In 1954 the rail line was closed and the area where Caminito is now became a landfill. Over the following three years, Argentine artist Benito Quinquela MartÃn who lived nearby,
painstakingly prepared the walls facing the abandoned street, applying pastel colors. Benito was a personal friend of Argentine tango composer Juan de Dios Filiberto,
who created a well-known 1926 tune by the same name.