Lago Colony

Lago Colony was a viable community located on the east end of the island of Aruba and the area on which it sat is now known as Seroe Colorado. This community consisting of about 700 homes, a hospital, club house, bowing alley and American School with first through twelfth grade and about 180 students. The population of Lago Colony were primarily from the United States although there were a large population from from England, Ireland and Scotland who primarily were officers on the lake tanker fleet. In addition there were Dutch, Danish, Spanish and other countries represented in the community. This cosmopolitan town was supported by the largest oil refinery in the world, which at that time was owned by a subsidiary of Standard Oil of New Jersey, known as Lago Oil & Transport Co. Ltd. Lago had its beginning in 1924 as a trans-shipping facility for crude oil from Lake Maracaibo. The crude oil was transported to Aruba in flat bottom, shallow draft, tanker ships, known as lake tanker. This trans-shipping of the crude oil continued until 1928 when a refinery was built and the crude oil was then refined on the island and shipped all over the world as finished petroleum products. The refinery operated until 1985 when it was shut down. The refinery, now owned by Valero, was later purchased and reopened and is still operational, albeit on a smaller basis. As of 2006, only a few houses of the former Lago Colony remain. And most have been handed over to the Aruba Government or sold to individuals.

References

[http://www.lago-colony.com Lago Colony and Lago Refinery]