Vision SMTX Comprehensive Plan Adopted 2024

A COMMUNITY-BASED VISION

HISTORY OF SAN MARCOS The first census of Hays County, the 1850 Federal Census, listed 387 individuals “in or about” San Marcos. Based on the 2022 Census Estimates, the city’s population is approximately 72,000 in 2023. The population grew by approximately 50% between the 2010 US Census and the 2020 US Census from 44,894 residents to 67,553. San Marcos lies at the heart of one of the fastest growing regions in the country and the US Census named Hays County as the fastest growing county in the U.S. with 53% growth from 2010-2020. San Marcos was named fastest growing city in the United States several times during the last decade. Understanding how and why San Marcos has grown over time and why it has grown so quickly in recent years is significant in determining how it will grow in the future. Archaeological evidence indicates that people have inhabited the area around San Marcos Springs for over 12,000 years. Fertile soils, a constant water supply, and abundant game provided the setting for what is likely the oldest continually occupied site in North America. Artifacts discovered at San Marcos Springs indicate that the Clovis culture Native Americans were the first inhabitants of the area. They were followed in later years by the Tonkawa, Lipan, Apache, and Comanche Native Americans. Native American tribes and Spanish settlers still struggled for control of the area at the turn of the 19th century; long after Spanish explorer Alfonso De Leon had named the San Marcos River on April 25, 1689 (Saint

Mark’s Day). The City of San Marcos was founded in 1844 by General Edward Burleson, and the original San Marcos streets were laid out seven years later. The permanence of the town was secured with the extension of the International and Great Northern Railroads through San Marcos in 1880, and the charter of Southwest Texas State Normal School (now Texas State University) in 1899. Five years later, the San Marcos Baptist Academy began operation on what is now the western end of the Texas State University campus. The tourism industry began in 1928 with the construction of the Spring Lake Hotel by A. B. Rogers near the headwaters of the San Marcos River. The first glass bottom boat, designed to give visitors a chance to “view the beautiful marine garden” in Spring Lake, began operation in 1947. Texas State University’s acquisition

Kissing Alley, 121 E Hopkins Street

12

SAN MARCOS COMPREHENSIVE PLAN 2024