Adams-Ziller House
Austin, Travis County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Augusta Adams (ca. 1817-1907), a widow and native of Mecklenberg, Germany, immigrated to Texas and purchased land at this site in 1857. This modest structure was constructed circa 1868. Augusta later married Herman Hertel. Her two daughters, Mary and Theresa Adams, married brothers August and William Ziller, sons of one of Austin’s earliest settlers, Michael Ziller. The home remained in the Ziller family until 1955, and was saved from demolition during the 1990s. The one-story residence features a center-passage plan with chimneys on the gable ends, and buff brick laid in a common bond pattern.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Augusta Adams was a German widow who immigrated to Texas and bought this Austin lot in 1857, part of a wave of German settlers reshaping central Texas in the mid-19th century. The modest buff-brick house here rose around 1868, and through her daughters' marriages it passed into the Ziller family, descendants of one of Austin's earliest settlers. The home stayed in the family until 1955 and was rescued from demolition in the 1990s.
Why it matters
It preserves the everyday world of German immigrants who put down roots in Texas and helped build its early towns, one modest house at a time.
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Related people
- · Augusta Adams
- · Michael Ziller
Themes & tags
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