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is a city in and the county seat of Tom Green County, Texas, United States, in West Central Texas. As of the 2000 census, the city has a total population of 88,439. It is the 28th largest city in Texas. The San Angelo metropolitan area consists of Tom Green and Irion counties and had a population of 108,085 according to 2007 Census estimates.
San Angelo is home to historic Fort Concho, Angelo State University and Goodfellow Air Force Base.
Some common aliases or nicknames of San Angelo Include The River City, The Concho City, The Pearl of the Conchos, The Oasis of West Texas or many residents refer to it as simply "Angelo".
In 1867 Fort Concho was established as one of a series of new forts designed to protect the frontier from hostile threats. The Fort was home to cavalry, infantry, and the famous Black Cavalry otherwise known as Buffalo Soldiers by Native Americans. The village of Santa Angela was established outside the fort at the juncture of the North, South, and Middle Concho rivers by Bartholomew J. DeWittand. He named the village after his wife Carolina Angela. The name would change to San Angelo in 1883 on the insistence of the United States Postal Service as the original name was considered grammatically incorrect. It soon became a center for farmers and settlers in the area as well as a fairly lawless area filled with brothels, saloons and gambling houses.
The town grew quickly in the 1880s after becoming the county seat and especially after the Santa Fe Railroad arrived in 1888 and the Kansas City, Mexico and Orient in 1909. Making it a central transportation hub for the region. The city saw further growth when a tuberculosis outbreak hit the United States in the early 1900's. Many felt the dry warm climate of San Angelo would benefit their health and came to the city for treatment.
In 1928 the city founded San Angelo College as a result of municipal election founding one of the regions first institutes of higher education. The city had been passed over by the State Legislature to be the home of what would become Texas Tech University. San Angelo College, one of the first municipal colleges has grown to become Angelo State University. The military returned to San Angelo during WWII with the founding of Goodfellow Air Force Base which was assigned to train pilots at the time. San Angelo grew exponentially during the oil boom of the 1900's when vast amounts of oil were found in the area and the city became a regional hub of the oil and gas industry