The municipality is located in the historic region of the Carrizal Valley which used to be part of the Valle de las Salinas of the former New Kingdom of León.

Santa Helena during the Spanish colonial period had exhaustive battles against the nomadic Native Americans who were exterminated because of their cruelty and frequent raids against the Spanish settlements in the region, primarily perpetuated by the Cuanales and Aiguales, both of Coahuiltecan origin who inhabited the Salinas Valley.

In the early years of the 19th century the Cuanales and Aiguales were almost extinct but the war still continued with the subsequent Comanche invasions from Texas to sack towns, mostly in northern Nuevo León during much of the 19th century, by 1840, one of the most intense battles took place in Santa Helena, between the Comanche and the New Leonese Army led by general Mariano Arista, who achieved important victories against them.

On March 2, 1863 the Nuevo León state congress issued a decree by then governor of the state, Santiago Vidaurri, in which the hacienda of Santa Helena was separated from the Carrizal Valley, created as municipality and renamed as the General Zuazua village, in honor of General Juan Zuazua Esparza, hero of the war of reform.

In 1875, the Santa Elena church was finally built and by 1979 was restored, bringing it back its original architecture.