Hutto has marked 100 years since its incorporation July 17, 1911. In what is now the first year of its second century, the community is beginning another chapter of its history. This spring, the historic groundbreaking for the town’s first community college underscored a commitment to higher education and handson job training. Later this year, dirt will turn on a project to build a YMCA facility to increase recreational opportunities for Hutto families. Roadways are under construction and new infrastructure is opening avenues for commercial development all over town.

The city has undergone a transformation over the past decade from a small rural Central Texas town of only 1,250 to Austin’s fastest growing suburb, now with more than 17,000 residents. Hutto was established in 1876 when officials from the International and Great Northern Railroad purchased five acres of land from James Emory Hutto for a designated station stop. That stop would help launch the town later named for Hutto, who would become the town’s first postmaster when the post office opened in 1877.

During the 1890s, the community prospered as cotton production was booming and a number of gins opened in the surrounding area. By 1898, Hutto was bustling and had grown to support six churches, a hotel, a school, livery stable, bank, photography gallery, newspaper, lumberyard and more than more than 20 stores.

Hutto was officially incorporated in 1911 and W.D. Holman served as its first mayor. Cotton remained king until 1929 when the stock market collapsed and the Great Depression ensued. After reaching a peak population of about 900 in 1928, the Great Depression took its toll and Hutto’s population dropped to about 400 in the 1960s. Hutto never fully recovered its former glory until recent years when it has become a popular Austin suburb.

The 1990 census reported a population in Hutto of about 620 people, but by 2000 that number had more than doubled to 1,250. In the past decade, the city’s population has skyrocketed and Hutto has been one of the fastest growing communities in the state, reaching an estimated 9,572 according to a middecade assessment by the U.S. Census Bureau.

While exponential growth peaked in 2007, prior to the nationwide recession, residential growth has slowed but continues on an upward trend.
The recently released 2010 U.S. Census numbers put Hutto’s population at 14,698, making it the second-fastest growing city in Texas. However, based on a formula related to the number of residential permits issued and including the Lakeside Estates sub-division, newly annexed this year, the City of Hutto places the number of residents closer to 18,500.

Hutto’s growth is related to quality, affordable housing and top-notch public schools. The opening of State Highway 130 on the new Central Texas turnpike System, ensures the community will be a hub for future growth.