The city of Pflugerville celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. It has come a long way since holding City Council meetings in a room behind the old town bank, said Vernagene Mott, a Pflugerville historian and community member.

In 1965 when the city was incorporated, it had no city hall, and there were about a couple of city employees, Mott said.

“They formed a city without any resources—no money to make improvements,” she said. “They had to work on getting by on a very scant budget.”

The first jobs that a newly formed City Council, along with a city manager, were tasked with included acquiring a water system, setting up a wastewater system and repaving streets that had been under Travis County’s jurisdiction, Mott said.

Building infrastructure was a major effort in the city’s formative years. Then came the culture, she said.

Mott said in 1976, when cities were urged by the federal government to celebrate the nation’s bicentennial anniversary, Pflugerville held the first Deutschen Pfest, which has become an annual festival.

Early Deutschen Pfests included local German singing groups and a parade of children riding their bicycles through town and donning costumes, she said.

The community thrived on philanthropic initiatives and local volunteering efforts in the early years. Some of the recreational land, such as Bohls Park, was donated to the city.

“I think you could really call it community,” Mott said. “The people would see a need for something, and they would work together as volunteers.”

The city’s business community has been boosted throughout the years by a strong chamber of commerce, Mott said. The chamber is also celebrating a milestone anniversary this year—its 30th.

The Pflugerville Chamber of Commerce began in 1985 with 35 members. At first it was a struggle as startups failed to catch on, but a simple message has helped promote the city, Mott said.

“Pflugerville was pretty much a bedroom community,” she said. “The chamber of commerce has played a vital role in trying to have people to shop at home, and now they are trying to get people to work at home.”

Mott said the thriving business community will have the ability to capitalize on what she called the most significant milestone in the city’s history: the creation of the SH 130/SH 45 N corridor.

“We have some of those key ingredients in place, so now we just have to get the right mix to propel [the city] into the future,” she said.