San Antonio Texas History

The area around San Antonio was established in the early 1700’s. Its early history centers around several Spanish missions built during that period. The most famous of these missions, the Alamo, served as a fortress in the Texas Revolution at the Battle of the Alamo.

Centrally located between the settlements of Texas and the interior of Mexico, San Antonio was an important trading center throughout the eighteenth and much of the nineteenth centuries. In was located on the Old San Antonio Road that connected Mexico with Nacogdoches in east Texas.


One of Texas’ most picturesque cities, San Antonio today boasts numerous tourist attractions including the scenic River Walk, Brackenridge Park, the Buckhorn museum, and of course the Alamo and four other old Spanish missions.


Note: A brief history and photographs of each of San Antonio’s five early Spanish missions can be viewed at The Five Spanish Missions of Old San Antonio.

About Lyman

Lyman Hardeman has held a deep interest in Texas history. He spent his youth in College Station, Texas and received a degree in Electrical Engineering at Texas A&M in 1966. In 1995, Lyman created Lone Star Junction, a popular Texas history website that later merged with TexasProud.com. Lyman is a life member of the Texas State Historical Association and the author of Texas A&M The First 25 Years.