Wuthrich Hills Farm rooted in Pflugerville’s history
Wuthrich Hills Farm rooted in Pflugerville’s history
Written by Lindy Hauenstein Monday, 07 November 2005
History was written Oct. 20 when Pflugerville celebrated its fortieth year as an incorporated city. The event was celebrated at the Wuthrich Hills Farm owned by John Paul Otto Wuthrich, Jr. and his wife Gloria. The 130-year-old farm belongs to one of a handful of families whose roots are an important part of the city’s history.
Families such as the Bohls, the Kuempels, the Weisses, the Fuches, the Timmermans and the Pflugers each lived relatively close to one another, forming a tight-knit community.
In 1873 Mathias and Verona Wuthrich moved onto the land to establish their farm. The farm originally consisted of 200 acres that stretched from south of Pecan Street between what is now the fire department and Dessau Road.
The Wuthrich family immigrated in 1872 from Canton Bern, Switzerland where they had been goat farmers. It is said that during the first year, they lived off the money they made from selling 24 hand-woven shirts Mathias’s mother knitted for them before they left for America.
The first house on the farm was finished in 1873, and three others were added over the years to accommodate their growing family.
Life was centered around family, work and church. Mathias Wuthrich and his brother, Johann, were among the men who signed the first constitution to establish Immanuel Lutheran Evangelical Church in Pflugerville in 1875.
Land has been sold or donated over time as transportation needs have grown with Pflugerville’s population. Plans to construct an independent senior living center on 17 acres of the historic farm are underway.
For more information and a view into the life of the early farm life, visit the Heritage House located at 901 Hutto Rd., open on the first Sunday of the month, 1-4 p.m.
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