The City of San Marcos is found in Hays County.
Hays County(established 1848) is named after John C “Jack” Hays. “Born in Tennessee, Hays arrived in Texas in 1836, where he served as Ranger, Surveyor, Soldier, and Explorer. He was named Captain of the Rangers at age 23.” – Plaque on bronze statue on the town square. Founded on the banks of the San Marcos River, the area is believed to be “among the oldest continuously inhabited sites in the the Americas.”
More of the history of San Marcos can be learned from this Wikipedia site.
San Marcos is quickly and quietly becoming a very artsy type of town. Walking the downtown area, color surprises can be found in alleyways and behind buildings. Many of the murals are commissioned through the Mural Arts program for which applications can be found on this link. Not only will visitors find large scale murals such as this one of veterans on the Corridor Title Company building, but also
those that individual building owners allow to be painted on the sides of their buildings. Here I found this Turkey portrait being painted in the alleyway between the Stinky Dawg and a Zumba business.
Hidden among the buildings are mini murals also commissioned through the Mural Arts Program. Unfortunately I didn’t have the time to find the mini-murals scattered throughout the downtown area. but I was able to find the following, including the paintings of the side of the Restrooms at the Children’s Park on N C M Allen Pkwy.
If you have a few hours to spend, explore the town and locate some of the murals I photographed.Click here to view some of these 50 images.
As I had mentioned on my home page, almost any type of surface can be used to display art within a community. San Marcos is no exception. Click here to see the mermaids I have photographed or click on the San Marcos Mermaid Website to read about this beautiful project.