The history of San Antonio, Texas, United States is a timeline of events that have shaped Bexar County. In 1844, two cyclists, Methodist John Wesley DeVilbiss and Presbyterian John McCullough, founded the first Protestant churches in the area. To obtain a marriage license, contact the Bexar County Clerk's Office at (2) 335-2221 or visit their website for more information. Unlike many other parts of Texas, slaves had a minor role in Bexar County's economy.
The population almost doubled between 1870 and 1880, from 16,043 to 30,470. In 1824, Texas and Coahuila were united in a single state with the capital in Saltillo; a Department of Bexar was created with a political leader who had authority over the Texan part of the state. Bexar County is bordered to the north by Kendall and Comal Counties, to the east by Guadalupe and Wilson Counties, to the south by Atascosa County, and to the west by Medina and Bandera Counties. The Cibolo Creek forms the border between Bexar and Comal Counties in the north and Guadalupe in the east.
In 2002, Bexar County had 2,385 farms and ranches covering 441,206 acres. The San Antonio Arsenal opened in 1858 and, in 1878, the city ceded ninety acres to the federal government to build what would eventually become Fort Sam Houston. After the secularization of the missions between 1793 and 1794, they gradually became satellite civil communities under the authority of Bexar. Bexar County ranked 53rd among counties in Texas in agricultural income, with 61 percent coming from livestock and livestock products. At that time, people established another Somerset in southern Bexar County, and the original settlement became known as Old Somerset. In 1820, Bexar had about 2,000 inhabitants with slightly more women than men.
Las Casas was captured in Chihuahua and executed; his head was salted and sent in a box to Bexar for display in an attempt to dissuade others from supporting his cause. The county is crossed by the Balcones escarpment. For more information on notable Baptist historical figures or events in Bexar County, contact Lucy Adame-Clark at Central Civil Archives Department 100 Dolorosa Suite 104 San Antonio Texas 78205.
