It was founded on 12 September 1852 by Don Carlos Catalá as the town of San Eugenio del Cuareim.

It was renamed Artigas and its status was elevated from villa (town) to ciudad (city) on 31 August 1915.

[1] Artigas is a centre for trading grain crops (primarily maize) with Argentina and Brazil.

The hills in the area contain significant numbers of precious stones, especially agate and amethyst, which were first found in 1860, since when mining has taken place.

In respect of it being 'the site of world-class amethyst deposits, where the largest amethyst-filled giant geodes were ever found', the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) included the 'Deposits of Amethyst of Los Catalanes Gemological District' in its assemblage of 100 'geological heritage sites' around the world in a listing published in October 2022.