Editing San Marcos, Texas (section)

==History==
[[Image:Old map-San Marcos-1881.jpg|thumb|left|San Marcos in 1881]]
[[File:Texas - San Marcos - NARA - 68149814 (cropped).jpg|thumb|left|San Marcos in 1936]]
Archeologists have found evidence at the San Marcos River associated with the [[Clovis culture]], which suggests that the river has been the site of human habitation for more than 10,000 years.  The San Marcos Springs are the third-largest collection of springs in Texas. Never in recorded history has the river run dry.

In 1689, Spaniard [[Alonso de León]] led an expedition from Mexico to explore Texas and establish missions and [[presidios]] in the region. De León's party helped blaze the ''Camino Real'' (later known as the [[Old San Antonio Road]]), which followed present-day Hunter Road, Hopkins Street, and Aquarena Springs Drive (the route later shifted four miles to the south; it is now followed by County Road 266, known locally as Old Bastrop Highway). De León's party reached the river on April 25, the feast day of St. Mark the Evangelist; the river was thus named the San Marcos.<ref name="NRBrochure">[https://web.archive.org/web/20060222110441/http://www.ci.san-marcos.tx.us/departments/mainstreet/docs/2003%20National%20Register%20brochure.pdf San Marcos Historic Downtown National Register District, "San Marcos--A Brief History"].</ref><ref>[http://www.toursanmarcos.com/story.htm Convention & Visitor Bureau: San Marcos, Texas] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080515063448/http://www.toursanmarcos.com/story.htm |date=May 15, 2008 }} Retrieved on 2008-02-23.</ref>

In 1803, after the Louisiana purchase, the Spanish government in Mexico became concerned about American citizens moving into Texas. Officials decided to establish more Spanish settlements between San Antonio de Béxar and Nacogdoches in an effort to secure Spanish presence in the area. The governor of the province of Texas, Manuel Antonio Cordero y Bustamante, approached his friend Felipe Roque de la Portilla to organize and oversee the venture. In 1807, after extracting promises from Cordero that he would receive a substantial land grant and that the government would assist the settlers financially, Portilla headed for Texas with a small group of settlers. The exact number has been disputed; some suggest that only ten persons were in the original group, while other sources say the number was as high as fifty-two. There is also some conflict in records as to whether Portilla's family was in the original group or whether they arrived in the fall of 1808. Most sources agree the group arrived at the San Marcos River on January 6, 1808. In April Governor Cordero issued the official order that established San Marcos de Neve, and his military representative, Juan Ygnacio de Arrambide, issued thirteen titles to town lots. Disaster struck the settlers in June, when a flood washed them out of their homes. Throughout the summer and fall the settlers rebuilt their town. In letters to government officials, Portilla reported that he left the colony in September 1808 to get more settlers and returned with six new families in late October. While there are no other records to confirm the increase, Portilla's census of 1809 did show a total of seventy-three persons and 1,771 animals. Over the next three years, the settlers made a valiant effort to maintain their new homes, but frequent Indian raids and the failure of the government to send soldiers for protection forced them to abandon the settlement in 1812..<ref>{{cite web|url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hvs21|title=SAN MARCOS DE NEVE|first=GREENE, DANIEL|last=P.|date=15 June 2010|website=www.tshaonline.org|access-date=3 May 2017}}</ref>  The settlers were plagued by floods and [[Native Americans in the United States|Indian]] raids, and the settlement was abandoned in 1812.<ref>[http://www.texascaminoreal.com/mission.htm Spanish Colonial Missions, Villas (towns) and Presidios (forts) Along the Camino Real: starting in Mexico] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100124173630/http://www.texascaminoreal.com/mission.htm |date=2010-01-24 }} Retrieved on 2008-12-16.</ref>

In November 1846, the first Anglo-American settlers moved into the vicinity of the San Marcos Springs.  The [[Texas Legislature]] organized Hays County on March 1, 1848, and designated San Marcos as the county seat.  In 1851, a town center was laid out about a mile southwest of the headwaters of the river.  The town became a center for [[Cotton gin|ginning]] and [[Mill (grinding)|milling]] local [[Agriculture|agricultural]] products.  The town's most notable founder and early settler was Gen. [[Edward Burleson]], a hero of the [[Texas Revolution]] and former vice president of the [[Republic of Texas]].  Burleson built a dam on the upper reaches of the river in 1849.  The dam powered several mills, including one within present-day [[Sewell Park]].


In the decade following the arrival of the [[International-Great Northern Railroad]] on September 30, 1880,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/143708096/|title=It has come!|date=October 2, 1880|work=San Marcos Free Press|access-date=February 10, 2020}}</ref> [[cattle]] and [[cotton]] provided the basis for the growth of San Marcos as a center for commerce and transportation.

In 1866, the Coronal Institute was established as an early private high school.<ref>{{Cite book|title = History of Coronal Institute|last = Walling|first = Herschel|publisher = San Marcos, Tex. : Hays County Historical and Genealogical Society|year = 1991}}</ref> In 1899, Southwest Texas State Normal School (now known as Texas State University) was established as a teacher's college to meet demand for public school teachers in Texas. In 1907, the San Marcos Baptist Academy was established,<ref>[http://www.smba.org/about_us.htm About Us - San Marcos Baptist Academy<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120216034326/http://www.smba.org/about_us.htm |date=February 16, 2012 }}.</ref> furthering education as an important industry for the town. The demands of World War II forced the town's industry to diversify, and with the emergence of a manufacturing and light industrial sector, the town began to experience growth.

In the late 1940s, former Hollywood director Shadrack Graham produced a documentary about daily life in San Marcos as part of his "Our Hometown" series of films that encouraged commerce and civic activity in small communities. The film highlights several local businesses from the era, including Smith's Flowers, Waldrin's Cleaners, Lack's Furniture, and the Palace Movie Theater.<ref>{{cite web|title=Our Home Town|url=http://www.texasarchive.org/library/index.php?title=Our_Home_Town&gsearch=our%20home%20town|publisher=Texas Archive of the Moving Image|access-date=28 July 2011|author=Shadrack Graham|year=c. 1949|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140801161346/http://www.texasarchive.org/library/index.php?title=Our_Home_Town&gsearch=our%20home%20town|archive-date=1 August 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[Gary Air Force Base]], just east of town, was opened in 1942 as San Marcos Army Airfield, renamed San Marcos Air Force Base in 1947, and renamed finally in 1953 in honor of Lieutenant Arthur Edward Gary, killed at [[Clark Field]] in the [[Philippines]] on December 7, 1941, the first San Martian to die in World War II.  During the war, the base trained over 10,000 [[navigator]]s, and in the following years was the largest center of Air Force and Army helicopter training for pilots and mechanics in the United States, with 21 squadrons and 4800 personnel stationed there.  The base was handed over to the Army in 1956, renamed Camp Gary, and was closed in 1963.  Subsequently, part of the base was taken over by the city for use as [[San Marcos Airport]], while another part was reopened in 1966 as the Gary [[Job Corps]] Center.<ref>[https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/qcg02 Shirley Ratisseau, "Gary Air Force Base," Handbook of Texas Online, accessed May 26, 2013. Published by the Texas State Historical Association], retrieved 29 May 2013.</ref>

In the 1960s, with the establishment of Aquarena Springs<ref>[http://www.aquarena.txstate.edu/About-Us/History.html History : Aquarena Center : Texas State University<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091217195604/http://www.aquarena.txstate.edu/About-Us/History.html |date=December 17, 2009 }}.</ref> and [[Wonder World (Texas)|Wonder World]]<ref>[http://www.wonderworldpark.com/html/attractions.html Wonder World Park Attractions<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090826084104/http://www.wonderworldpark.com/html/attractions.html |date=August 26, 2009 }}.</ref> as attractions, the tourist industry became a growing part of the city's economy. By the 1960s, what was then named Southwest Texas State University had grown into an important regional institution,<ref>[https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/kct56 Handbook of Texas Online - TEXAS STATE UNIVERSITY<!-- Bot generated title -->].</ref> and when coupled with the creation of Gary Job Corps Training Center in 1965,<ref>[http://gary.jobcorps.gov/history.htm Gary Job Corps Center-History<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090207103239/http://gary.jobcorps.gov/history.htm |date=2009-02-07 }}.</ref> education became the largest industry in San Marcos.<ref>[https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hes02 Handbook of Texas Online - SAN MARCOS, TX<!-- Bot generated title -->].</ref> The remarkable growth explosion of Austin further allowed San Marcos to prosper.

By 1973, San Marcos and Hays County were included by the U. S. Census Bureau in the [[Greater Austin|Austin metropolitan statistical area]].<ref>[https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hch11 Handbook of Texas Online - HAYS COUNTY<!-- Bot generated title -->].</ref> By that year, the city's population had grown to 25,000 citizens, along with an additional Southwest Texas State University student body of 20,000.

By 1990, the city's population had grown to 28,743, by 2000, it reached 34,733, and by 2010, it was 44,894. A report, released by the U.S. Census Bureau in May 2013, stated that San Marcos had the highest rate of growth among all U.S. cities and towns with at least 50,000 people. Its population rose 6.9% between 2011 and 2012.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20130601215521/http://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/population/cb13-94.html U.S. Census Bureau - Texas Cities Lead Nation in Population Growth, Census Bureau Reports<!-- Bot generated title -->].</ref> The university, now known as Texas State University, boasts a student body of 34,225.<ref>[http://www.txstate.edu/about/index.html About Texas State : Texas State University<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140212143933/http://www.txstate.edu/about/index.html |date=2014-02-12 }}.</ref>

In 1991, protestors advocating for legalization of marijuana conducted a civil disobedience action and were arrested; they became known as the [[San Marcos Seven]].<ref name="NYT">{{cite web | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/04/10/us/san-marcos-journal-a-move-for-marijuana-where-the-60-s-survive.html | title=San Marcos Journal; A Move for Marijuana Where the 60's Survive | work=[[The New York Times]] | date=April 10, 1991}}</ref><ref name="Observer">{{cite web | url=http://www.dallasobserver.com/news/joint-effort-6392736 | title=Joint Effort | work=[[Dallas Observer]] | date=March 22, 2001 | author=Donald, Mark|quote=In 1991, he was one of the "San Marcos 7": a protest in which one person a day for seven days walked into the Hays County Jail smoking a joint and asking to be arrested.}}</ref>