The name of Encruzilhada [Crossroads] is due to the fact that it was where the trains coming from Recife, Beberibe and Olinda whistled and crossed. In 1915, the trains were replaced by electric trams of Pernambuco Tramways.

The Massangana Sugarcane Mill and Plantation goes back to the beginning of the Portuguese colonisation period in the 16th century. Situated on the banks of the Ipojuca River, in the Pernambuco municipality of Cabo de Santo Agostinho, approximately 40 kilometres from Recife.

​​​​​​​The Quilombo dos Palmares was begun by runaway slaves, mainly from the Pernambuco sugarcane plantations, who initially gathered together about 70 kilometres west of the Pernambuco coastline, in Serra da Barriga (Belly Range), a place of dense palm tree forests.