On 1624 the highest authority of the province of San Salvador, Mayor Pedro de Aguilar Lazo de la Vega, embarked upon the mission of destroying the uprising in the mountain of “El Marquesado.” Enslaved Africans of the Zacatecoluca and Apastepe haciendas, who were active in the struggle against slavery, fled from their masters and called a general uprising. Anton Largo, who had been the slave of Diego Martin from Cerro el Viejo, was the leader of this uprising. The mountain of El Marquesado in which there was a settlement of runaway slaves was surrounded and attacked by Spanish soldiers who gained access and captured prisoners. Eleven years after the uprising of El Marquesado, colonial authorities founded San Vicente, as a settlement for Spanish and Creole families devoted to the production of indigo blue.

Around the town of San Vicente there are a number of camps for indigo blue production. During colonial times the indigo blue haciendas did not devote themselves exclusively to the plantation of xiquilite, actually there were forests, grazing lands and maize fields that were tilled by farmers or tenants. Thus, the indigo blue haciendas in El Salvador not only produced indigo for foreign trade, but also food for the local markets.

The working conditions in these indigo blue camps represented a health risk for the workers, since the waters and waste created an unhealthy environment making the population vulnerable to plagues and contagious infectious diseases. As a result the indigenous populations were banned from working in the indigo haciendas in 1563, and instead Africans and Afro-descendants were employed in great numbers. Towards 1740 the Village of San Vicente de Austria had a workforce of two thousand and three hundred mulattos, who served in the militias, as in the cities of San Miguel and San Salvador.

At present there are a number of indigo camps around the city of San Vicente, which were part of the large haciendas during colonial times. Staggered basins used in the cooking or soaking, in the thrashing, and the drying of the dye can be seen in the remains of the camps. The hydraulic works include also a ditch were the waterwheel used to be. This cultural landscape includes those of the Hacienda Tehuacan (also known as San Andrés, Opico or de Angulo). Today it is the property of the Salvadoran State and it is protected by the declaration of archaeological site.  

The temple of Our Lady of El Pilar, whose construction started on1762, may be found at the centre of San Vicente. On March 4, 1838 the mortal remains of the Salvadoran Liberator Jose Simeon Cañas were buried inside this church. The church was declared National Monument on February 1953.