Gilleland Creek shortly after that, to facilitate the railroad and provide water for the train. Wooden buildings were erected on Main Street and Pecan Street, many by Conrad Pfluger. The original platt for the city of Pflugerville was registered on February 19, 1904 by George Pfluger and his son, Albert Pfluger. The first addition to the town was the Wuthrich Addition of six blocks, platted on November 22, 1904. That same year, the first cotton gin was built in Pflugerville. It was destroyed by fire in 1931 and a new one rebuilt on the same location.

Further dates of interest in Pflugerville:

• June 8, 1906: The Farmers State Bank of Pflugerville opened for business. Mr. William Pfluger served as president with Mr. A. W. Pfluger as cashier.
• August 7, 1907: The first issues of the Pflugerville Press was printed by Mr. A. W. Goerdel. This newspaper was the only paper published in Pflugerville and continued weekly publication until October 29, 1942.
• May 29, 1910: The first German Day celebration was held in Pflugerville.
• July 24, 1965: Pflugerville voted to incorporate the township.
• April 4, 1970: A vote was held to change the form of government from a commission to an aldermanship, providing for a Mayor and 5 aldermen.

In the years 1958-1962, Pflugerville received national recognition when the Pflugerville Panthers won 55 consecutive football games.

Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 16,335 people, 5,146 households, and 4,425 families residing in the city. The population density was 556.2/km² (1,440.6/mi²). There were 5,239 housing units at an average density of 178.4/km² (462.0/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 77.18% White, 9.46% African American, 0.24% Native American, 4.31% Asian, 0.09% Pacific Islander, 5.99% from other races, and 2.74% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 16.69% of the population. There were 5,146 households out of which 56.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 72.4% were married couples living together, 10.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 14.0% were non-families. 10.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 1.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.15 and the average family size was 3.39. In the city the population was spread out with 34.6% under the age of 18, 6.0% from 18 to 24, 38.8% from 25 to 44, 16.9% from 45 to 64, and 3.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females there were 97.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.6 males. The median income for a household in the city was $71,985, and the median income for a family was $73,629. Males had a median income of $49,989 versus $32,188 for females. The per capita income for the city was $26,226. About 1.7% of families and 1.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 2.1% of those under age 18 and 1.3% of those age 65 or over

Economy
Pflugerville is a central location for employeers in the high tech work in the high-tech industry, such as Dell Computer, Samsung, IBM, Motorola, Applied Materials, Austin Semiconductor, Advanced Micro Devices and similar companies.

Pflugerville has the highest property tax rates in Travis County, according to data published by the county tax office. This is in part due to the city's past isolation from any major roadways, which has led to fewer businesses choosing to locate in town. (While a mile stretch of Interstate 35 is often referred by local media and residents as "in Pflugerville", the city of Austin actually controls this land, either as part of the city or through its extraterritorial jurisdiction.)

The NBC television drama Friday Night Lights is filmed in Pflugerville and Austin, Texas. They use Pfugerville High School's stadium to film the football games.

Attractions
Austin is the nearest place to Pflugerville for attractions. As Austin's official slogan is The Live Music Capital of the World, the city has a vibrant live music scene with more music venues per capita than any other U.S. city. Austin's music revolves around the many nightclubs on 6th Street and an annual film/music/multimedia festival known as South by Southwest. The city also has a burgeoning circle of live performance theater venues such as: Zachary Scott Theatre Center, Vortex Repertory Company, Salvage Vanguard Theater, Arts on Real, Scottish Rite Children's Theater, Hyde Park Theatre, and the Esther's Follies comedy & magic show which has been operating for over 3 decades now. The longest-running concert music program on American television, Austin City Limits, is videotaped on the University of Texas at Austin campus. Austin City Limits and Capital Sports & Entertainment run the Austin City Limits Music Festival, an annual music and art festival held at Zilker Park in Austin. The long-running outdoor musical, the Zilker Park Summer Musical expects to celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2008. The Urban Music Festival is held during the Texas Relays weekend every April. Other annual events include Eeyore's Birthday Party and the Austin Reggae Festival (previously named Bob Marley Festival) in April and Carnaval in February. Halloween, the two Mexican independence days (Cinco de Mayo and El 16 de Septiembre), St Patrick's Day, Mardi Gras, July 4th, and Juneteenth (Emancipation Day) are all widely celebrated. First Thursday is a popular festival which takes place the first Thursday of each month.

Austinites take pride in eccentricities and celebrate differences and being different (in lifestyle, character, beliefs, etc.). "Keep Austin Weird" has become a local motto in recent years, featured on innumerable bumper stickers and t-shirts. This motto has not only been used in promoting Austin's eccentricity and diversity, but is also meant to bolster support of local and independent businesses. This motto has been parodied on bumper stickers making fun of conservative suburbs: "Keep Round Rock mildly unusual" and "Keep Georgetown normal."

Ballet Austin is the fourth largest ballet academy in the country. Each year Ballet Austin's twenty member professional company performs ballets from a wide variety of choreographers, including their international award winning artistic director, Stephen Mills. Ballet Austin has traveled around the world performing in Europe, twice at the Kennedy Center (Washington D.C.), and in New York City's famous Joyce Theatre.

Nationally known Austinites include Willie Nelson, Lance Armstrong, Matthew McConaughey, Sandra Bullock , Richard Linklater, Robert Rodriguez, Andy Roddick, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Michael Dell. Other well-known Austinites can be found in the List of Austinites.

Many of the tourists that visit Austin come for its vibrant nightlife; however, there are many other attractions in Austin, including the Texas Memorial Museum, the Blanton Museum of Art (opened in 2006), the galleries at the Harry Ransom Center, and the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum across the street (which opened in 2000). The Texas State Capitol itself is also a major tourist attraction. The Driskill Hotel built in 1886, located at 6th and Brazos, was finished just before the construction the Capitol building. Sixth Street is a musical hub for the city but also includes annual festivals such as the Pecan Street Festival and Halloween night. A very strange and eccentric, unique Austin haven for weird arts such as fire-dancing and circus-like-acts is the Enchanted Forest, which hosts many outdoor art and performance events.

The Congress Avenue Bridge houses the world's largest urban population of Mexican free-tailed bats. Starting in late February, up to 1.5 million bats take up residence inside the bridge's expansion and contraction zones as well as in long horizontal grooves running the length of the bridge's underside, an environment ideally suited for raising their young. Every evening around sunset, the bats emerge in search of insects, an exit visible on weather radar. Watching the bat emergence is an event that is popular with locals and tourists, with more than 100,000 viewers per year. The bats migrate to Mexico each winter.

Considering Austin's "Earth-friendly" persona, it is appropriate that the Austin Zoo, located in the Oak Hill neighborhood just north of U.S. 290, is a rescue zoo that provides sanctuary to displaced animals from a variety of unfortunate and often neglectful situations.

Austin also has several well-known swimming locations. These include Deep Eddy Pool, Texas' oldest man-made swimming pool, and Barton Springs Pool, the nation's largest natural swimming pool in an urban area. Both are spring-fed and maintain a constant temperature of 69 degrees year-round -- swimming in Barton Springs at Christmas is an annual tradition for many Austinites. Hippie Hollow, a county park situated along Lake Travis, is the only clothing-optional public park in Texas. Activities include rockclimbing, kayaking, swimming, exploring, and hiking along the greenbelt, a green, lush, long-spanning area that runs through the city. Hamilton Pool is a gorgeous and cool (temperature-wise) pool and wildlife park located about 30 minutes from the city and is strongly recommended by many locals.

Farmers markets are popular attractions, provided a variety of locally grown and often organic goods.

Education
Public schools in Pflugerville are provided by the Pflugerville Independent School District. This includes 16 elementary schools, 5 middle schools, and 4 high schools.

Also, nearby Austin is home to The University of Texas, one of the largest universities in the country. It is also the flagship institution of The University of Texas System — the largest state system of higher education in Texas.

Transportation
The nearest airport to Pflugerville is Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (IATA code AUS), located 5 miles (8 km) southeast of Austin.

In November 2006, the first parts of a central Texas tollway system opened, including State Highway 130 and State Highway 45. Approximately three miles of 130 run through Pflugerville, including the intersection of 45 and 130.