Transcribing the works of Father [Gaspar Frutuoso], Francisco Gomes documented the arrival of the crew of the nau Nossa Senhor da Misericórida.

He included Gaspar Frutuoso's 1589 reference, described the growing urban area of Santa Cruz as a "well divided and plane villa" covered in thatched roofs.

Ponta Delgada, he continued, was a parish of 30 neighbours surrounding its small hermitage (dedicated to Santo Amaro, even as its ecclesiastical patron since the 16th century was the apostle Peter).

A primitive church, dating to the 16th century and constructed in 1627, by vicar Inácio Coelho, who in 1641 also provided land for the founding of the Franciscan Convent of São Boaventura, as well as the bread and wine for religious ceremonies.

It was about this time that the third oldest of the parishes was created by the Diocese in Angra, on 9 July 1693: Nossa Senhora do Pilar, delimited by the ravines of Barrosas (in the north) and Alagoa (in the south).

About the same time, José António de Sousa Bettencourt, a natural and property-owner from the island of Graciosa, began constructing a hermitage in the area of Caveira, that was consecrated on 22 December 1763, to the invocation of the Sainted Souls of the Flames of Purgatory (Portuguese: Almas Santas do Fogo do Purgatório).

This continued until 1833 and 1834, when the little settlement of Caveira was transformed into a parish, thereby obtaining the patron of Benditas Almas (Blessed Souls), from 1954 on the invocation of Nossa Senhora do Livramento (Our Lady of Freedom)).

Poverty was a general condition, and the Donatários of the island (first the Fonsecas, later the Counts of Santa Cruz and finally Pedro José Caupers) subjugated the populace as serfs.

The park is home to a small spawning program for trout, provides sites for picnicking, location of deer pens and an abundance of endemic plant species.

[5] Santa Cruz das Flores has a humid subtropical climate (Cfa) with very mild, rainy winters and warm to hot summers.

This included many improvements and expansion of roadways, provision of electrical, water and sanitary services, as well as the construction of new subdivisions (such as the Loteamento da Terça) and beautification programs.