The History of Pflugerville Texas

Pflugerville, Texas, a suburb of Austin, located in Travisjust outside of Pflugerville and as a result over the
and Williamson counties was founded in the 1800s. Itnext two decades the population of Pflugerville
went through periods of growth, rapid decline, anddoubled from 250 to 500. During this time, Pflugerville
finally resurgence. It successfully fought annexationbuilt a thriving Main Street, despite the fact that most
from Austin and is now its own municipality and suburb.residents did the majority of their business and
The namesake of the town, Henry Pfluger, Senior,shopping in the town of Round Rock, located 8 miles
was a German immigrant and one-time wealthyto the northwest.
farmer. However, while still in Germany, Pflueger lostThe railroad attracted a lot of businesses to the area,
his fortune and found himself in financial ruin. Thewhich in turn attracted a lot more settlers. The first
Prussian War caused all of Pflueger's land to be takenbusiness to land in the area was a steam powered
from him. Pflueger fled Germany and immigrated tocotton gin which attracted cotton farmers from around
the Texas area. With his final $1600 he purchased 160the county. Later an ice factory was built beside the
acres of land 2 miles east of Austin. He and his familycotton gin and in 1913 the Skye Dome Theatre was
stayed on this land for a few years and in 1849 hebuilt in the town. The theater played silent movies,
traded the land for larger plot about 5 miles east ofaccompanied by a piano player.
what is now Pflugerville. There, he and his family built aThe depression and World War II caused a sharp
five room log cabin and started farming.decline in population in Pflugerville, as many left for
It was not until after the Civil War that Pflugervillebigger cities in the attempt to find work. After World
would start to find settlers. Another family, headed byWar II the population fell back to a level of only 250
William Bohls, followed the Pfluegers and built a housepeople. It was not until the 1960s that Pflugerville would
on the neighboring property. The Bohls family opened afind its resurgence. In 1965 the town was incorporated
general store and a post office in their home andand had a population of 750 people. This number
named a post office after Pflueger. Shortly thereafter,would slowly grow until the population boom felt in
a Lutheran church and a small community schoolAustin in the 70s had its effect here as well. Since
opened and residents started pouring in.then, Pflugerville has thrived as a suburb of Austin and
In 1904, the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad completedby 2000 its population had skyrocketed to over 11,000
a line between Austin and Georgetown. This line ranpeople.