[2] In the 16th century, during a tempestuous and dark night, a ship returning from Brazil, loaded with wood, shipwrecked along the southern coast of Pico.

By 1680, a religious parish of São Sebastião da Calheta had already existed for some time (although the date of the community's settlement remains unclear).

It was Father Manuel Alvernaz, a citizen of Prainha do Norte, who help found the Cooperativa Progresso Calhetense a benevolent group dedicated to economic growth and assisting their members in the eastern municipality, and parish.

Around 1927, Father Manuel Alvernaz became the confessor in Santa Cruz da Graciosa, and left the Cooperative, starting a slow decline that would finally see it close down in the following years.

In addition, the ubiquitous religious celebration of the Holy Spirit, occurs at Calheta de Nesquim's império and chapel during the Sunday and Monday of Pentecosts.

This rivalry would remain bitter as the Lira Fraternal Calhetense was directed by João Ávial de Melo, and would persist until the 1940s when few musicians and financial difficulties would force the integration of both bands.