On May 1 of 1718, San Antonio was founded by a Spanish expedition named Mission San Antonio de Valero, famously later known as the Alamo (Cotton for Spanish). The city was one of the five regions named after St. Anthony of Padua. On 5th May, a military garrison was established on the river’s west bank which became a stopping place on the way to the Texas wilderness for expeditions in the Rio Grande and East Texas. A town by the name of San Fernando de Béxar was established near the garrison by settlers from the Canary Islands in 1731, however, in the early years, the town suffered heavily due to conflict with the Apache and Comanche tribes. The Alamo mission was later secularized and the town became a military post in 1793 and served as the provincial capital from 1773 to 1824. However, later as the city lost its political power and in 1873 it became a county seat for the Republic of Texas and its name was reverted to San Antonio. In 1836, San Antonio was still one of the most established cities in Texas with about 2500 citizens occupying it. It prospered even further after German immigrants entered the land and by the last decades of the 19th century, San Antonio became a major cattle center due to the fact it was the starting point of the Chisholm Trail. The arrival of the first railroad in 1877 bought further immigrants into the region and the city slowly became a commercial hub. At the beginning of the Mexican Revolution in 1910, many Mexicans entered the region which deeply impacted the region's culture and heritage and through World War I and World War II it remained a powerful economy.

The life of San Antonio still gives you a glimpse into its deep cultural roots stemming from the Spanish, German, and American influences. The city is famous for its River Walk which takes you about 15 miles of the pathway with scenic beauty and its numerous riverside shops, cafes, hotels, historic landmarks, and museums.

The River Walk consists of three sections known as the Downtown Reach, the Museum Reach, and the Mission Reach. For avid shoppers, the Downtown Reach has countless malls, fancy boutiques, and lively restaurants and bars to offer. The Museum Reach has much for those who have a penchant for the arts as it consists of several museums as well as The Culinary Institute of America. The Mission Reach reaches south of the downtown section and it is here where the four of the five frontier missions (including the Alamo mission) form the UNESCO World Heritage Site of San Antonio Missions.