The city was known as Vila dos Americanos (Americans' Village) until 1904. It became a district in 1924 and a municipality in 1953.
Americana has several museums and touristic atractions, such as the Pedagogic Historical Museum about slavery and the cotton weaving, and the Contemporary Art Museum.
Social equity and environmental politics in Brazil: lessons from the rubber tappers of Acre.
Fuelwood in Colonial Brazil: The Economic Consequences of Fuel Depletion for the Bahian Reconcavo, 1549-1820.
Analyzes the problems of tropical deforestation by a comparative analysis of postwar rainforest policies in Brazil and Costa Rica and evaluates the impact of environmental destruction for short-term economic gain, utilizing Richard Rose's methodology for assessing long-range consequences from his Lesson-Drawing in Public Policy (1993).