Timeline of San Antonio

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of San Antonio, Texas, United States.

18th century

 * 1718 – San Antonio founded by Martín de Alarcón.
 * 1718 – Mission San Antonio de Valero founded.
 * 1720 – Mission San Jose founded.
 * 1722 – Presidio San Antonio de Bexar built.
 * 1731 – Juan Leal Goraz becomes first mayor.
 * 1750 – Church of San Fernando completed.
 * 1782 – Mission San Jose building constructed.

19th century

 * 1811 – January 22: Juan Baptista de Las Casas, a retired captain from Nuevo Santander, along with several revolutionaries buoyed by the successes of Hidalgo's army in Guanajuato, march into town and arrest the Governors Herrera and Salcedo. Spain stops sending money for troops.
 * 1813 – August: Battle of Medina occurs near town.
 * 1821 – San Antonio becomes part of the Mexican Empire.
 * 1835 - Oct 12 - Dec 11: Siege of Béxar
 * 1836 – February 23 – March 6: Battle of the Alamo.
 * 1837 – John William Smith becomes mayor.
 * 1840 – March 19: Council House Fight.
 * 1842 – September 17: Battle of Salado Creek occurs near town.
 * 1845 – San Antonio becomes part of the new U.S. state of Texas.
 * 1849 – Cholera epidemic.
 * 1852 – St. Mary's Institute founded.
 * 1853 – Public schools established.
 * 1860 – Population: 8,235.
 * 1865
 * U.S. Army Fort Sam Houston established.
 * Juneteenth is an American holiday that commemorates the June 19, 1865 announcement of the abolition of slavery in the U.S. state of Texas.
 * San Antonio Express newspaper begins publication.
 * 1868 – Frost Bank established.
 * 1871 – Mount Zion Baptist Church founded.
 * 1872 – Alamo Literary Society formed.
 * 1874 – Catholic Diocese of San Antonio and Temple Beth-El congregation founded.
 * 1875 – Sociedad Benevolencia Mexicana founded.
 * 1878 – Railroad begins operating.
 * 1880 – Population: 20,550.
 * 1881 – Evening Light newspaper begins publication.
 * 1883 – San Antonio Brewing Company in business.
 * 1884
 * March 11: Vaudeville Theater Ambush.
 * Societa Italiana di Mutuo Soccorso founded.
 * 1885
 * Scholz's Palm Garden in business.
 * Alamo City Commercial College established.
 * 1890 – Population: 37,673.
 * 1891 – Battle of Flowers festival begins.
 * 1891 – The San Antonio Fire Department established.
 * 1894 – Peacock Military College established.
 * 1896
 * Buckhorn Saloon and Gebhardt's Chili Powder Company in business.
 * Bexar County Courthouse built.
 * 1897 – Ella Austin Orphanage established.
 * 1898 – Woman's Club of San Antonio founded.
 * 1899 – Brackenridge Park created.
 * 1900
 * Incarnate Word Academy for females established.
 * Population: 53,321.

1900s–1940s



 * 1903 – San Antonio Public Library established.
 * 1910 – Population: 96,614.
 * 1912 – Alamo Methodist Church built.
 * 1914 – San Antonio Zoo founded.
 * 1914 - River Park (predecessor to the River Walk) is completed.
 * 1917 – U.S. Army Kelly Air Force Base established.
 * 1918
 * U.S. Army Brooks Air Force Base established.
 * San Antonio Evening News begins publication.
 * 1920 – Population: 161,379.
 * 1921 – September 1921 San Antonio floods.
 * 1922 – WOAI radio begins broadcasting.
 * 1924 – San Antonio Conservation Society formed.
 * 1925 – San Antonio Junior College founded.
 * 1926
 * Aztec Theater opens.
 * Witte Museum and Texas Cavaliers established.
 * 1927 – KONO radio begins broadcasting.
 * 1928 – Air conditioning installed in hi-rise Milam Building.
 * 1930 – Population: 231,542.
 * 1931 – U.S. Army Randolph Air Force Base begins operating.
 * 1932 – Frito Company in business.
 * 1933 – Earl Abel's restaurant in business.
 * 1937
 * San Antonio Housing Authority established.
 * Station Hospital rebuilt.
 * 1938
 * Pecan-sheller labor strike.
 * Ciculo Social Femenino Mexicano founded.
 * 1939
 * WPA construction begins on Robert H.H. Hugman's vision to transform River Park to Spanish-Style shops of Aragon and Romula.
 * 1940
 * Alamo Stadium built.
 * Hertzberg Circus Museum established.
 * Population: 253,854.
 * 1941
 * U.S. military Lackland Air Force Base, Broadway National Bank, and San Jose Mission National Historic Site established.
 * Mi Tierra restaurant in business.
 * The San Antonio River Walk is completed
 * 1946
 * Brooke Army Medical Center active.
 * Casa Rio restaurant in business.
 * 1947
 * Jim's eatery and Josephine Theatre in business.
 * Southwest Research Institute headquartered in city.
 * 1948 – Sultanas de Bejar (women's group) formed.
 * 1949 – WOAI-TV (television) begins broadcasting.

1950s–1990s

 * 1950
 * Free port and Stock Show and Rodeo established.
 * KENS-TV (television) begins broadcasting.
 * Population: 408,442.
 * 1958 – Fiesta Noche del Rio begins.
 * 1960 – Population: 587,718.
 * 1961 – Henry B. Gonzalez becomes U.S. representative for Texas's 20th congressional district.
 * 1968
 * Tower of the Americas erected.
 * HemisFair Arena opens.
 * HemisFair '68 held.
 * Institute of Texan Cultures established.
 * Hilton Palacio del Rio hotel in business.
 * 1969 – Paseo Del Rio Association formed.
 * 1970 – Population: 654,153.
 * 1972 – Texas Folklife Festival begins.
 * 1973 – San Antonio Spurs basketball team active.
 * 1975 – Lila Cockrell elected Mayor, San Antonio's first woman mayor.
 * 1978 – City passes ordinance creating VIA Metropolitan Transit Authority, the public transport system for San Antonio.
 * 1980
 * San Antonio Botanical Garden opens.
 * Annual Tejano Music Awards begin.
 * Area of city: 263.5 square miles.
 * San Antonio Food Bank active (approximate date).
 * Population: 785,880.
 * In 1980, Texas was the first state to establish Juneteenth as a state holiday under legislation introduced by freshman Democratic state representative Al Edwards.
 * 1981
 * San Antonio Museum of Art established.
 * Hyatt Regency San Antonio hotel in business.
 * Henry Cisneros becomes mayor.
 * 1987 – Lamar S. Smith becomes U.S. representative for Texas's 21st congressional district.
 * 1988 – SeaWorld in business.
 * 1990 – Population: 935,933.
 * 1991 – Nelson W. Wolff becomes mayor.
 * 1992 – Fiesta Texas in business.
 * 1995
 * City website online (approximate date).
 * Artpace founded.
 * New San Antonio Public Library's central library opens.
 * 1997 – 55th World Science Fiction Convention held.
 * 2000
 * Bahá'í Center of San Antonio founded.
 * Population: 1,144,646.

21st century

 * 2001 – Gurudwara Sikh Center of San Antonio founded.
 * 2005 – Municipal Archives established.
 * 2007 – Port Authority of San Antonio founded.
 * 2008 – Spurs Community Garden created.
 * 2009 – San Antonio mayoral election, 2009 held; Julian Castro (2014 head of HUD) becomes mayor.
 * NOWCastSA community news begins publication.
 * 2010
 * Population: city 1,327,407; metro 2,142,508; megaregion 19,728,244.
 * Area of city: 460.93 square miles.
 * 2011 – Population: 1,359,758; metro 2,194,927.
 * 2013
 * BiblioTech public library opens.
 * Population: 1,409,019.
 * Joaquin Castro becomes U.S. representative for Texas's 20th congressional district.
 * 2014 – Ivy Taylor becomes first African-American female mayor of San Antonio.
 * 2015 – May: San Antonio mayoral election, 2015, held.
 * 2018
 * April: Baboons escape from Texas Biomedical Research Institute.
 * San Antonio celebrates the Tricentennial anniversary of its founding.
 * 2022 – June: At least 46 people are found dead inside a tractor-trailer in San Antonio.

Published in the 20th century

 * Charles W. Ramsdell, San Antonio: A Historical and Pictorial Guide (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1959).
 * T. R. Fehrenbach, The San Antonio Story (Tulsa, Oklahoma: Continental Heritage Press, 1978)
 * Tejano Religion and Ethnicity, San Antonio, 1821–1860
 * Charles W. Ramsdell, San Antonio: A Historical and Pictorial Guide (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1959).
 * T. R. Fehrenbach, The San Antonio Story (Tulsa, Oklahoma: Continental Heritage Press, 1978)
 * Tejano Religion and Ethnicity, San Antonio, 1821–1860
 * Charles W. Ramsdell, San Antonio: A Historical and Pictorial Guide (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1959).
 * T. R. Fehrenbach, The San Antonio Story (Tulsa, Oklahoma: Continental Heritage Press, 1978)
 * Tejano Religion and Ethnicity, San Antonio, 1821–1860
 * T. R. Fehrenbach, The San Antonio Story (Tulsa, Oklahoma: Continental Heritage Press, 1978)
 * Tejano Religion and Ethnicity, San Antonio, 1821–1860
 * Tejano Religion and Ethnicity, San Antonio, 1821–1860
 * Tejano Religion and Ethnicity, San Antonio, 1821–1860
 * Tejano Religion and Ethnicity, San Antonio, 1821–1860