Colón village was founded in 1863 by Justo José de Urquiza, former caudillo of Entre Ríos and then the first constitutional Argentinian president. Due to its port, Colón became a strategic location to bring regional products. The city of San José whose urban nucleus was formed years earlier by Urquiza with the intention of welcoming immigrants especially from France, Switzerland and Italy. In the mid XIX century there was an influx of european immigrants who came to América in order to have a better life and escape from economical, political, religious hardships they were immersed in. Most people belonged to the Alps region such as Canton of Valais (Switzerland), Piedmont (Italy) and Savoy (France). It is well documented that these immigrants disembarked in 1857 and began to work the land right away. Some of the reasons for the immigrants to come to Colón were:
- there was no work for those immigrants since those people used to live in the mountains.
- there were wars in Europe that were affecting the population.
- Switzerland prohibited its citizens to be mercenaries so they couldn’t be soldiers.
- religious conflict between catholics and protestants.
- the indomitable nature caused flood, avalanche,
- people didn’t see any bright future for their children.
As a consequence of all these factors, Colón became a point of interest for those immigrants who wanted a better quality of life. These immigrants were, most of them, farmers who knew how to work on the land. Once they were in Colón or another part in Argentina, they called their family in Europe and encouraged them to come and join them in South America.