"El Alto"("The High One") was later added in honor of those who died in the Cristero War in the early 1920s.

In November 1824 the State Congress ruled that the village of Atotonilco hereafter would have the title of town, and would also be the head of the department which includes Arandas and Ayotlán.

On May 15, 1868, the governor of Jalisco, Antonio Gómez Cuervo, elevated the status of Atotonilco to a city, which it retains to this day.

It was remodeled in the mid-1920s and now it houses a stone statue of St. Michael Archangel the Patron Saint of Atotonilco.

It also has several sheds with tables and chairs made out of stone, dressing rooms, and a playground for young children to play.