It was built by the Spanish in 1644 to protect the town from Muslim raids and Dutch piracy in the country during the Eighty Years' War.

In 1582, Spanish chronicler Miguel de Loarca visited Romblon and conducted the first census of the islands.

With Spain's involvement in the Eighty Years' War beginning in 1568, these missions and settlements soon became vulnerable to piracy by the Dutch East India Company.

In Romblon, the construction of fortifications was supervised by Augustinian Recollect priest Agustin de San Pedro, also known as "El Padre Capitan".

The fort is quadrilateral in shape, with four turrets on each corner, and has a total area of 290 square metres (3,100 sq ft).

The restoration, which involved the restoration and replacement of missing coral stone in both interior and exterior walls, the removal of earth fill at the interior chamber and the provision of drainage system, the reinforcement of the wall foundation, rehabilitation of the remaining two turrets, rehabilitation of the top section of the fort, and rip rapping around the fort to prevent soil erosion, was funded through a ₱2 million grant from the agency.