San José was founded on 1857 by Justo José de Urquiza with a group of Swiss, Savoyard and Piedmontese immigrants.
San José Church
When the pioneers still had no houses to live in, they asked General Urquiza to send them a priest who would celebrate mass. An altar was improvised underneath a tree where the first religious office took place. The land where the definitive church was built was donated in 1877 by the general’s wife, Dolores Costa de Urquiza. The new temple was blessed in 1885 and almost 65 years later it was restored completely, both inside and outside. It has a divided rectangular ground plan, between narrow naves. The ceilings of the aisles are made of small wooden boards, whereas those of the centre are made of lime. It has a magnificent altar of Carrara marble.
Regional Historical Museum
The building dates back to1867 and belonged to Magdalena Romanzo de Izquierdo. It exhibits typical regional elements, reminders of the agricultural colonisation process and the contribution of the immigrants.
Forclaz Mill
It is an ancient wind mill located over 300 metres (985 feet) away from a stony road that connects Colón and San José. The constructor of this work, nowadays considered a relic, was the Swiss citizen Juan Bautista Forclaz, who arrived in the zone in 1859 as a member of a miller family. He settled down in one of the pieces of gorund to operate a mule driven mill which granted him important gains. Since 1887 and for the two following years, Forclaz devoted himself to buliding this Dutch inspired mill with three levels, completely made of loblolly pine and poplar wood. In 1890 the machines were put inside to take the rotating movement from a vertical iron axis and make the grinding. However this system required strong winds, which is not usual in the region. The mill failed to give the expected results, but was left standing as a symbol of the faith in work and hope in the future.
