It was the 7^th of March, 1739, when Brigadeiro Silva Paes took up his post as governor of the Santa Catarina captaincy, taking military command of the area. At that time whaling along the Brazilian coast was a lucrative monopoly that was conceded to powerful merchants by the Portuguese monarchy. Between 1740 and 1742, a little North of the village of São Miguel, an extensive whaling business was set up, known as "Armação Grande" (Large Trap) or Nossa Senhora da Piedade (Our Lady of Piety). The entire whaling operation took up an area of 57,339 square feet (5,327 m²) making this the largest and most important whaling station on the Southern coast, and the second most important in the colony of Brazil.

Around 1745 colonists began to arrive from the islands of the Azores and the island of Madeira and, attracted by the whaling, settled here. From 1747 onwards, colonists were also arriving from other parts of Portugal, founding settlements such as Jordão, Fazenda da Armação, Costeira da Armação, Palmas, Canto dos Ganchos, Ganchos dos Meios and Ganchos de Fora, which is where Ponta dos Ganchos Resort is. These small concentrations of immigrants who began the colonization of the Santa Catarina coast survived from small-scale fishing and farming.

As the whaling business declined, Armação Grande was depopulated on a large scale, to the extent that in 1883 there were only 42 people left. During the same period, the village of Ganchos had 208 inhabitants, an indication of the growth of Ganchos and its neighbouring settlements. By this point about 25 farms had been founded.

The municipality of Governador Celso Ramos encompasses all of the settlements that were founded during that period and nowadays has approximately 12,000 inhabitants. The principal economic activity is fishing and at least seventy percent of the employed population works in the industry or related sectors, catching, handling, processing, transporting or selling fish. Also of significance is mussel farming, which involves large numbers of people, and the area produces more cultured mussels than any other district in Santa Catarina. A percentage of the population still dedicates itself to agriculture, primarily concentrated around Jordão and Areias. Nowadays economic activities in the district are diversifying and, little by little, the people who were once dedicated exclusively to fishing are turning to the tourist industry, which is gradually employing more and more local people.

THE NAME ”GANCHOS”
The word “gancho” means hook and local legend has it that the three villages are named after Captain Hook, known here as "Capitão Gancho". The oldest local inhabitants claim that the famous pirate sailed these waters. An alternative theory is that the name is derived from the carved wooden hooks that locals use to help them carry fish slung across their shoulders. However, the most likely explanation is that the name is the result of the shape of the three bays which, seen together, look like three hooks.

CULTURE
More than two centuries after Ganchos was founded, its inhabitants still preserve their traditions and beliefs. The way in which the locals speak, quickly and with many expressions that only "gancheiros" understand, are evidence of the living culture these simple and hospitable people preserve in their hearts and souls. There are still locals who believe in werewolves, witches, the “woman in white”, “boi Tatá” and the “bicho da Orelha Mole”, legends passed down from generation to generation.

The locals preserve their ancestors’ traditions respecting and observing Saint Peter’s day, Our Lady of the Seafarers’ day, and the day of the Holy Spirit. They remember and sing the songs for the “boi de mamão”, which is something in between a pantomime horse and a Chinese dragon and is part of an allegorical tradition. They still dance the “pau de fita” dance, which is very similar to the English maypole dance.

The fishermen take great pride in caring for and decorating their brightly-painted fishing boats, visible evidence of the living traditions carried on by these “children of the sea”.

Other products of the locals’ traditional craftsmanship are handmade lace, dragnets and casting nets, bamboo wickerwork and home remedies.