About us

The municipality of Santa Cruz do Sul has its origins in the former colony of Santa Cruz created in 1847 in the municipality of Rio Pardo, District of Serra do Botucaraí, between the left bank of the Pardo river and the Taquarimirim stream.

Its foundation resulted from the purpose of the City Council of Rio Pardo, then a prosperous trade center, to establish communication with the mountainous area of the Province to attract trade to that region.

Once the road was opened, the provincial government granted, in 1847, sesmarias to João Faria da Rosa and others. The first lots were marked out on Picada or Linha Santa Cruz, destined for German immigrants. On December 19, 1849, the settlement of the colony began. In the two subsequent years, new immigrants arrived; Santa Cruz became one of the most prosperous colonies in the south of the country.

The colony grew quickly. In 1853 there were already 196 lots occupied, in which 692 inhabitants lived. At the end of that same decade, in the year 1859, the population was 2,409 inhabitants. As this growth only continued, in 1877, on the 31st of March, the village was elevated to the category of settlement. A little over a year later, on September 28, 1878, Santa Cruz do Sul became emancipated, becoming an independent municipality 29 years after its emergence.