The county of Bexar was named after San Antonio de Bexar, one of the 23 Mexican municipalities (administrative divisions) of Texas at the time of its independence. San Antonio de Bexar (originally Villa de San Fernando de Bexar) was the first civil government established by the Spanish in the province of Texas. It was created in 1731 when 55 canaries settled near the mission system that had been set up around the source of the San Antonio River. The settlement was named after the Presidio of San Antonio de Béjar, a Spanish military post that protected the missions.
The prison, located in the San Pedro springs, was founded in 1718 and was named after Viceroy Balthasar Manuel de Zúñiga y Guzmán Sotomayor y Sarmiento, second son of the Duke of Béjar (a city in Spain). The modern city of San Antonio, in the U. S. state of Texas, also takes its name from San Antonio de Béjar. Bexar County was established on December 20, 1836 and encompassed almost all of the western part of the Republic of Texas.
This marked a major milestone in the county's history and set it on a path to becoming one of the most important political centers in Texas. The Texas State Seal inspired both the Bexar County Seal and its Coat of Arms. In recent years, Bexar County has seen a shift in its political landscape. According to Jacque Callanen, elections administrator for Bexar County, this change is smaller than that seen in counties along the border but is still heading in the same direction. This is largely due to changes in the nation's political climate and an increase in Latino voters who have shifted their political alignment away from traditional Democratic voting patterns. Cassy Garcia and Trish DeBerry are two examples of people who have run for office in Bexar County.
Garcia ran for Texas's 28th Congressional District, which encompasses Bexar County, while DeBerry ran a campaign to elect a Bexar County executive who didn't have a majority of votes. Orlando Sanchez, founder of the Texas Latino Conservatives, has donated to both DeBerry and Marc LaHood's campaign for Bexar County District Attorney. The impressive increase in Latino voters who voted for Republican President Donald Trump in the Rio Grande Valley is also evident in Bexar County, although to a lesser extent. If Republicans continue to gain ground in these Latino communities, analysts say they have the potential to change the national political landscape in a similar way as white working-class voters flocked to Reagan's Republican coalition. Lucy Adame-Clark is the current Bexar County Clerk and can be contacted at Central Department of Civil Archives, 100 Dolorosa, Suite 104, San Antonio, Texas 78205. For information on how to obtain a marriage license, contact the Bexar County Clerk's Office at (2) 335-2221 or visit their website for more information.
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