Tomohon has been written of in several historical records. One of them was found in the ethnographic works of Reverend Nicolaas Graafland, written on 14 January 1864. He described a heart-capturing country on the Minahasa highland in Northern Celebes ("Sulawesi") called Tomohon that he had visited in 1850. The development of civilization and the dynamics of development and social implementation from year to year made Tomohon one of the capital districts in the Minahasa regency. In the beginning, Tomohon was a district of the Toumbulu people located in northwestern Minahasa, which consists of Talete, Kamasi, Paslaten, Kolongan, and Matani. In 1880, the Sarongsong district was united into Tomohon, and Kakaskasen district was combined in 1908. In 1927, Tomohon was integrated into Manado as a distrct, and in 1935, Tombariri district was combined with Tomohon district under Manado. In 1945, Tomohon was separated from Manado and again became the Tomohon district with two subdistrict: Tomohon and Tombariri. During the "Permesta" between March 1956 and October 1961, some of the Tombariri was combined with Tomohon. In 1974–2003, Tomohon was a district under the Minahasa Regency.