The original inhabitants were Popoloca speakers, under the Aztec Triple Alliance. Friar Juan de Rivas founded a small congregation in 1539 as part of the Spanish colonization, and in 1750 construction began on "Iglesia del Divino Salvador" (Church of the Divine Savior). In 1779 it became a town, and on 15 April 1930, it was declared a municipality under the governorship of Leonides Andrew Almazán.