In the 1542, while he was making a voyage across the Atlantic Ocean to Asuncion of Paraguay, Alvar Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca, of Spain, came across the amazing water falls from the Iguassu River and he baptized them as “The Santa Maria Falls.” However, the name never stuck and in time the Guarani (the native people of Iquazú) name was cemented. The name is simple: “Iguazu”, I: water, Guazú: big.

At this time, the Mbya – Guarani people were the chief inhabitants of the region.
However, around 1609, with the arrival of Jesuit priests, their lives began to change and many adopted the religion these missionaries had come to spread. The priests and the natives developed a network of missions in the region unlike anything else in Latin America. Their presence extended to over 30 towns distributed in the Tape and el Guayrá regions (currently south of Brazil and Paraguay, all of the Argentinean province of Misiones and the northern part of the province of Corrientes).


Because of political differences with the Spanish crown the Jesuits were expelled from the region in 1768. The region now occupied by the park received no more attention until June of 1881, shortly before the federalization of the province of Misiones, when the Corrientes province, who held jurisdiction over the future Misiones lands, sold 2500 hectares of land around the rivers Parana, Iguassu and Uruguay-i to Severo Fernandez and Ernesto Arnadey These in turn transferred the rights to the land to Rafael Gallino in October of that same year who immediately passed them on to Gregorio Lezama.

In December of 1881, the province of Misiones became independant of the province of Corrientes and in 1882 the first governor, Rudecindo Roca, was appointed who divided the land into 5 parts. One of his commanders, Francisco Cruz, journeys to the junction of the rivers Parana and Iguassu bringing with him a German scientific commission, paid for by Ledesma (owner of the Iguassu Lands) and directed by the explorer Carlos Bossetti, in order to find good land to colonize. Among the expeditionaries was Jordan Hummell, who years later organized the first tourist trip to the Falls.
So the Waterfalls were “discovered” again and again admired by new observers.

In 1888, Gregorio Lezama sold the “Iguazssu Lands” to Martín Erracaborde Cía.

The 20 of September 1895, the governor Balestra divided the province into 14 departments. Iguassu becomes a part of the Frontera Department beside Manuel Belgrano, El Dorado and part of San Pedro. The 19 of July 1897, Alberto Mugica is designated Justice of the Peace of the county of Iguassu.
By then, Jordan Hummell, who came with Mr. Nuñez and Gibaja, had already ventured to the falls, but from the Brazilian side, since on the Argentinean side the forest was nearly impenetrable. This trip inspired them to approach the government with the idea of promoting tourism in the area.


In 1901, the first tourist excursion to the Falls based out of Puerto Iguassu is attempted. Among the passengers was Victoria Aguirre who, faced with the failure of the excursion due to the absence of paths, donated $3.000 to establish a route between Puerto Iguassu and the Falls. A further $5.000 was donated by Gibaja and Nuñez. Victoria Aguirre later becomes an informalp protector and one of the key people driving touristic and population growth.

In 1902, Carlos Thays completed the first detailed study of the Iguassu Falls region and envisioned the creation of the National Park, a dream which came to fruition years later.

September 3, 1902, the Misiones Government passed the “Olmedo law” which turned jurisdiction of Iguassu Park over to the state. In 1907 “the Iguassu lands” were sold at a public auction, leaving the northern part in the hands of Domingo Arrayagaray and the southern part became property of Martín Errecaborde. In this period the mineral company Gibaja and Nuñez constructed the first hotel on Iguassu.

In 1913 the police station, the prefecture and a primary school are established. In 1916 Civil Register of Puerto Aguirre (what the town was now called) is created. In 1928, the post office opens and that same year the nation buys Arrayagaray lands with plans for the National Park and a military zone.

The 1st of January of 1935, The National Government by the 12.103 laws, create “Iguassu National Park” on the lands purchased in 1928.
The first superintendent of the National Park was Paulino Amarante. In September of 1941 the borders of the National Park are established as well as those of the urban zone of Puerto Aguirre.
The 27th of November of 1943 the name Iguassu is restored to the access port of the Falls. The name Aguirre was kept for one of the forest trails which provides access over the Iguassu river and is located approximately a kilometre up-river from the outlet into the Paranaá.

In 1944, the old airport with dirt runways was operational. Until 1948, the sale of land im the newly created urban zone wa forbidden, and was inhabited solely by employees of the National Park Administration and their relatives. On the 31 of January 1948, National Parks designate lands for urban development and put them up for sale resulting in explosive population growth. That same year, the Puerto Iguassu power plant begins to operate, working between 18 and 24 hours. The construction of the 7 quays of different levels in the port are also from this period.

On April 24 1951, the name of Iguassu is changed to Eva Peron, and with the same law the creation of the first Promotional Committee is approved, establishing its jurisdiction, and naming its members.

These designations were given to Balbino Brañas, Lucio Francisco Queiroz, Julio Enrique Jerez, Sergio Nelio Ortiz and Ricardo Misiones. On September 28 of 1955, the new government restored the name Puerto Iguassu to the town.

On February 24 of 1978 Iguassu Port is declared a category one municipality. This briefly summarizes the history up until now. In the background lies the struggle of pioneers and others who have and continue to struggle to protect this valuable resource and present it as one of the greatest tourist attractions in the world, a fact which cannot be denied.