Founded by the heirs and sons of the Swedish naturalized Brazillian, Herman Theodor Lundgren, they were responsible for the implement of the manufacturing project of the Rio Tinto’s Fabric Company and the urbanization, indispensable for the population settlement. Rio Tinto was populated, initially, by German families and workers as for families and workers from the State, employees of the Rio Tinto’s Fabric Company.
German families managed to create the only Germanic colony above Brazil’s Mid-South, on century XX. With deactivation of the manufacturing part in the textile production of the Lundgren conglomerate, in Paraíba, most of the German families scattered, migrating to João Pessoa or leaving the State.
Even today we can find signs of their passage around the town. There are big houses and cottages spread through the urban zone. The Big House (Lundgren’s residence in Rio Tinto), that was target for vandalism at the end of World War II, is located at Monte-Mor Village, close to an indigenous school.