The Estrada de Rodagem União e Indústria (''Union and Industry Highway'') was the first macadamized road in

Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...

, connecting the cities of

Petrópolis Petrópolis (), also known as the Imperial City, is a municipality in the Southeast Region of Brazil. It is located in the state of Rio de Janeiro, northeast of the city of Rio de Janeiro. According to the 2022 Brazilian census, Petrópolis mun ...

and

Juiz de Fora Juiz de Fora (; ), also known as J.F., is a city in the southeastern Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, approximately from the state border with Rio de Janeiro (state), Rio de Janeiro. According to the 2022 census the current population is 54 ...

in the southeast of

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. It was opened on 23 June 1861 by Emperor

Dom Pedro II ''Don (honorific), Dom'' PedroII (Pedro de Alcântara João Carlos Leopoldo Salvador Bibiano Francisco Xavier de Paula Leocádio Miguel Gabriel Rafael Gonzaga; 2 December 1825 – 5 December 1891), nicknamed the Magnanimous (), was the List o ...

History

The project began in 1854 when Mariano Procópio Ferreira Lage was awarded the concession for the construction of the road from Petropolis. He created the União e Indústria (''Union and Industry'') company whose profits were to come from tolls charged to users. Work began on 12 April 1856 in the presence of Dom Pedro II and the imperial family and a plaque commemorating this event still exists at the beginning of the Avenida Barão do Rio Branco in Juiz de Fora. The first section to be completed was opened on 18 April 1858 and connected Vila Teresa with Pedro do Rio, a total of . From Pedro do Rio the road was extended to Posse in the following two years. Finally, on 23 June 1861, Dom Pedro II and representatives of the company travelled the full from Petrópolis to Juiz de Fora in a

stagecoach A stagecoach (also: stage coach, stage, road coach, ) is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by ...

. The opening of the road was significant for Juiz de Fora, turning it into an important trading centre. It also gave rise to the first travel guide to Brazil "Doze Horas em Diligência - Guia do Viajante de Petrópolis a Juiz de Fora" (''Twelve Hours in a Stagecoach – A Traveler's Guide to Petrópolis to Juiz de Fora'') by Revert Henrique Klumb, published in 1872. Over time the original road was modified in various stretches. Between Petropolis and Itaipava, and between Areal and Alberto Torres new roads were opened in the mid-twentieth century, and in 1980 the entire road was replaced by the BR-040 dual carriageway trunk from

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

Brasília Brasília ( ; ) is the capital city, capital of Brazil and Federal District (Brazil), Federal District. Located in the Brazilian highlands in the country's Central-West Region, Brazil, Central-West region, it was founded by President Juscelino ...

leaving the former União e Indústria with only local traffic.

The road today

Today the road forms part of the road systems of the states of

and

Minas Gerais Minas Gerais () is one of the 27 federative units of Brazil, being the fourth largest state by area and the second largest in number of inhabitants with a population of 20,539,989 according to the 2022 Brazilian census, 2022 census. Located in ...

. It is designated RJ-134 between Petrópolis and Areal, BR-393 in

Três Rios Três Rios () is a municipality located in the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro. As of 2020 its population was an estimated 82,142 inhabitants, and its area is around . The current mayor of Três Rios is Joacir Barbaglio Pereira (known as Joa) ...

, RJ-151 from Comendador Levy Gasparian to Mont Serrat, MG-874 between Simão Pereira and Matias Barbosa and finally BR-267 from Matias Barbosa to Juiz de Fora Several buildings and bridges remain from the old União e Indústria, among them the Santana bridge in Alberto Torres, restored by the government. There are also the Domingos Soares da Veiga viaduct in Areal, the Bridge of Herons in Três Rios and the former Paraibuna station in Mont'Serrat, municipality of Comendador Levy Gasparian, which was built in 1856 for the change of mules. Located in a French-style cottage, since June 23, 1972, the station has housed the road museum, dedicated to the history of the União e Indústria and Brazil's trunk road network. A major exhibit is the stagecoach "Mazeppa" in which Pedro II made the first voyage on the road between Petrópolis and Juiz de Fora. "Mazeppa" is the only remaining coach of the União e Indústria.

External links

A Estrada União e Indústria
{{DEFAULTSORT:Estrada Uniao e Industria Roads in Brazil