Since its beginning, Diadema occupation process had one fundamental factor: its geographical location between the coast – Vila de São Vicente – and the plateau – Vila de São Paulo de Piratininga (São Paulo city early name). It was the existence of a connecting road between
São Bernardo do Campo and Santo Amaro that provided ways for the early inhabitants to arrive to the neighborhoods in the early 18th century. The avenues that are now known as Antonio Piranga and Piraporinha were originated from this early roads. Until the 1940s, Diadema was constituted by four neighborhoods belonging to
São Bernardo do Campo: Piraporinha, Eldorado, Taboão e Vila Conceição. Dispersed, they were only connected through roads of difficult passage and each neighborhood had its own life. Piraporinha near São Bernardo; Taboão, also connected to São Bernardo do Campo due to the proximity and to
São Paulo through Água Funda Avenue. Eldorado, a neighborhood that had unique characteristics, because of the
Billings Reservoir, had a greater proximity to São Paulo, to the Santo Amaro region and finally Vila Conceição formed by the farms that once belonged to the Vila Conceição Company. With the village came
progress, which began in
1900 with the construction of a
steam-powered sawmill owned by Antônio Piranga, son of José Pedroso. At the beginning of the 20th century, the old cattle route (Estrada da Vila Conceição) began to undergo a process of industrialization and urbanization. The steam-powered sawmill operated for twenty years (until 1920), supplying a furniture-making industry in
São Bernardo do Campo. ==Education==