vidigal was named after major miguel nunes vidigal - one of the early owners of the land on which it is located in the mid 1800s - he was an officer of the original guarda real de polícia (king's police force, later transformed into the rio de janeiro's military police). In his time he was a very influential, powerful and for some also feared man. Nevertheless, he did not develop the land at that time.
a possible story about the origin of the settlement of vidigal is that it was a place for illegal slave trade at the end of the 19th century. The land near the newly built Avenida Niemeyer was acquired by Dr. Armstrong at the beginning of the 20th century and it was him who initiated the settlement of the area.
The infrastructure of the settlement continually failed to keep up with the population growth and was deficient in water, light, sewage and transportation for many years following. vidigal was eventually formally recognized as a neighborhood in 1981.
