The city of Gonaïves was founded around 1422 by a group of Taíno, who named it Gonaibo (to designate a locality of cacicat of the Jaragua).

In the early 2000s, Gonaïves was the scene of substantial rioting and violence motivated primarily by opposition to President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, and on February 5, 2004, a group calling itself the Revolutionary Artibonite Resistance Front seized control of the city, starting the 2004 Haïtian rebellion.

Four years later, the city was again devastated by another storm, Hurricane Hanna, which killed 529 people, mostly in flooded sections of Gonaïves, where the destruction was described as "catastrophic" and 495 bodies were discovered as late as September 5.

[5][6] In 2020, President Jovenel Moïse skipped a traditional visit to Gonaïves during a climate of violence.

According to local media, an armed group targeted Prime Minister Ariel Henry's visit on 1 January 2022, resulting in one death and two injuries.