San Marcos, Texas, permanently settled in 1846, was founded by former members of John C. Hays's company of Texas Rangers. The town was designated the county seat of Hays County by the Texas legislature in 1848 and was formally laid out in 1851. A center for local commerce associated with cattle and cotton production, San Marcos became an educational center with the chartering in 1899 and subsequent opening in 1903 of the Southwest Texas State Normal...