San Antonio, the County Seat of Bexar County, grew out of San Antonio de Béxar Presidio, founded in 1718, and the villa of San Fernando de Béxar, chartered by Canary Islanders in 1731. San Antonio de Béxar became the capital of Spanish Texas in 1778. Important battles fought there during the Texas Revolution were the Siege of Bexar in December 1835, and the Battle of the Alamo, 6 March 1836. Once the largest city in Texas, San Antonio was surpassed in population by Houston and Dallas by 1930, and has remained third largest since this time. It is the ninth largest city in the country with a population in 2000 of 1,144,646.

Learn more about San Antonio from the Handbood of Texas Online