[13] Bueno da Fonseca, his sons and other explorers, settled in the rivers Capivari and Grande region by 1720[14] or 1721,[15] where they were engaged in the search for gold and in the opening of new roads to the Goiás mines.

In 1737 the explorers receive from the Governor Martinho de Mendonça an allotment letter confirming their region occupation, which grew through agriculture and livestock.

[20] Local demographics has been modified with the arrival of many immigrants, representing 1.9% of the population according to Census 1920: the municipality had a total of 806 foreigners, of which 380 were Italian, 189 were Portuguese, 166 Lebanese, 28 Spaniards, 20 Americans, 12 Austrians, five French, two Russians, one Uruguayan and three of undetermined nationality.

[21] The 1920s represented a slowdown in Lavras progress, partly caused by the intense political dispute promoted by two distinct groups: the Mineiro Republican Party, under the new direction of Italian doctor Paulo Menicucci, was favorable to the candidacy of Artur Bernardes to the Presidency and Raul Soares to the Presidency of Minas Gerais; and dissidents, led by Colonel Pedro Sales, supported the respective opposition candidacies of Nilo Peçanha and Francisco Sales.

[22] On the populist period during the Fourth Republic, Lavras development was signaled by new links with major centers: firstly, it was the inauguration of air transport line, that existed between 1947 and 1960;[23][24] secondly was the Lavras-Fernão Dias patch opening to road traffic in 1962.

Chroniclers of the time remember several initiatives such as balls, competitions, exhibitions, educational events, theatrical performances, music recitals and poetry, friendly football tournaments and also the formation of a public library and a city museum.

[18] In the early 1960s, while the country experienced a period of serious institutional crises, Lavras suffered a series of attacks made by a pyromaniac, in which several historical houses were consumed by the flames.

In this context, in 1962 the local authorities decided the Municipal Theatre demolition, sealing the end of civic organizations and city's cultural decay.

Another sign of the municipality weakening was the lack of political representation, which would be broken fourteen years later with the election of Maurício Souza Pádua to the Legislative Assembly of Minas Gerais in 1983.

On the eve of the 21st century, Lavras resumed its development path, being currently one of the most prosperous cities in the region, claiming in 2010 the second highest HDI in southern Minas Gerais.

[26] This progress is the result of a number of factors, mainly: the installation of the industrial district, which has brought several factories, such as COFAP, inaugurated in February 1988, generating many jobs;[27] the transformation of ESAL into the Federal University of Lavras, in December 1994,[28] whose recent expansion brought thousands of students from other regions of Brazil;[29][30] and the construction of the Funil Hydroelectric Plant in 2002, which changed the countryside by the dam's formed lake.

Lavras is home of Fabril Esporte Clube, a football club that achieved minor success during the 1980s in Minas Gerais state championship.

Some famous athletes were born in Lavras, as the Brazil national football team defenders Alemão and Caçapa and the Bronze medal Olympic winner volleyball player Ana Paula Connelly.