The founding of the nucleus which gave birth to Planaltina is attributed to José Gomes Rabelo, a rancher who transferred from the former capital of the Province of Goiás, to a small lake called Lagoa Bonita, later extending his land to the dwelling known as "Mestre D'armas". A chapel was erected to pay homage to Saint Sebastian, who had supposedly spared the settlers from an epidemic that attacked them at the time. Dona Marta Carlos Alarcão ordered a wooden statue of the saint from Portugal, which was later substituted for a larger one when the church was expanded.