The Texas A&M– San Antonio Area Regional Center has a rich past with Native American history and connections to the San Antonio missions and Spanish and Mexican-era land grants. Among the many historic tracts of land in the area is one of the oldest ranches in Texas, the former JLC Ranch, which had been family-owned for more than 200 years since the original grantee, Don Juan Ignacio Perez de Casanova, a Canary Islander, began raising cattle on the land in 1794. The 2,000 plus acre property was sold to the Toyota Manufacturing Company in 2003. The Toyota Company donated 600 acres of the former ranch to the City of San Antonio to create green space along the Leon Creek and Medina River. Institutions, such as the Land Heritage Institute, serve to promote lifelong education for students of all ages by providing interactive experiences along the Medina River with historic, cultural and environmental landscapes to conserve and promote the uniqueness of the area. The Regional Center is named after its largest institution, Texas A&M University - San Antonio (A&M-SA), which was established in fall 2008, and today serves over 6,500 students.