Cycle touring Rural Roads – Manzanares + Calos Keen + Open Door, Buenos Aires

Manzanares is a town originated like so many others on the banks of a railroad station and bathed by the waters of the Luján River, in its middle course. It is a plain altered by some undulations, like the one that is appreciated when we enter it, by a road of 5 km that takes us away from Route 8. At the moment it has near 6000 inhabitants scattered by its different districts.

The town of Carlos Keen was born in 1881 from the union of three ranches, where a water tank was installed to supply the locomotives that traveled, at first to San Antonio de Areco and then to Pergamino. With the arrival of the first train, the lots began to be built and little by little the silhouette of the town around the station began to emerge. Its greatest splendor was in 1934, reaching 3000 inhabitants, important general stores, stores of all kinds, two primary schools, three primary schools, three clubs, two cinemas, pharmacies, police station, flour mill, gas stations, hotels, boarding houses. But in the 70’s the growth stopped. The causes were chained: the passenger trains decreased their frequency; Route Nº 7 was built at 10Km. from the town; a cotton mill was created in the neighboring town of Jáuregui generating the emigration of many locals. In spite of the adversities, the settlers who remained rooted to their place managed that Carlos Keen did not disappear. At the end of the 20th century, the first two restaurants opened their doors, boosting the tourist activity and outlining the gastronomic profile of the town. Thus, in 1989, the steps for the declaration of “Bien de Interés Histórico Nacional” (National Historical Interest) began, an initiative that would give results only in 2007, when the Comisión Nacional de Museos y de Monumentos y Lugares Históricos recognized the historical value of a sector of the urban layout of the town.

Open Door took shape at the beginning of the 20th century when the National Neuropsychiatric Colony Domingo Cabred (colloquially called “el Cabred”) was inaugurated, which with its therapeutic system of “Open Doors”, gave its name to the town. Subsequently, the first subdivision took place in a field near the colony and in front of the station, settling in the place an important colony of Spanish and Polish immigrants.