[4] While looking for an outlet to the Caribbean Sea, Joaquín Mora Fernández (not to be confused with the future president), conducted the first documented European explorations of the area.

[5] The first haciendas in the area are dated to January 19, 1663, when Joseph Sandoval Ocampo, among others, was given a farming and pasture concession from the capital city of Cartago.

[5] By the time Alajuela was founded in 1782, the present district of San Pedro, which were then collectively called Targuás or Targuases, are mentioned.

During a terrible rainy season in Santa Bárbara, Saint Barbara heard the prayers of the resident.

[6] Some of the early residents of Santa Bárbara include Ambrose Arias, Juan Cortez, Andres Murillo, Gregory Cuadra, Salvador Sanchez, Jose Maria Palma, Juan Bastos, Victorio Cortes, Joaquin Gutierrez, Jose Angel Sanchez, Jose Dolores Gonzalez and Diego Murillo.

The most infamous resident of Santa Bárbara, where he was born and later died, was Beltrán Dalay Cortés Carvajal.

[2] The elongated canton begins midway between the cities of Alajuela and Heredia, where the Segundo River marks its southern boundary.

The Santa Bárbara cantón is constructed largely of volcanic rock from the Holocene Period of the Cenozoic Era.

[6] The canton has one of the highest standards of living in country as determined by the Human Development Index.

The municipality recently funded a professional athletics team led by Edrey Campos with over 300 active students and formal equipment.

Beginning in 1943, Club Sport Barbareño represented Santa Bárbara in the first division of the national soccer league.

It currently plays in the third division at the Carlos Alvarado Villalobos Stadium in Santa Bárbara, which holds 1,500 spectators.

[16][17] ASBAVOL players regularly join the Costa Rica women's national volleyball team.