For most of its history, the region was called "El Despoblado"; that means a region without any population, because it is a very dry region and
agriculture was not possible. When the
governor of the
Spanish colony gave the order in 1606 that everybody living on the northern coast had to move inland, some people came to live around the present Mao. They had
cattle that were raised in
hatos. "Hato" means a large
farm for raising cattle (a
ranch), and so the names of many places around Mao derive from the word: Hatico, Hato del Yaque, Hato Nuevo, Hato Viejo, Hato del Medio. The town of Mao was built close to where the River Mao flows into the River
Yaque del Norte. The first
Catholic church was built in 1869. The town was made a
Puesto Cantonal (an old category similar to the present
Municipal District under a
military government). Mao was elevated to the category of
municipality in 1882, and in 1904 its official name was changed to "Valverde" after
José Desiderio Valverde, former President of the Dominican Republic. Because the name Mao was known by everybody and Valverde was a new name, people called the city "Valverde (Mao)", and it is still common to say so. When the province was created in 1959, Mao was made its head municipality and
provincial capital. ==Santa Cruz de Mao city==