Ramos Mejía

Ramos Mejía is a city in La Matanza Partido, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. The town has an area of and a population of 98,547. The city is one of the largest commercial districts in the Western Zone of Greater Buenos Aires.
History
The land where the city is now located was originally purchased from Martín José de Altolaguirre by Francisco Ramos Mejía in 1808. Ramos Mejía was the son of a merchant from Seville, and had returned from a nine-year stay in the Upper Peru, where his business interests had met with success. The ranch became noteworthy as the site of the first public religious controversy in Argentina, when Ramos Mejía's differences over the interpretation of biblical canon with the local parish priest, Father Castañeda, led to the former's exile from the parish in 1821.
The property remained in name of wife, María Antonia Segurola de Ramos Mejía, who became its sole proprietor upon her husband's death in 1828. Confiscated by order of Governor Juan Manuel de Rosas in 1840, it was returned to the widow in 1853 following Rosas' overthrow. She bequeathed the land to her four sons in a living trust. They, in turn, sold the first lots to the Buenos Aires Western Railway, which opened the station at the site on September 25, 1858, along the nation's first rail line.
Subsequent sales by the heirs, and its resale as parcels, led to the establishment of the town in 1871. Buoyed by the subsequent wave of immigration in Argentina, Ramos Mejía grew rapidly and in 1904, the cobblestone Avenida Rivadavia reached the town from Buenos Aires. The original station was replaced in 1907 by a larger structure designed by Dutch architect John Doyer; one of the most recognizable examples of Victorian architecture in Argentina, the building itself was converted to a museum in 2008.
Ramos Mejía would be the site of other milestones in the history of Argentine public transport. The establishment of the Transporte Ideal San Justo, a shared taxi company, in 1921, marked the birth of the popular transport service in Argentina (where they are known as colectivos). The electrification of the Western Railway line in 1923 between Ramos Mejía and the Once railway station terminal in Buenos Aires would be another first in the nation.
Among the most important educational institutions in the city are the Ward College, established in 1913, the Santo Domingo College (founded in 1915), and the Salesian Wilfrid Barón College of Don Bosco, established in 1930; one of its alumni was the future Pope Francis, who (as Jorge Bergoglio) studied here as a sixth-grader. The local Casa de la Cultura ("cultural house") houses the Leopoldo Marechal Theatre, one of the most important such establishments in La Matanza County. Ramos Mejía was officially recognized as a city by the Provincial Legislature on September 17, 1964.
The city is the birthplace of, among other well-known personalities in Argentina, comedian Antonio Gasalla, cyclist and olympic gold medalist Walter Pérez, former Vice President Carlos Ruckauf, Governor Daniel Scioli, screenwriter Damián Szifrón, and songwriter María Elena Walsh.
Places of Interest
Ramos Mejía is located approximately 14 km from City center of the capital, and has rapid access through highways. Has many important historical buildings, churches, and huge schools and edifications, very attractive residential places, intense night life, Cultural centers and a mall (called in Argentina) with many products and services, together to the downtown where a mix between old houses and very big tower buildings and offices.
The Ramos Mejia Station: it's a city heritage, and the mansion next to the station has a huge symbolic value, because it's the center of the story of Ramos Mejia.
This building, from 1906 was designed and built by the Architect Dutch John Doyer (1862-1936), who designed and built also the Once railway station. The architecture design matches the late Victorian style.
Education
Public Schools
School Nuestra Señora del Carmen (Elementary)
School General José de San Martín (Elementary/High School)
School José Manuel Estrada (Elementary/High School)
School Bernardino Rivadavia (Elementary)
School República de Brasil (Elementary)
School Juan Bautista Alberdi (Elementary)
School Hipólito Yrigoyen (Elementary)
School Patricias Argentinas (Elementary)
School Jorge Simon Liborio Muse (Elementary)
School Sargento Cabral (Elementary)
School General G. A. de Lamadrid (Elementary)
School Alas Argentinas (Elementary)
School República de Venezuela (Elementary)
School José Félix Bogado (High School)
School Santa María de Buenos Aires (High School)
School Esteban Echeverria (High School)
School Juan B de la Salle (High School)
Private Schools
School Nuestra Señora de Fatima (Elementary - High School)
School Parroquial San Juan XXIII (Maternal - Inicial - Elementary - High School regular and technical - Tertiary)
Institute Don Bosco (Elementary - High School)
School Ramos Mejia (Inicial - Elementary - High School)
School Santo Domingo (Kindergarten - Elementary - High School)
Institute San Miguel (Inicial - Elementary - High School)
School Santísimo Redentor (Elementary - High School)
Escuela Argentina del Oeste (Elementary - High School)
Escuela Jean Piaget (Elementary - High School)
Institute Santo Tomás de Aquino (Kindergarten - Elementary - High School)
Institute French (Kindergarten - Elementary - High School)
School del Parque (Elementary - High School)
Escuela Colina de la Paz (Elementary)
Institute Sarmiento (High School)
Institute Juan José Castelli (High School) — Closed in 2008 permanently
School Guillermo de Orange - Orange Day School (Inicial - Elementary - High School)
Public Figures
Luis Fabián Artime, soccer player
Juan Alberto Badía, radio and tv host
Lázaro Barbieri, politician
Héctor Calcaño, actor
Catriel Ciavarella, musician
Alberto Samid business man
Ignacio Copani, musician
Rodolfo D'Onofrio, Club Atlético River Plate president
Germán Delfino, soccer referee
Mariano Donda, soccer player
Leopoldo Federico, tango conductor
Sabrina Garciarena, actress
Willy Gardi, musician
Antonio Gasalla, actor and comedian
Christian Gómez, soccer player
Araceli González, actress
Rolando Hanglin, radio host
Virginia Hanglin, radio and tv host
Diana Ingro, actress
Horacio Lalia, comic artist
Román Lejtman, journalist
Guillermo López, tv host
Verónica Magario, politician, Mayor of La Matanza between 2015 and 2019
Pablo Alejandro Migliore, soccer player
Jorge Minissale, rock musician
Enrique Meyer, politician, Tourism minister between 2010 and 2015
Agustín Orión, soccer player (Boca Juniors)
Gustavo "Cucho" Parisi, singer and musician, leader of Los Auténticos Decadentes
Walter Pérez, cyclist
Monseñor Jerónimo Podestá
Erica Rivas, actress
Carlos Ruckauf, politician
Luciano Scaglione, bass player and vocalist of Attaque 77
Damián Szifron, tv producer
Eugenia Tobal, actress
Fernando Tobio, soccer player
María Elena Walsh, writer and musician
References
La Matanza Partido
Populated places in Buenos Aires Province
Populated places established in 1871
1871 establishments in Argentina
Cities in Argentina