[5][6] In 1872, Drummond acquired both a concession for a horse-drawn tramway line, the Companhia Ferro-Carril de Vila Isabel, and the lands of the Imperial Quinta do Macaco, better known as the Fazendo dos Macacos, owned by Empress Amélia, following the enactment of the Law of Free Birth (Lei do Ventre Livre) in 1871, the first timid step toward abolition of slavery in Brazil.

[5][7] The first line of the tramway ran from the centre of Rio de Janeiro to the gate of the Fazenda dos Macacos, and was inaugurated in 1873.

Sanitation and hygiene, coupled with progress, were the constant topic in Rio at the time, and Vila Isabel, with its flourishing farms and fruit trees, was a modern and pleasant neighbourhood hailed as charming and elegant.

An abolitionist and friend of prominent figures who shared his political ideals, Drummond gave the streets and squares of the development names and dates alluding to the cause.

[5][7] The neighbourhood hosted the first Rio de Janeiro Zoological Garden that opened in July 1888, and which was the birth place of the popular illegal gambling game, the jogo do bicho.

[8] In the case of Vila Isabel, possibly as a result of the construction of working-class areas near the factories, favelas only appeared in 1921, with Morro dos Macacos in the Serra do Engenho Novo.

[7][11] In the 1970s, the neighbourhood was seen as having residential real estate potential, as there was a scarcity of land in both the South Zone and Tijuca, as well as an increase in property prices.

[14] In 2024, attempts by CV bandits to invade the community intensified; at least 79 gunfights were recorded in Vila Isabel, most of which were caused by the war between rival gangs, and the samba school had to cancel street rehearsals for carnival.

The bold spatiality of the interior is remarkable and the high altar is shaped like the Massabielle grotto in Lourdes, where the Virgin Mary appeared.

In 1964, in preparation for the Fourth Centenary of Rio de Janeiro in 1965, architect Orlando Madalena, a resident of the neighbourhood, presented a project to resurface the pavement the sidewalks of the Boulevard 28 de Setembro with black and white Portuguese cobble stones, to honour Brazilian musicians, the names of their authors and musical instruments.

The first section, in front of the República Argentina Municipal School, has as its theme the song 'A voz do violão' (The guitar's voice), by Chico Viola, and was inaugurated in August 1964.

[23][24] The composition in bronze by Joás Pereira dos Passos is a reference to the samba Conversa de Botequim (Bar Banter), one of Noel's most famous songs.

[24] In 2019, the statue was removed and stored in a depot, but on 10 December 2021, at Rosa's 111th birthday, the bronze returned to the square, where he awaits his next companion for some banter.

This public school, designed by the architect Enéas Trigueiro Silva, and initiated during the term of Rio mayor Pedro Ernesto was inaugurated in 1935.

It was designed by the French architect Jacques Pilon (pt) who mostly worked in São Paulo and inaugurated in 1950 as part of the hospital network of the Health Department.

The hospital was named after the medical surgeon Pedro Ernesto, the populist progressive mayor of Rio de Janeiro in the mid-1930s.