 Today part of the site is protected within the campus of the "Escuela de Agricultura de la Región Tropical Húmeda" or EARTH University.Las Mercedes was first discovered in 1871 during the construction of the railroad to the Caribbean Sea from the Costa Rican Central Valley, as it was directly in the path of railroad construction.Minor C. Keith, the American commissioned to construct the railroad (and the principle founder of the United Fruit Company), came across a gold artifact at Las Mercedes.