Franciscan University

The first inhabitants of Santa Maria were the Minuano Indigenous People, who lived in a region of the municipality known as Coxilha do Pau Fincado, and the Tapes, who lived in the hills.

With the arrival of Spanish and Portuguese colonizers this border region was witness to innumerable battles between rival groups. Finally, in 1797 the border between the two colonies was established by a commission (1ª Subdivisão da Comissão Demarcadora de Limites da América dat lit Meridional). This commission set up camp on the site of present-day Santa Maria.

The camp was known as Acampamento de Santa Maria, later adding Boca do Monte to the name. 1828 saw the arrival of the 28th Battalion of Foreigners, made up of hired Germans to fight against the inhabitants of present-day Uruguay in the Cisplatine War. After the war many of the soldiers decided to stay in Santa Maria, beginning the cycle of German colonization. In 1857, Santa Maria was separated from Cachoeira do Sul and elevated to town (vila) status. The municipality was created on 16 December 1857 and installed on 17 May 1858.

Republican period

The city went through some turbulence during the republican period. During the 1893 Federalist Revolt, the city was taken by a battalion of revolutionaries, and during the 1923 revolution, Clarestino Bento attacked the barracks in the region, without success, and with the loss of 4 men and 7 injured, the last confrontation with deaths of the revolution. In 1926, soldiers from the 5th Horse Artillery Regiment and the 7th Infantry Regiment rebelled under the leadership of their lieutenants, firing cannons on the city and attacking the 1st Cavalry Regiment with around 700 men. The Military Brigade clashed with the rebels, which lasted about two days, which defeated the rebel forces. The day would become known in the city as "Bombing Day".

Since 1910, the city is the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Santa Maria, and annually hosts an important Roman Catholic festival dedicated to Nossa Senhora Medianeira, called "Romaria da Medianeira" (Medianeira or Mediatrix is a name of Our Lady that was created in Venice, Italy). Every year, hundreds of thousands of people from all over Brazil join in the celebrations.

Due to its strategic geographical location, Santa Maria has a large military force, including the Santa Maria Air Force Base of the Brazilian Air Force, which houses four units, and the 3rd Army Division of the Southern Military Command. In 2011, the German defence company KraussMaffei closed a deal to renovate old tanks and produce new ones for the Brazilian Army, opening a factory in Santa Maria. This earned the city its new nickname, "Armoured Capital" (from Portuguese: Capital dos Blindados).

On 27 January 2013, a fire broke out in the ''Kiss" nightclub during a band performance, due to misuse of pyrotechnics, which got in direct contact with the acoustic foam used in the club. In total, 242 people died due to suffocation or trampling while trying to escape, or of complication in days and months following the event. It has been reported that as many as 1,500 people were in the nightclub when the fire broke out.