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| San Antonio is the second-largest city in the state
of Texas and the seventh largest city in the United States. Located
in South Texas, the city is a cultural gateway into the American
Southwest. San Antonio is the seat of Bexar County with a population
of 1,328,984 as of the 2007 U.S. Census estimate, as well as the 4th
fastest growing large city in the nation from 2000-2006 in terms of
percentage. Its metropolitan area
has approximately 2 million people and is the 28th-largest
metropolitan area in the U.S. San Antonio was named for the Portuguese Saint Anthony, whose feast day is on (June 13) when a Spanish expedition stopped in the area in 1691. The city has a strong military presence—it is home to Fort Sam Houston, Lackland Air Force Base, Randolph Air Force Base, and Brooks City-Base, with Camp Bullis and Camp Stanley right outside the city. Furthermore, Kelly Air Force Base (now Port San Antonio) operated out of San Antonio until 2001, when the airfield was transferred over to Lackland AFB and the remaining portions of the base became an industrial/business park. The decision to close Kelly and consolidate its resources came from the 1995 BRAC. San Antonio is also home to the South Texas Medical Center, the only medical research and care provider in the South Texas region. Famous for its River Walk, the Alamo, Tejano culture, and home to the SeaWorld San Antonio and Six Flags Fiesta Texas theme parks, the city is visited by 26 million tourists per year according to the San Antonio Convention and Visitors Bureau. San Antonio is also home to the first museum of modern art in Texas—the Marion Koogler McNay Art Museum, as well as one of the more successful National Basketball Association teams in league history, the San Antonio Spurs. History Native Americans originally lived in the San Antonio River valley in the San Pedro Springs area, calling the vicinity "Yanaguana," meaning "refreshing waters." In 1536, Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, a shipwrecked captive of Native Americans, visited the interior of what would later be called Texas. He saw and described the river later to be named the San Antonio. In 1691, a group of Spanish explorers and missionaries came upon the river and Native American settlement (located in the area of present-day La Villita) on June 13, the feast day of Saint Anthony of Padova, Italy, and named the place and river "San Antonio" in his honor. In 1716, The Spanish Council of War approved a site on the San Antonio River for construction of a fortified presidio (fort). The Domingo Ramón expedition, accompanied by the trader St. Denis from Louisiana (who had come to the site two years previous) established a presidio on the river. In 1718, the Mission of San Francisco de Solano was moved from the Rio Grande to merge with Mission San Antonio de Padua. Father Olivares renamed his merged mission Mission San Antonio de Valero. The presidio, the villa and the mission comprised the municipality named San Antonio de los Llanos (of the Plains) by Governor Alarcón. One year later, in 1719, Mission San Antonio moved to its second site on the east bank near the present day St. Joseph's Church on Commerce. In 1721, The Marquis de Aguayo moved the presidio San Antonio de Béjar to its present site on the Plaza de Armas, where permanent quarters were constructed for the soldiers. In 1726 the official settlement population was 200, including 45 military and their families. The Mission San Antonio was moved to its third and final site on Alamo Plaza in 1724 because of hurricane flooding at the previous location. The Battle of the Alamo took place in 1836, and eventually the town would grow to encompass the mission where the battle took place, a mile to the east. This was where 189 defenders, both Mexicans and settlers, were besieged in the old mission against 4,000 Mexican troops led by Antonio López de Santa Anna for 13 days. The defenders were all killed in the final assault on the garrison. The cry "Remember the Alamo" became the rallying point of the Texas Revolution. Texas independence was finally attained at the subsequent Battle of San Jacinto the following April. Like many municipalities in the American Southwest, San Antonio experiences a steady population growth. The city's population has nearly doubled in 35 years, from just over 650,000 in the 1970 census to an estimated 1.2 million in 2005. The city has also grown substantially in area. Unlike most large cities in the U.S., San Antonio is not completely surrounded by independent suburban cities, and under Texas law exercises extraterritorial jurisdiction over much of the surrounding unincorporated land, including directing growth and zoning. This is the reason the city is the 7th largest in the U.S. but its metropolitan area is just 29th largest. Nearly three-fourths of its current land area has been annexed since 1960. In recent years, the city has annexed several long narrow corridors along major thoroughfares to facilitate eventual annexation of growth developing along the routes. The city plans to annex nearly forty additional square miles by 2009. The Alamo is a shrine and museum located in the heart of downtown, and is surrounded by many hotels and tourist attractions. It is clearly San Antonio's most well-known landmark, and is featured in its flag and seal and in the city's nickname, "Alamo City." Also right by the Alamo is the world famous Crockett Hotel. It is named after the legendary pioneer Davy Crockett. |
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