History of Juiz de Fora

Further development would only take place after the decline of gold mining in the central zone of Minas Gerais. The capital previously invested in the mines was now invested in coffee plantations, and the region of Zona da Mata became a fertile ground to invest in. The position of the village then called Santo Antônio do Paraibuna was favorable due to the road connection with the capital of the country and its harbour.

In 1850, the small village was officially elevated to city status. Progress continued in 1861 with the completion of the first macadamized road in Latin America, the Estrada União e Indústria (Union and Industry), replacing the Caminho Novo. Its name reflected the new found wealth of the city, for industry replaced coffee-related agriculture as its economic heart. Five years later a new railway, the Estrada de Ferro Dom Pedro II reached the city and in 1889 the first hydroelectric powerplant of Latin America (Marmelos Zero) was built on the Paraibuna river, on the outskirts of the city, along the Estrada União e Indústria.

As both foreign and domestic capital fueled the industry boom, the city became a major center (it then became the largest urban area of the state); so much so that in the first decade of the 20th century, Juiz de Fora was among the main textile and industrial centers in South America, and in Brazil particularly, the city's wealth was second only to centers such as São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. As the coffee rush frontier moved southwestwards, it reached the state of São Paulo and its immensely fertile plateaus. As the State became the richest in the federation, industry flourished, as had happened to Juiz de Fora itself. The city of Juiz de Fora saw itself, then, as the only major industrial center in a state that was being much surpassed by São Paulo in industrial output and worse still, much of the wealth generated by the