Breu Branco

History

The emergence of the current municipality of Breu Branco is related to the construction of the Tucuruí hydroelectric plant. Existing as a village since the 1900s, it gained its current configuration in 1980, when the inhabitants of the old village were relocated. The settlement of "Breu Velho" (as the old village of Breu Branco is popularly called) was submerged by the hydroelectric lake. Breu Velho was located between the old village of Jatobal (also submerged by the lake) and the city of Tucuruí. It was a village with approximately 400 houses built on sandy land and in the stilt style. Its residents mainly traded Brazil nuts, which supplied both the domestic and foreign markets. The production was transported mainly by the Tocantins Railroad and soon after by the Tocantins River.