Baños del Saladillo

On November 1st, 1885, Manuel Arijon founded the Saladillo Baths, the first public beach in Latin America. Taking advantage of the widespread belief that stream waters had healing properties, and using a natural depression in the ground, he ordered the construction of an artificial channel that carried water from the natural course to large pools with gates at the height of the current Centenario St. and Argentina Ave.

The canal was made with pick and shovel by the prisoners of the No.3 Penitentiary Unit of Rosario, who carried the soil in oxen-drawn carts.
The Baths consisted of a huge cement pool of approximately 279 ft x 82 ft, located over the stream, and flanked by eighty small toilette-rooms, each with its own private pool.
In December 1992, a municipal sports center was inaugurated in this same place, which in the summer season becomes a busy outdoor recreation spot for the residents of the neighborhood