The William Pfluger House - Pflugerville

The William Pfluger House - Pflugerville

By Stephen W. Fuller Friday, 07 November 2008

William Pfluger built Pflugerville’s first bank and ran its first cotton gin, which is located next to the First United Methodist Church on Pecan Street. Pfluger is considered to be one of the founding fathers of the city. He spent most of his time at a two-story ranch house he built in 1875. The dog-run-style house took two years to build and is made of 16-inch cut limestone blocks. The limestone core of the house was expanded shortly after it was built by adding two frame rooms to the front of each floor. William and his wife, Franziska, raised their six children in the house, while he built a name for himself as a rancher, banker and businessman.

Pfluger built his house to be functional and to last. Very early, he equipped it with a Delco generator, which served the house and the outbuildings with electricity when most rural areas went without power.

Bernice Pfluger and her sister, Lillian Mason, who are both in their 90s, are William’s granddaughters and still live in Pflugerville. They said they remember riding out a big tornado in the house with their grandmother in about 1921. The house sits on Wilbarger Creek, which is named for Josiah Wilbarger who survived being scalped by Indians there in the late 1800s. Bernice and Lillian said their grandmother told them she often saw Indians at the creek behind the house getting water. She would hide under the kitchen table until they were gone.

At one point, a kitchen, pantry, dining room and bathroom were added to the back of the house, but they were later torn down to create a garage, which stands today. The front of the house is eye-catching, featuring long porches that cover both the first and second floors. Much of the upper porch is covered by the original latticework, which offered shade and privacy. The rooms that were added to the front of the house first served as a dressing room and a child’s bedroom, but in later years functioned as a bathroom and a kitchen.

Inside, the hand-built staircase has lower handrails and shallower treads than newer standards dictate.

At each end of the house, fireplaces were used for cooking meals and heating the four original limestone rooms. A breeze still flows through the central hall throughout the year. The windows are six-over-six, a style dating back to Colonial days in New England.

The remains of several outbuildings are on the property, including a small log cabin used for a jack, a male donkey used for breeding mules. A smokehouse and washroom also existed, as well as a machine shop and a barn for the buggy and surrey. The William Pfluger house was designated as a historic site by the State of Texas in 1985, but it has fallen into disrepair since then. Recently, the house and most of the land were sold, and the owner is interested in seeing the house preserved.

Foundation to preserve the house

On Oct. 13, a group of about 10 people met with the owner of the William Pfluger property to explore ideas for preserving this landmark for civic and educational uses. A private foundation is planned for this purpose, and more general meetings with the public will be held. For more information, call 836-4880 or e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .