Every weekend, thousands of people visit the bars, clubs, coffee shops, food trucks, restaurants, and entertainment venues that line St. Mary's Street west of U.S. Highway 281 and north of Interstate 35.

[6] By 1919, the streetcar reached the eastern edge of Tobin Hill, opening the doors to commercial development along St. Mary's Street and other north-south corridors touched by the city's public transportation system, such as San Pedro and McCullough.

[6] In spite of the decline of streetcar and its eventual disbandment in San Antonio in the 1930s,[7] North St. Mary's continued to thrive as a major northbound commercial corridor extending from the city's central business district, aided by the construction of I-35 between it and downtown in the 1950s.

[8][9] The St. Mary’s Strip experienced its famous first golden age during the 1980s and early 1990s, with an estimated 15,000 people attending an MTV block party hosted by Daisy Fuentes and another 12,000 coming out for a Halloween bash in late 1990.

[3] According to Texas Public Radio's David Martin Davies, who used to be a bartender for several establishments along the St. Mary’s Strip during that time, crime in the area was "sensationalized and blown out of proportion by the local media".