earthquake
    April 2014 earthquake in Northern Chile: "The Site Manager defined a new list of priority interventions due to the earthquake, and the State Party requested International Assistance of the World Heritage Fund to design these interventions and implement two of them." (SOC)

    See whc.unesco.org

World Heritage Process
  • First sites filling gaps cited by ICOMOS
    post independence Americas and non European technological properties 2005
  • Minor modifications after inscription
    2011: to allow the re-routed A-16 Road to be excluded from the boundary. Since Route A-16 will now run down and parallel to the south boundary, it is logical to move this boundary slightly upwards, so as to leave Route A-16 outside the property, thus forming a single compact polygon.
  • Former In Danger List sites
    2005-2019
  • Directly in Danger
    2005: "to allow support to be given to finding ways to carry out urgent necessary consolidation work to vulnerable structures"
Human Activity
  • Locations for playing sport
    Humberstone: Basketball, Tennis courts, and a Soccer Pitch. (AB ev)
  • Company town
    "The majority of workers had no possessions whatsoever: their tools, furniture, clothes and houses were all provided by the company. Payment was often in tokens that could only be exchanged in the general store." (AB ev)
Constructions
WHS on Other Lists
Timeline
  • Built in the 19th Century
    200 works to mine and process the saltpeter, with towns to house the workers, and railways to transport the powder to coast, were established in an intensive period of around 50 years from 1880. (AB ev)
WHS Names
  • Named after individual people
    Named after the English chemical engineer James Thomas Humberstone. From 1875 he spent his entire career in the Peruvian/Chilean nitrate industry and is credited with introducing the improved "Shanks extraction process" around 1878 which enabled the mines to compete. He retired in 1925. In 1934 the plant was renamed in honour after him by a later owning company.
News
elmostrador.cl 08/13/2016
Seeking to remove Humberstone and …
Recent Visitors
Reserved for members.

Community Reviews

Show full reviews
First published: 23/04/24.

Els Slots

Humberstone And Santa Laura Saltpeter Works

Humberstone and Santa Laura Saltpeter Works (Inscribed)

Humberstone and Santa Laura Saltpeter Works by Els Slots

I did a DIY trip to Humberstone & Santa Laura on public transport in March 2024.

The first usable bus to Humberstone leaves at 8 a.m. (with Pulman Santa Angela in a minivan, 3,000 pesos, pay to the driver). It is approximately an hour's drive to the former saltpeter quarries, which open to visitors at 9 a.m. Along the way, the road crosses spectacular high walls of sand similar to those you see on the Peruvian coast. The bus dropped me off along the highway, from where you can walk to the Humberstone site via a footbridge. Being so early, it all looked a bit spooky and deserted, and I noticed a German shepherd dog watching me from a distance.

Once I entered the gate, I found the guard and the ticket seller sitting already at their posts ready for the day. The entrance costs 6,000 pesos (6 euros) and is valid for both locations: Humberstone and Santa Laura 2km away. Someone must have been very busy beforehand also, as the site of Humberstone consists of dozens of small exhibitions housed in virtually every building still standing. So every day someone has to open and close all the locks on these doors!

When you look at Chile’s WHS it is tempting to compare Humberstone with Sewell as they are both remains from early 20th century mining areas. Their setting is very different though, the mountain landscape within an active mining area at Sewell is much more dramatic. …

Keep reading 0 comments
First published: 25/03/24.

Clyde

Humberstone And Santa Laura Saltpeter Works

Humberstone and Santa Laura Saltpeter Works (Inscribed)

Humberstone and Santa Laura Saltpeter Works by Clyde

I visited both components of this WHS in 2023 by rental car from Arica. It is a long drive in the Atacama desert in Northern Chile which I'll gladly revisit next time using Antofagasta or San Pedro de Atacama as my base (even if it might not include anything WH related).

I started with the larger and main component of this WHS, Humberstone Saltpeter Works. There is a handmade WHS plaque in each of the two components as well as a more formal/official one at both. Combined tickets can be bought at any one of the two components and there is enough space to park in front of both sites. Although both components are very close to each other by car (small unpaved road towards the last stretch to Santa Laura), a long walk between them is better avoided as it is a very dusty trail with no shade whatsoever. If you don't have a rental car, I would suggest hitching a ride from any other tourists visiting Humberstone. It's true that you can spend a full day to thoroughly visit both components, but if you read up and do your research online on the highlights you wouldn't like to miss, a packed and moderately active half day could be enough to try to grasp the site's OUV, or at least whatever is left of it.

Humberstone and Santa Laura Saltpeter Works are testament to the historical importance of saltpeter mining in Chile and the culture and social …

Keep reading 0 comments
First published: 16/08/23.

Timonator

Humberstone And Santa Laura Saltpeter Works

Humberstone and Santa Laura Saltpeter Works (Inscribed)

Humberstone and Santa Laura Saltpeter Works by Timonator

Buses leave from opposite Mercado Centenario in Iquique, cost 3.000 Pesos and take 1 hour to Humberstone. Beautiful to see they leave on certain times independant of the amount of passengers after having lost some hours of my life for waiting for trufis to be full in La Paz for going to Tiwuanaku. You get thrown out on the wrong side of the highway but there is a pedestrian bridge over the big street and after 10 minutes more there is the entrance to Humberstone where the tickets for both sites- Humberstone and Santa Laura- are obtained. Currently they cost 6.000 pesos p.P.. There are tours offered in Iquique for 35.000 pesos half day Humberstone & Santa Laura and full day Humberstone & Santa Laura and some desert oasises like Pica further away. I would definetely NOT recommand these, as they're much more expensive for transport, guide and some food and they tear the focus from this WHS away. 3 hours is NOT sufficient to see and digest the Humberstone and Santa Laura sites. We have spent 5,5 hours in Humberstone and 1 hour in Santa Laura and have rushed a little bit. You can easily spend the full day here from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. if you want to read through all the information which you will find mainly in Humberstone. Between the two sites it's a 25 minute walk on a signed pathway. You will have to walk back for cathing the bus to Iquique from the …

Keep reading 0 comments
First published: 25/11/19.

Zoë Sheng

Humberstone And Santa Laura Saltpeter Works

Humberstone and Santa Laura Saltpeter Works (Inscribed)

Humberstone and Santa Laura Saltpeter Works by Zoë Sheng

2019 Removed from Danger list

whaaaaaaat?

So basically this place is crumbling to pieces and I see no maintenance done at all. In fact each building I stepped close to I was almost afraid it was going to collapse, but then I'm adventurous so I actually walked across beams and into the back of buildings to find ghosts - oh wait I mean, cool dusty machinery that used to be part of this great site, and I mean "great" as in a large. It's huuuuge. It takes hours to see everything. The best creepy pictures were when the sun started to set. I kind of felt like this was the Nostromo after the Alien took out all the crew members and it drifted in space for a while. It was also that deserted but the season probably causes little guests to come out here in windy weather.

Alright so this place used to be a massive saltpeter work, with workshops, housing, trains, clinic. It was probably awesome to see in its heyday. Strolling down the dusty road at the entrance that reminds you of a wild west town at the other side of the continent. I am imaging it all glorious but the presentation now is more for photoshooting: creepy haunted houses have nothing compared to this place. The guys from these stupid ghost hunting shows should check it out or maybe the Conjuring couple.

I suggest you check this out before it gets closed for …

Keep reading 0 comments
First published: 26/04/19.

Ammon Watkins

Humberstone And Santa Laura Saltpeter Works

Humberstone and Santa Laura Saltpeter Works (Inscribed)

Humberstone and Santa Laura Saltpeter Works by Ammon Watkins

Visited dec 2018. Humberstone is a little out of the way in the north of Chile but I love these kind of sites so we suffered the extra 6 hours on a bus from San Pedro de Atacama to get to Iquique. Fortunately domestic flights are cheap in Chile (for now) so could fly back to Santiago easily after. 

The site is easily visited by local bus from Iquique, dropping you off on the main highway out front. Humberstone and Santa Laura are easily visible from there. As the representative of over 200 similar sites in the region I can only imagine the poor state the others must be in. Parts of Humberstone (the plaza, theatre, market a few homes, etc) have been restored and the museums are full of quality detailed information, but what I liked the most was wandering through the rusted fences and into the broken homes and factories still barely standing. Without more support most structures might not last much longer as is the worry with Santa Laura. Unfortunately we spent so long in Humberstone that we didn't have time to walk the 2km over to Santa Laura and see it as well. I'd suggest an early start to be on the safe side. 

Hard to believe that not so long ago this region at its peak was producing nearly 90% of the world's nitrates and now it is nearly forgotten, wearing away in the desert. Overall a very worthy inclusion of a globally …

Keep reading 0 comments
First published: 11/03/15.

Anonymous

Humberstone And Santa Laura Saltpeter Works

Humberstone and Santa Laura Saltpeter Works (Inscribed)

Humberstone and Santa Laura Saltpeter Works by Ammon Watkins

I visited the site end of 2014. Humberstone is in pretty good shape but Santa Laura I can imagine it's on the danger list. The sites really show the history of the mining. When I visited there were not that many visitors in Humberstone and in santa Laura I was the third that day only. It's a ghost town, and when you just stand still you only here the howling wind through the buildings.

Keep reading 0 comments
First published: 07/10/08.

Anonymous

Humberstone And Santa Laura Saltpeter Works

Humberstone and Santa Laura Saltpeter Works (Inscribed)

Humberstone and Santa Laura Saltpeter Works by Ammon Watkins

Visited the site in November 2006. Sunny and hot day so you could imagine how it is to wander throughout a desert whe the whole salitera is located. Site consist of 2 units: Humberstone ghost town with market square, church, theatre, swimming pool school and numer of houses (all restored) and Santa Laura factory (much more ruined, that's why it is listed on List in Danger) located some 2 km from the town) and numerous other object (railways, dumps, paths, ruins). Recommended for those who like factory architecture or want to see the life of workers in Chile some 50-100 years ago. But hurry up - the desert and winds deteriorate the condition of the site constantly.

Keep reading 0 comments