The settlement was founded in 1219 by four tribes of Chichimecas who came from the west, worshipped Huitzilopochtli, and fought in the xochiyaotl with the inhabitants of Zacatlán and Tlaxcala.

[1] The remains of Hacienda de Taxcantla, the trenches across the Rio Apulco bridge, the two campaign cannons taken from the Austro-Hungarian Corps in downtown Tetela, and the oral local history tradition of its people still remember us about the great heroism of the Sierra Norte native people during the French Intervention war.

[citation needed] Nowadays, there is a local museum called Museo de Los Tres Juanes which displays a number of artifacts ranging from the Pre-Columbian up to the Mexican Revolution periods.

[citation needed] The Parish of Nuestra Señora de la Asunción was built in 1808 and is the tallest building in the town.

Inside if the Los Tres Juanes Museum, named in honor of the three generals from here who fought against the French in Battle of Puebla.