Sewell Mining Town

Sewell was built from 1906 on a mountainside at around 2,200 metres to house the workers of El Teniente, still the largest underground copper mine in the world, and the slope was so steep that no street could be laid: the town was organised around a central staircase climbing the hill, with buildings in painted timber stepping up either side. Some sixteen thousand people lived there at its height, in 1960. It was largely evacuated from the late 1960s under a policy of moving workers down to Rancagua, and it was inscribed by UNESCO in 2006 as an example of the company towns that industrial mining produced in remote places.

History

The Braden Copper Company founded the town in 1906 to serve the El Teniente mine and named it after its first president, Barton Sewell; a narrow-gauge railway to Rancagua, completed in 1911, carried supplies up, and there were no cars, only staircases between the levels. By 1915 Sewell had a hospital, a fire brigade and a social club, by 1918 more than 12,000 people lived here, and at its peak in 1960 more than 16,000. An avalanche killed 102 people on 8 August 1944, and in June 1945 355 miners died of carbon monoxide poisoning in the Smoke Tragedy, which led to new safety rules. After the Chilean state bought a 51 percent stake in 1967 many families were moved down to Rancagua, the mine was nationalised in 1971, and in 2006 the town was designated a World Heritage Site (Wikipedia, Sewell, Chile).

What to look for

• A town of staircases - the slope too steep for streets.
• Painted timber buildings - stepping up either side of the stair.
• Built for El Teniente - still the largest underground copper mine.
• Inscribed in 2006 - as a surviving industrial company town.

When to go

Year round, on booked tours. A full day.

What to expect

There is no independent access - the road belongs to the mine and tours must be booked in advance from Rancagua. Much of the town was demolished after the evacuation, so what remains is a fraction. The altitude and the stairs are real work.

Nearby

Rancagua is down the valley; Santiago is about two hours north.

Key facts