Klattenhoff House

The plaque ties William Klattenhoff to a Tom Green County school that became the Klattenhoff Community Center. The Handbook of Texas describes a Klattenhoff community in the northeastern corner of Tom Green County, near the Runnels County line, probably settled before 1900, though it does not say whom the place was named for. Its school had two teachers in 1931 and thirty-seven elementary and five high school pupils in 1934. By the 1980s the school had dropped off state highway maps and only a community hall was shown.

What the plaque says

Klattenhoff House 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)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• The Round Rock — 6.6 mi
  A table-shaped stone in Brushy Creek gave Round Rock its name in 1854; the Chisholm Trail crossed the creek near it, and Old Town stayed behind when the railroad pulled the town east.
• Inner Space Cavern — 9.4 mi
  A Georgetown cave found in 1963 when highway engineers drilled test holes, holding Pleistocene fossils and 72-degree rooms that visitors reach by an artificial tunnel.
• Williamson County Courthouse — 11 mi
  The fifth Williamson County courthouse, a Beaux Arts building by C. H. Page, rises over a Georgetown square of more than 50 Victorian-era buildings.
• Mount Bonnell — 17 mi
  Austin's old lookout over the Colorado, named by an 1838 traveler, picnicked on by George and Libbie Custer, and reached by a 1939 flight of about 100 limestone steps.

More markers nearby

• Major Robert McNutt — 2.0 mi
• Hutto Baptist Church — 2.2 mi
• Hutto — 3.1 mi
• Hutto Evangelical Lutheran Church — 3.4 mi