The influence of mining activity in the northwest of the Colombian Andes was expressed in the creation and development of different towns such as the La Ferrería village in Amagá, in the formation of the working-class culture and the definitive modeling of the natural and social structures of the region. With a look at the history of the transformations that occurred, this work aims to demonstrate how mining development changed a territory that, despite the closure of projects such as the Amagá Ferrería and the Industrial Hullera, still retains its distinctive features.