San Angelo is the county seat of Tom Green County and is situated in West Central Texas. The population is estimated to be approximately 92,147, with the San Angelo metropolitan area having a population of about 108,085. Situated within the city of San Angelo are several unique landmarks, like Good Fellow Air Force Base, Angelo State University and the historic Fort Concho. San Angelo has some nicknames including The River City, The Concho City, The Pearl of the Conchos, and The Oasis of West Texas.
Fort Concho was initially founded in the year 1867 as a one of a series of new forts created to prevent hostile threats from penetrating the border. There were several troops stationed there, including cavalry, infantry, in addition to the Black Cavalry. Bartholomew J. DeWitt established Santa Angela, a tiny community situated outside the fort by the North and South Concho rivers. The community was named after his wife, Carolina Angela, but was ultimately renamed to San Angela. During 1883, the United States Postal Service insisted that the name be changed to San Angelo as San Angela was grammatically incorrect. The area is recognized in history as a ruthless, rude, and relatively unruly township with many brothels, saloons and gambling houses.
San Angelo is presently known as being the best place for small companies to establish themselves. One of the strongest industries for employment within the city of San Angelo is telecommunication. The largest call center within the world is located here and is run by the company Sitel. Verizon, DCS, and Blue Cross are also key employers, each hiring over a thousand individuals locally. West Central Texas also relies on the city of San Angelo as the regional medical center. More than 3,000 people are working at Community Medical Center and Shannon Medical Center, that provides services all over West Central Texas.
Though the manufacturing industry has suffered a major decrease in profit since the 1990's a few big companies still remain. These include Conner Steel, Ethicon, a division of Johnson & Johnson, and Hirschfield Steel & Martifer, which is a Portuguese conglomerate and wind-turbine tower manufacturing plant.
Agriculture remains among the city's biggest and strongest businesses. The San Angelo's Producer's Livestock Auction is one of the nations biggest sheep and lamb auctions. Though most agriculture labor is done outside of San Angelo, several thousands of people are working in processing plants and agriculture supporting roles. The Texas A&M Texas Agrilife Research and Extension Center at San Angelo and the Angelo State University Management Instruction and Research Center are agricultural research centers situated in San Angelo.
The Goodfellow Air Force Base is the region's largest employer. Other key institutional employers in San Angelo consist of Angelo State University and the Shannon Medical Center.