Settlement The settlement of the current Centro began at the end of the 1910s with the resumption of construction of the Vitória-Minas Railroad (EFVM), interrupted in
Belo Oriente. The area was known as Barra do Calado, as it was located near the mouth of the
Caladão Stream on the
Piracicaba River, where goods and people were shipped to neighboring settlements. At the time, dozens of tents were improvised to shelter the railroad workers. The town known as Calado developed around the railroad under construction and the Calado Station, inaugurated near the left bank of the Piracicaba River in 1924. Next to the terminal,
Rua de Baixo (English: Lower Street), now Pedro Nolasco and Coronel Silvino Pereira streets, was established and the first stores were built. By the end of the 1920s, Calado was made up of
Rua de Baixo and
Rua de Cima (English: Upper Street), now Doutor Querubino Street.
Urban consolidation Located between the railway terminal and the commercial center, Pedro Nolasco Street became the main bus stop for urban and interurban public transport. In the 1950s and 1960s, important buildings were built, such as the Colégio Angélica, the Cine Marrocos and the Silvana Palace Hotel. In the 1970s, the first large building, the ten-storey Vale Verde, was built on José Cornélio Street, and the
Santa Helena neighborhood was created, where the old Santa Helena Sawmill operated. At the time, it was considered the most modern and upmarket residential district in the city due to its proximity to the city downtown. Between the 1960s and the 1980s, the Centro also hosted several bars and restaurants that attracted workers from the region's steel mills. After the 1990s, there was a considerable reduction in the number of night-time visitors, who moved from the Centro to
Magalhães Pinto Avenue. There are also cinemas, such as Cine Glória, built in the 1950s in the current Moacir Birro Street but replaced by Cine Marrocos in 1963, which had 1,300 seats and operated until the end of the 1980s. The old Calado Station was deactivated in 1979 and demolished in 1982. It was replaced by the Bus Terminal and the urban transport interchange, which was moved to another location in the Centro in 2008 to provide space for the Estação Square. At the end of the 1980s, the paving of the main streets in the Centro was renovated through the Arglurb Project; the old stone pavement was replaced with hexagonal blocks. Between the 1980s and 1990s, the commercial activity rose, especially in the area around Maria Mattos Street, reinforcing the importance of the business center. A verticalization process began in the 1990s, as there was a limited number of vacant lots in the Centro and nearby neighborhoods. At the end of 2021, the main streets in the center were paved. The old blocks were used to pave roads in the
Serra dos Cocais. == Geography and demography ==