The city of San Antonio today has evolved from a small Indian village nestled along the banks of a quiet, meandering river into a major metropolitan center that thrives on its culture and history. Spanish explorers and missionaries arrived at the village in 1691 on the feast day of St. Anthony and renamed it San Antonio de Padua. The missionaries set out to convert the native Americans to Christianity and introduce them to Spanish society.
The first of the five missions, the Alamo, was built in 1718 by the Spanish but it would also serve as a military post as would the other four missions. San Antonio's first real growth is often tied to a group of Canary Islanders who established the first civilian settlement and municipal government in the early 1730s.
Over the next century, the area would become known by other namesakes such as Villa de San Fernando and San Fernando de Bexar. In 1836, at the historic battle of the Alamo, San Fernando de Bexar was caught in the middle of Texas' fierce fight for independence from Mexico. A year later, the new Republic of Texas organized Bexar County and San Antonio was formally incorporated as its seat of government.
Following incorporation, a mayor-alderman form of government was established as the city's first administrative and legislative body, with each alderman representing one section of the city. Town council meetings were held in English and Spanish. Aldermen were replaced in 1915 with commissioners who were elected at-large. Voters adopted yet another City Charter in 1951 that replaced commissioners with a council-manager form of government, which is still used today.
City Council representatives were elected at-large until voters amended the charter in 1977 to elect members based on geographic districts, while the mayor is elected at-large. The most recent revision of the charter regarding term limits, occurred in 2008 when voters elected to limit the mayor and council representatives to four, two-year terms of office.
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Human Resources & Jobs
Welcome to the City of San Antonio's Economic Development Department (EDD) portal. We are excited to share with you a few highlights and links that will help you stay connected to economic development in San Antonio.
San Antonio enjoys a diverse industry portfolio that continues to strengthen and build upon the city's historic economic base. Once primarily steeped in military and hospitality industry investment, more diverse industry strengths have emerged in recent years, making San Antonio one of the most recession resistant economies in the country. Combining the global connections with a focus on jobs and investment this department seeks to create a globally competitive and internationally connected economic development environment that supports entrepreneurs and businesses of all sizes toward investment and job creation.
To make it easy and convenient to assist entrepreneurs and existing businesses, the International and Economic Development Department provides a full range of business services. The Small Business Division offices are located at 100 West Houston Street, Suite 1900. The Small Business Liaison is housed in the Cliff Morton Development and Business Services Center at 1901 S. Alamo, San Antonio, Texas 78204. The Small Business Liaison is your first stop for business assistance and an on-going resource as your business grows. Our Professional staff will meet with you to discuss permitting, licensing and regulatory issues. We'll provide initial counseling on the following issues: sources of capital, developing a business plan, marketing strategies, forms of business organization, government procurement and other vital topics. To receive a customized "Starting Your Business" guide call our office at (210) 207-3900 or request online.