Historical records show that Bacolor has been in existence as a proposed settlement as early as 1571, the same year Manila was founded by the Spanish.

Simón de Anda organized an army of natives for the defense of Bacolor and with the aim of recapturing Manila.

[9] Bacolor remained the capital of Pampanga until the provincial seat of government was transferred to neighboring San Fernando in 1904.

Moves to transfer the provincial capital to San Fernando actually began as early as 1852 with an expediente from the alcalde mayor.

Pampanga was acknowledged as the first province to have organized civil government in the Philippines by General Grant, the then President of the United States of America.

Pampangan guerrillas and Hukbalahap Communist groups joined in an insurgency centered around the municipality of Bacolor, supported by local soldiers and military officers of the Philippine Commonwealth Army.

[12] Due to the eruption of Mount Pinatubo on June 15, 1991, the municipality was hit by lahar flows from 1991 to 1995 which buried the town by 20 feet (6.1 m), killing hundreds of people and destroying livelihood.

The sunken church and town of Bacolor served as the main production location of the 2009–2010 ABS-CBN and 2013 Jeepney TV religious-oriented television series May Bukas Pa from January 15, 2009 to February 5, 2010 (with the show's uncut airing version where a deleted scene of the finale episode was aired from March 11 to December 5, 2013).

[27] Bacolor's festivals are the Feast of San Guillermo and Nuestra Senora del Santissimo Rosario (La Naval) which are celebrated every 10th day of February and 3rd Sunday of November, respectively.

Buried by the devastating lahar flows of Mount Pinatubo eruption in June 1991, the Archdiocesan Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes of Cabetican (abbreviated as "Maluca"), now more popularly known as the Sunken Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes of Cabetican, remains at the center of the Marian Concordia Pilgrimages and Healing in Pampanga.