Pflugerville, located on the eastern edge of the blackland prairies and about fifteen miles north of the Colorado River, has a rich history dating back to its founding in 1860 by William Bohls. He established a general store and post office in his residence and named the town in honor of Henry Pfluger, who had arrived in the area in 1849 after leaving his German homeland to escape the Prussian War. Henry first purchased 160 acres of land from his brother-in-law, John Liese, and later exchanged it for a larger farm where his family lived in a five-room log cabin, raised crops, and drove cattle to market on the Chisholm Trail.
The town experienced a resurgence in the 1980s with new development and the establishment of a local newspaper, the Pflugerville Pflag. Despite a slight slowdown during the recession of the late 1980s, Pflugerville’s population exploded during the 1990s, nearly quadrupling in size from 4,444 residents in 1990 to 16,335 in 2000. This tremendous rate of growth continued into the 21st century, with the population reaching 79,668 in 2023.
