New time-lapse video delivers crash course in San Antonio history – San Antonio Express-News

New time-lapse video delivers crash course in San Antonio history  San Antonio Express-News

San Antonians have no excuse for forgetting key local events after a YouTube channel recently posted an animated video chronicling 308 years of the city's history. The 18-minute video — released last week by the account ChronoCity, which posts 3D time-lapses of different metros — span's the Alamo City's history from the construction of the first missions to the San Antonio Spurs' return to the NBA Finals this year. The video documents the city's historic touchstones from 1718 to 2026, as upbeat music plays with the occasional interruption of the pop of gunfire or celebratory cheers. ALSO READ: Texans speak differently on the phone based on where they live, study finds The video begins with the construction of the Mission San Antonio de Valero in its original site when only 70 people were included in the city's population count.

Next appears Texas' first civil town, Villa de Béxar, founded by 16 families in 1731. The video zooms out when panning between the missions as they were erected, separated by expanses of green interrupted by the occasional river. As time moves on, more buildings dot the landscape, and increasingly large structures rise from the ground. By the time Mexicans took Béxar from Spain, roads connect the buildings and homes around the Alamo, and the population ticks up to 2,500. The Battle