1. San Antonio is big. Like, really big.
In fact, its the second-biggest city in Texas. By area, its twice the size of Chicago. With a population of over 1.4 million, its the seventh-largest city-proper in the country and is gaining on all six above it. This isnt some second-tier cowboy outpost its a major metropolitan hub.
2. Were home to the first modern art museum in the Southwest.
The McNay Art Museum brought modern art to Texas in 1954, when Marion Koogler McNay, an art teacher and heiress to an oil fortune, donated her San Antonio mansion to the art cause. These days, its home to works from some of the best artists of all time, like Picasso and Georgia OKeeffe. Then theres the awesome local art which you probably wont find at MoMA like the contemporary Latino prints and Southwest art collections. All in all, there are now some 20,000 works at the McNay.
3. We really know how to keep it cool.
San Antonians know a thing or two about heatwhich prompted us to learn about cold. In 1928, the 21-story Milam Building in downtown San Antonio became the first air-conditioned high-rise in the US. The AC system kept temperatures to 80 degrees, a welcome relief for all those workers doingwhatever people did in offices decades before the first desktop computers. But we didnt stop with office buildings San Antonio is home to countrys first air-conditioned bank, hotel, and Catholic Church. And did we mention the creator of Gatorade was from San Antonio?
4. San Antonio holds a world record for tamale making.
If youve been to South Texas, youre probably familiar with our thing for tamales. Yes, theyre a staple Mexican food, and yes, were totally obsessed with them. So obsessed, in fact, that a local high school made 17,106 tamales thats 2,420 pounds in 10 hours during a tamalada. This put the Alamo City in the pages of the Guinness World Records,though the officials did have to create a new category: Most Tamales Made in a 12-hour Period.
5. We turned a brewery into an art museum.
The San Antonio Museum of Art, which opened in 1981 in the old Lone Star Brewery complex, may not serve up local brews, but its collection of 30,000+ objects spanning 5,000 years will probably quench a different kind of thirst. Even the building itself is impressive, dating to 1884.
6. You can thank us for Shaq.
Shaquille ONeal, star of Kazaam (oh right, and also 15-time NBA All-Star), went to Robert G. Cole High School in San Antonio. There, the skinny, nearly 7-foot-tall teenager led his team to a 36-0 state championship record in 1989 (they had a 68-1 record over two years). He also still holds the state record for number of rebounds in a season, with 791. In 2014, Shaq came back to the Texas state basketball tournament for a reunion with his former high school teammates, still towering over them like he did 25 years ago.
7. San Antonio hosts a parade with floatsthat actually float.
Photo: U.S. Army Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps
Every year the Texas Cavaliers River Parade takes the term parade float and interprets it literally. More than 40 barges packed with musicians and sparkling decorations float down the San Antonio River with hundreds of thousands of people watching from the footpaths of the River Walk. The event is just one of many extravaganzas that occur every April during Fiesta, the biggest party youve never heard of.
8. Were home to one of the top-ranked theaters in the world.
The Tobin Center for the Performing Arts and its state-of-the art sound system and design attract the big names think Paul McCartney and Meghan Trainor. With its main 1,738-seat performance hall, an intimate studio theater, and an awesome outdoor performance plaza, the Tobin has been ranked as one of the top 100 theaters in the world of its size.
9. The San Antonio Missions are the only UNESCO World Heritage Site in Texas.
San Antonio Missions National Historical Park is home to four of the citys five Spanish missions outposts that date back to the 17th century. Along with the iconic Alamo, they were selected for UNESCO designation in 2015 after a successful campaign by city and state officials. The Missions were chosen for their interweaving of Spanish and Coahuiltecan cultures. Today, theyre pretty much at the top of any San Antonio visitors to-do list the Alamo alone attracts over 2.5 millions visitors every year.
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