It sits on a strategic point at the north of Itaparica Island on a site used for whaling in the early 17th century.

The Dutch, under Siegsmundt Van Schkoppe, established a small earthwork fortification in 1647 at the Ponta da Baleia.

Miguel Pereira da Costa, a military officer from Portugal, arrived in Brazil in 1710 and identified the northern point of Itaparica as a strategic location to protect the Bay of All Saints; the point protected both the Bay in general, and small boats from the Recôncavo region in the interior of Bahia that supplied Salvador with much of its trade.

Pereira da Costa appealed to Lourenço de Almeida, governor, for funds to complete the fortification.

The French invasion of Rio de Janeiro in 1711 spurred the Portuguese to fund the project on the site of the Dutch fortification.

Sancho de Faro, governor of Brazil, inspected the fort and its military works in 1719.

[2][3] The Forte de São Lourenço played an important role in the Brazilian struggle for independence.

[4][2] Forte de São Lourenço faces a broad beach on the north of the Island of Itaparica.