The history of this settlement began with the arrival of the Spanish to the northern coast of what would eventually become Venezuela.
In 1780, the Christian Mission of Pozuelos (English: small wells) was founded by indigenous natives.
On 9 April 1862, a group of 26 families from Margarita Island decided to settle in Pozuelos Bay. As time progressed, this settlement adopted the Virgen del Amparo (English: Virgin of Amparo) and the Holy Cross (Spanish: Santa Cruz) as their religious symbols, celebrating their patron saint on 8 November (Spanish:Dia de la Virgen del Amparo) and iconography on 3 May (Spanish: Dia de la Santa Cruz).
By 1868 the first church was built, and slowly the name of the town was changed to Puerto de la Santa Cruz (English: Port of the Holy Cross), later shortened to Puerto La Cruz
