In its early days, the town of Nombre de Dios began as a Franciscan mission. This religious order arrived in the region in 1555, and it later became a Spanish settlement, founded in 1562 by Francisco de Ibarra. The town's urban layout follows an orthogonal pattern, influenced by the arrangement of the irrigation canals, which not only supplied water from the permanent springs located at the Hacienda de San Antonio de Juana Guerra but also served as the urban axes.

The first Spanish settlers in Nombre de Dios cultivated irrigated wheat and raised cattle primarily to supply, along with other agricultural estates in the Valley of Poanas, the mining centers of Avino, San Martín, and Sombrerete. This gave the site notable importance.

The most notable architectural structure in Nombre de Dios is the Parish of San Pedro Apóstol, which dates back to 1720 and was likely built by the master mason José de la Cruz. In the same century, due to the growing devotion to the Virgin of Guadalupe in the region, the Sanctuary of the Virgin of Guadalupe was constructed. The Temple of Jesús Nazareno, located in the Michoacanos neighborhood, was built in the mid-18th century and houses a large painting of souls, as well as several Christ figures made from sugar cane paste. During the restoration of the temple in 2006, two mural paintings of a Via Crucis were discovered behind the painting of souls. These are some of the few examples of this type of artwork in the northern part of the country.