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Texas State University was established by the 26th Legislature in 1899 as the Southwest Texas State Normal School; 313 pupils were enrolled in 1903-04, the first year classes were held.

The school name changed to Southwest Texas State Normal College in 1918, to Southwest Texas State Teachers College in 1925, to Southwest Texas State College in 1959, to Southwest Texas State University in 1969, to Texas State University-San Marcos in 2003, and to Texas State University in 2013.

Aquarena Springs was an amusement park in San Marcos, Texas, located on Spring Lake. It was started by Arthur Birch Rogers who bought 126 acres of land in 1926 with the intention of building a resort. The Rogers Spring Lake Resort Hotel opened in 1929. During the Great Depression, the building and facilities were sublet and became the Spring Lake Sanitarium and eventually turned into the Brown Training School, a private institution caring for mentally ill children, from 1940 to 1960. Arthur’s son Paul J. Rogers became interested with the idea of putting glass bottom boats on Spring Lake in the late 1940s. After a small prototype in 1946, the first official glass bottom boat tour was on August 10, 1947. The tours grew to such a success that Paul Rogers started to plan an expansion. In 1950, Rogers opened Aquarena and continued to add attractions such as the Skyride, Texana Village, and the world's only submarine theater with aquamaids, Glurpo the Clown, and of course, Ralph the Swimming Pig. They also moved historical buildings to the north shore to create a walk-through garden. When the Rogers took over the hotel building once more, they reopened it as the Aquarena Springs Motor Hotel in 1961.

Although popular in the mid-century, guests declined in the 1970s probably due to the rising cost and shortage of gas, as well as competition from larger theme parks. The Paul J. Rogers Trust sold the property in 1985 to Baugh/Moore I Joint Venture, which continued to run the theme park. The park changed hands again in 1994 when Southwest Texas State University purchased the land. The University ran the park for a short time but soon shifted focus to the preservation and restoration of Spring Lake’s environment. The University kept the glass bottom boat in operation but started to remove many of the attractions to restore Spring Lake in order to protect the San Marcos river water head and the many unique species that live there.

The original hatchery was located near the headwaters of the San Marcos River and was the first warm water hatchery west of the Mississippi River. The hatchery opened in the mid-1890's and for over 60 years the hatchery mission was the production and development of efficient cultural techniques of warm water sport fishes. The original hatchery was later donated to Texas State University in the 1960s. Texas State University in turn donated the 116 acres of land south of San Marcos for a new facility.