Rio Pardo

Rio Pardo (formerly Villa do Rio Pardo), a town of Brazil in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, on the left bank of the Jacuhy at its confluence with the Pardo. Area (of the municipality) 17 3 7 sq. m. Pop. (1890) of the municipality, 19,346; (1908, estimated) of the town, 3500. The town is about 80 m. due west of Porto Alegre, with which it is connected by rail and steamer. The Jacuhy is navigable by small steamers to this place, which was once an important military station and commercial centre. Its military importance has considerably declined through railway extension. The surrounding districts are fertile but only slightly cultivated, and stock-raising is its chief industry. The town had its origin in a frontier fort built at this point by the Portuguese in 1751, but did not reach the dignity of a "villa" until 1809.