Klattenhoff House

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. William Klattenhoff was born in Germany in 1855, and by 1872 he was already on a boat headed for Texas, seventeen years old and carrying whatever a seventeen-year-old carries when he decides the old world isn't big enough. He found work on the International and Great Northern Railroad, and that railroad, as railroads tend to do, made the decision for him.

It brought him to Hutto. Now, some places grab hold of a man, and Hutto grabbed hold of William Klattenhoff. By 1876 he was purchasing land here, putting down roots before he'd even put down a floor.

Then came 1878, and with it came Alvina Plattow, born in 1860, and William built their first house right here on this property. A man who builds a house for his bride is making a statement, and William Klattenhoff was just getting started making statements. The Klattenhoffs kept buying land, here in Williamson County and all the way out in Tom Green County, and by 1905 they were helping establish a school out there that would eventually become the Klattenhoff Community Center.

That name didn't travel lightly. It traveled on years of farming and ranching and business, and in 1896 that success earned a second home, right here on the homestead, something a little grander than the first. The homestead stayed in Klattenhoff hands clear into the turn of the twenty-first century.

Alvina, born in 1860, lived until 1958. William, born in 1855, lived until 1928. Between the two of them, they watched a railroad stop in Hutto become something permanent, something German and Texan all at once.

That homestead is still standing, and it still has something to say about the people who built it.

What the marker says

Klattenhoff House German native William Klattenhoff (1855-1928) immigrated to Texas in 1872 at age 17. His work on the International and Great Northern Railroad brought him to Hutto, where he purchased land in 1876. Upon his marriage to Alvina Plattow (1860-1958) in 1878, he built their first house on this property. The Klattenhoffs purchased more land here and in Tom Green County, where in 1905 they helped establish a school that later became the Klattenhoff Community Center. William's success as a farmer, rancher and businessman led to the construction of a second home in 1896. The homestead, which remained in the Klattenhoff family at the turn of the 21st century, is a reminder of German settlement patterns. (2002)