Pflugerville Schools

Pflugerville's school story includes a football streak. Cousins Charles and Hub Kuempel, both Pflugerville graduates, coached the Panthers to 55 straight wins in the late 1950s and early 1960s, a state and national record at the time. It ended with a 12-6 loss to Holland in the 1962 Bi-District playoffs, and the team played eight-man football in Class B. Jefferson City, Missouri, broke the national mark in 1964. Celina later set the Texas record at 68. Kuempel Stadium, dedicated in October 1986, carries the cousins' names.

What the plaque says

Pflugerville Schools German immigrants arrived in Northeast Travis County in 1849. Education was highly valued, starting with lessons in the home. In 1872, a one-room school opened on the Henry Lisso farm. The school later moved to the Carrington Ranch. This and surrounding rural schools often had one teacher for all grades, with instruction in English and German. In 1907, a two-story white brick school opened in Pflugerville on property donated by George Pfluger. Three young ladies comprised the first graduating class in 1911 by completing the 11th grade. The school year lasted seven months, coinciding with the growing season. Early educators included Principal l. W. Land and teacher Emma Kuhn Johnson. Henry Bohls, J.W. Neese, John Klattenhoff, and E. W. Pfluger were among early trustees. After completing sixth grade in rural schools, most area students came to Pflugerville to attend high school. In 1919, the Texas Legislature created the Pflugerville Independent School District (PISD). After consolidation with Highland, Dessau, Center Point and Rowe, a two-story red brick school was built on this site in 1921. The second story featured an auditorium for presentations and community events. Separate campuses were established for African-American and Mexican-American pupils. A Works Progress Administration (WPA) camp in Pflugerville built the rock gym in 1934 which became a noted athletic venue. The Panthers Football Team, coached by cousins Charles and Hub Kuempel, set a national record with 55 consecutive wins from 1958-62. Pflugerville schools integrated in 1965, and in 1973 a new High School campus was established west of this site. Nearly a century after its founding, the PISD serves more than 23,000 students on 29 campuses. Graduates continue to make a difference in their community, state, and nation. (2012)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

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• Inner Space Cavern — 12 mi
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• Mount Bonnell — 12 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.
• LBJ Presidential Library — 12 mi
  A ten-story travertine archive on the University of Texas campus holding 45 million pages from a presidency of civil rights laws, the War on Poverty and Vietnam.

More markers nearby

• Pflugerville — 0.3 mi
• St. Mary Missionary Baptist Church — 0.3 mi
• Immanuel Evangelical Lutheran Church — 1.1 mi
• Evangelical Lutheran Church of Dessau — 2.9 mi