[3] In 1609, seven Franciscan missionaries, led by Fray Blas Palomino, founded the settlement of Baler, which was later converted into a pueblo (town) by the Augustinians and the Recollects in 1658.

On December 27, 1735, a great storm came and a huge wave called tromba marina devastated the old town settlement, then located in Barrio Sabang.

Among the survivors were the Angaras, Bijasas, Bitongs, Lumasacs, Carrascos, and Pobletes who swam toward the nearby Ermita Hill.

[citation needed] On June 27, 1898, 15 days after the Philippine Declaration of Independence, 54 Spanish soldiers of the Baler garrison, under the command of Captain Enrique de las Morenas y Fossi, made San Luis Obispo de Tolosa Church, named in Spanish for Louis of Toulouse, their barracks.

It was supported by then President Manuel L. Quezon and enjoyed the collaboration of artists Fortunato Esoreña and Alejandro Ferreras and arnis expert Antonino Ramos.

Still alive today, it features a group of colorfully attired performers using authentic weapons, like swords and knives, in their plays.

The retreating Japanese troops destroyed the San Luis Obispo de Tolosa Church in Baler.

One obvious reason was the area's isolation from the rest of Quezon Province: there were no direct links to the rest of the province and much of the terrain was mountainous and heavily forested, which made the area relatively isolated, and its distance from Quezon's capital Lucena.

11957, also known as “An Act Recognizing the Municipality of Baler in the Province of Aurora as the ‘Birthplace of Philippine Surfing,” became law without President Bongbong Marcos’s signature.

Baler is located 231 kilometers (144 mi) northeast of Manila and is accessible by bus and private vehicles via a mountain pass.

It is host to spectacular geographic formations and is situated on a vast plain at the south end of Baler Bay, a contiguous segment of the Philippine Sea.

In 1896, a group of Ilocanos from Aringay, La Union came to settle in San Jose, now called Maria Aurora.