Name: Hutto, Texas
Address: Hutto, TX

Hutto, TX RoadyGoat

A notable event in Hutto's history is a local legend related to the International-Great Northern Railroad. In 1915, a circus train stopped at Hutto to pick up passengers and let the animals out to feed. One of their hippos ran loose towards Cottonwood Creek, causing the train to be delayed and other trains to be stopped. The hippo was eventually herded back onto the train.

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Stop Trains, Hippo Loose in Hutto RoadyGoat

Hutto calls itself the Hippo Capital of Texas, and the reason is one of the best tall tales in Williamson County, so let's tell it honestly: it's a legend, not a documented event. As the story goes, in 1915 a circus train pulled up at the Hutto depot, and during the stop a hippopotamus got loose from its rail car and wallowed down into nearby Cottonwood Creek, just east of the tracks. Farmers and merchants gathered to watch crews try to pry the animal out of the mud. The depot agent supposedly wired the next towns down the line, Taylor and Round Rock about eight miles either way, with a message that became local scripture: stop trains, hippo loose in Hutto. Nobody has produced a newspaper clipping or circus record to prove it happened, and the chamber cheerfully admits as much. What's real is what came after: the school adopted the hippo as its mascot, and by 1923 it was printed on Hutto High graduation announcements. Hutto remains the only town in America that flies a hippo as its emblem. (Source: Hutto Area Chamber of Commerce; Community Impact.)

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Hutto, TX RoadyGoat

In 1855, Hutto was established when the International-Great Northern Railroad passed through land owned by John Hutto, after whom the community is named. The railroad officials designated the stop Hutto Station. James Hutto, born in Alabama in 1824, moved his family to Williamson County in 1855. A slave, Adam Orgain, was the first person to live in the immediate Hutto vicinity, tasked with watching over cattle and livestock. In 1876, James Hutto sold 50 acres to the Texas Land Company of New York for a town site and railroad right of way, attracting Swedish and German immigrants who established farms and ranches in Hutto.

Major Robert McNutt

1812

Born May 1, 1795 Commanded the Texas forces at the Harrisburg Camp during the Battle of San Jacinto. Soldier in the War of 1812 Died August 31, 1853 His Wife Mary Jackson McNutt Born October 6, 1796 Died December 28, 1867 Erected by the State of Texas 1963

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Hutto Hippos

1915

The town of Hutto adopted the hippopotamus as its mascot after a circus hippo allegedly escaped and lived in a local creek around 1915.

Shiloh-McCutcheon Cemetery

1848

The community of Shiloh dates from 1848, when both Nelson Morey and Josiah Talor established stores in this area. Shiloh spread along the banks of Brushy Creek near Wilbarger Crossing, which was later called Shiloh Crossing and Rogan Crossing. The community consisted of a school, a church, two stores and a few residents who lived along Brushy Creek. Shiloh-McCutcheon Cemetery sits on a park of the original grant of 1852 acres issued to the heirs of William Gatlin because of his participation in the Texas Army during the revolution of 1835-1836. The first recorded burial is that of Josiah Kuykendall, who became ill with smallpox after a traveler spent the night at his home. His brother and neighbor, Mark Kuykendall, came to care for Josiah during his illness, but became ill himself. Both brothers died from the disease and were buried in the cemetery in 1853. The property was not officially deeded as a cemetery until February 1890, when William Mccutcheon deeded land to three cemetery trustees, F.F. Farley, Green Randolf, and William Rogan. William Mccutcheon, his wife Elizabeth Jane, and six of their thirteen children are buried here. Through the years, the burial ground has also been known as Shiloh, Old Shiloh, or Mccutcheon Cemetery. Burials at the site include veterans of the Texas Revolution, Civil War, World War I and World War II. Due to the density of burials, interments are now restricted to the ashes of descendants of those already interred at the site. Historic Texas Cemetery – 1999

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Fariss, Dolores

1940

Dolores Fariss was the bandleader of Dolores and the Bluebonnet Boys, a well-known country western band in Texas during the 1940s and 1950s. She performed on piano and was joined by her husband Lee who played drums and sang. Dolores, the daughter of Alfred and Judith Hanson, was born in Hutto, Texas, on April 18, 1912. She lived most of her life in the Govalle area of Austin, Texas, and graduated from Austin High School. While attending Nixon Clay Business School, she also played the piano in her father’s polka band. She met James Lee Fariss (born in Austin on December 9, 1907) in 1930 when she was playing in her father’s band. They were married on September 4, 1931, in First Baptist Church in San Marcos. They had two sons. Her husband Lee worked with his brother-in-law and father-in-law in their construction company. Dolores organized her band in the 1940s, and she and Lee played one of their first shows in 1946 at the Elm Grove outside of Austin. Together they toured Central Texas, performed on radio , and became the house band for many years at the Skyline Club . Their bandmates, at various times, included Joe Castle, Aubrey Cox, Claude Hallmark, Sonny Raines, Jimmie Grabowski, and others. In addition to her skilled performances, she was a gifted composer. She wrote and released a number of recordings on the 4 Star, Lasso, and Macy’s labels. These songs included “Austin Waltz,” “My Bonnie Blue Eyes,” “The Fiesta Waltz,” “I Don’t Care,” and “A Broken Heart.” Dolores and Lee stopped playing professionally in 1955. She then worked as a dietician for the Del Valley School District until her retirement in the late 1970s. Dolores Fariss died on April 9, 1993. Her husband Lee died on July 9, 1998. Dolores Fariss was honored with induction into the Austin Music Memorial in 2011.

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Baylor Bus Crash of 1927

1927

On the afternoon of January 22, 1927, the Baylor Basketball team traveled from Baylor University in Waco to the University of Texas at Austin for a basketball game. Carrying a total of twenty-two team members, coaching staff, and others, the bus, driven by Joe Potter, a Baylor football team member who had driven busses for Baylor athletic teams before, headed south on Highway No. 2. The weather was rainy. When the bus crossed the railroad tracks in Round Rock, Texas, the vehicle was struck by a north-bound passenger train known as a "Sunshine Special" of the International-Great Northern Railroad. Potter had turned onto the train tracks without realizing that the train would collide with the bus. He did not have time to either accelerate across the tracks nor turn the bus to avoid collision. According to a report in Baylor's Daily Lariat later that day, "the train hit the right rear wheel and telescoped and completely demolished the bus...." Various accounts stated that the train was traveling between 50 to 70 mph, while fogged windows, a "string of boxcars on a siding," and a small house near the tracks obstructed the view of the bus driver. Several players, including John Riley Kane , jumped out of the bus before the collision, but ultimately ten were killed. Newspaper accounts differ as to whether eight or six lost their lives on impact; some reports stated that two of the victims died at a Taylor hospital. Two other injured players died en route to a hospital in nearby Georgetown. Several others were critically injured, while approximately six men, including Coach Ralph Wolf, were slightly injured. The president of the university, Samuel Palmer Brooks , immediately issued a statement that included: "The heart of Baylor University is torn to shreds at this moment. The awful tragedy that brought death and injury to so many of our noble boys overcomes us all." During the week that followed, funerals and memorials took place in Waco and across Texas. More than 3,000 people attended a memorial service at Baylor University, and a mayoral proclamation called for Waco businesses to close during the event. The day after the accident, Waco Times-Herald reporter Jack Hawkins coined the term "Immortal Ten" for the young men who died. The names of the dead were Jack Castellaw; Sam Dillow; Merle Dudley; Ivey Foster Jr.; Robert R. Hailey; James Clyde "Abe" Kelley; Robert L. Hannah, Jr.; Willis E. Murray; James S. Walker; and William P. Winchester. Within a day of the accident, Texas House Speaker Robert Lee Bobbitt called for legislation requiring "automatic safety devices at all crossings." The Texas legislature subsequently introduced a bill to construct overpasses or underpasses at all places where state highways intersect with railroads. As a result of the legislature's actions, the crossing over U. S. Highway 81 (the successor to Highway No. 2) through Round Rock became the first railroad overpass in Texas in 1935. One of the survivors-Wesley Bradshaw, who was a former member of the team and traveled as a guest of Coach Wolf-filed a lawsuit against the International-Great Northern Railroad later in 1927 for the injuries he sustained in the crash. Findings during the trial included statements that the bus traveled in excess of 20 mph, and the driver failed to bring the bus to a complete stop before proceeding to drive over the tracks. Ultimately the suit resulted in a mistrial. Bradshaw was paid $6,500 by the railroad and agreed to not file any further suits against I-GNR but to cooperate with the railroad "in the prosecution of any such action or actions against Baylor University...." Litigation took place into the 1930s. The memory of the Immortal Ten has been preserved as an important part of the history of Baylor University. Every year, during homecoming activities, Baylor holds a memorial ceremony, and freshmen are told the story of the 1927 bus crash. A key moment includes the story of Clyde "Abe" Kelley. Newspaper reports in th

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Hutto, Texas

Music in Hutto

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History of Hutto

Hutto, TX RoadyGoat

Stop Trains, Hippo Loose in Hutto RoadyGoat

Hutto, TX RoadyGoat

Major Robert McNutt

Hutto Hippos

Shiloh-McCutcheon Cemetery

Fariss, Dolores

Baylor Bus Crash of 1927

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