Late on a Tuesday night in January 2024, crews hauled a two-room house built in 1873 out of 212 E. Main St. They took it north on Mays Street and then east on Highway 79, with its chimney taken apart for rebuilding at the other end. The house finished the trip at 3300 E. Palm Valley Blvd., just northwest of the Palm Farm land where it was first built.
On Nov. 7, the Palm House opens its doors again on that ground. The timing fits the season. Look at Round Rock's fall 2026 calendar and the densest cluster sits within a few miles of East Palm Valley Boulevard. Pumpkins, a pioneer village, a Veterans Day ceremony and even a new drone delivery hub all share this corridor. The old farm is where fall in Round Rock happens this year.
A House That Spent Fifty Years Away
The Palm family gave the house to the Round Rock Chamber, and in 1976 it moved downtown. For decades it worked as both a museum and chamber offices. Moving it in 2024 also cleared its downtown lot for a walkway linking Prete Plaza with the new library courtyard, part of the Griffith Building renovation.
The restoration began in March 2026. According to a City of Round Rock update, the work included:
- Partial structural framing
- A new front porch, support columns and ADA ramp
- A new rear deck, cedar siding and shake roof
- Refurbished original windows, shutters and interior doors, plus a replacement entry door
- New electrical service, lighting and HVAC
- New insulation for the flooring and some walls
Hotel occupancy taxes paid for it, so visitors to Round Rock funded the work rather than property taxes. The city's update cited up to $500,000 in Hotel Occupancy Tax Fund support. The City Council contract item approved on Feb. 26, 2026, lists the project cost as $449,143. Pravo Construction got the job as the lowest responsible bidder out of nine, and the Texas Historical Commission approved the work.
Community Impact reports that the Old Settlers Association will hold the grand reopening at 10 a.m. on Nov. 7, followed by an open house until noon. Inside will be furniture and household items from the years the family lived there. The house is a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark.
The Neighbors It Came Home To
The Palm House joins a set of older buildings that the Williamson County Old Settlers Association has collected on these grounds over the decades. Most of them came from somewhere else in the county.
| Building | Key date | Where it came from |
|---|---|---|
| Rices Crossing Store | 1849 | Built in Blue Hill by James O. Rice, later a Texas Ranger |
| Mather Cabin | Early 1850s | Samul Mather's land near Gabriel Mills; served as a church, school and Masonic lodge meeting place |
| Pioneer Cabin | 1855 | A two-room dogtrot from Liberty Hill, donated by Dr. G.D. Ross in 1936 |
| Palm Mansion | 1912 | Built by Swedish pioneer Andrew J. Palm; the family lived there 63 years |
| Schoolhouse Cabin | Moved 1937 to 1940 | Taken apart, labeled and rebuilt on the Palm Valley grounds in 1988 |
| Fire House Museum | 2007 | Antique equipment kept after the Round Rock Volunteer Fire Department handed its territory to the Round Rock Fire Department in 2007 |
The association acquired the Palm property in 1983. The Palm Mansion is fenced and closed to the public. The association grounds and the city's 670-acre Old Settlers Park both go by 3300 Palm Valley, but the Palm House sits on association land inside the park, not on a city-run facility.
These grounds already have a full year of events. The Williamson Museum held its Harvest Festival here on Sept. 12, with butter churning and living history demonstrations. Its seventh annual Midsommar festival took place here in June.
October Among The Cabins
The Round Rock Pumpkin Festival is in its fifth year at 3300 E. Palm Valley Blvd. It runs Oct. 2 to 31, Fridays through Mondays, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., with admission at $10 to $12. According to Round the Rock's fall events roundup, it is set up among the pioneer cabins under the old oaks. Activities include a giant corn pit, a barrel train, farm animals to feed, pumpkin painting and a super slide, with food from Tacobaby Austin. Parking is free. Teachers, anyone 65 and older, and children 2 and under get in free, as do military members and first responders with ID. Leashed dogs are welcome. It closes Tuesday through Thursday to restock.
Farther west on the same road, the St. Richard's Episcopal Church pumpkin patch at 1420 E. Palm Valley Blvd. is in its 29th season. It is open Oct. 8 through 31, noon to 7:30 p.m. Sunday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Saturdays. Round the Rock reports that volunteers run the whole operation. The pumpkins come from Navajo farmers in the Four Corners region of New Mexico, arrive by truck in fresh loads all month, and get unloaded by hand. Once the farmers are paid, the money goes to the Round Rock Serving Center, Kairos Prison Ministry, Hope Alliance, the Hutto Resource Center and St. Richard's preschool scholarships, among others.
So the same road has two very different patches. One is a ticketed festival among 19th-century cabins. The other is a free-to-enter church lawn where you pay only for the pumpkins you take home.
The Corridor Calendar, Date By Date
Every event below takes place on East Palm Valley Boulevard or in Old Settlers Park:
- Fridays through Mondays, Oct. 2 to 31: Round Rock Pumpkin Festival, 3300 E. Palm Valley Blvd.
- Daily, Oct. 8 to 31: St. Richard's Pumpkin Patch, 1420 E. Palm Valley Blvd.
- Saturday, Oct. 17, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.: Pumpkin Palooza at St. Richard's, with pumpkin bowling, sack races, putt-putt and a petting zoo.
- Wednesday, Oct. 28, 9 to 11:30 a.m.: The city's free Fall Fun Festival at Old Settlers Park, aimed at toddlers and preschoolers. Bring a canned good for the food pantry.
- Friday, Oct. 30, 6 to 8 p.m.: Trunk or Treat in the St. Richard's front parking lot.
- Saturday, Nov. 7, 10 a.m.: Palm House grand reopening, with an open house until noon.
- Wednesday, Nov. 11, 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.: The Veterans Day Celebration at Lakeview Stage and Pavilion. It features the Stony Point High School NJROTC and Chamber Choir, with Michaela Watson singing the national anthem. Afterward, Juicy Lucee's ATX and VFW Post 9078 serve a meal.
The Newest Things On The Oldest Road
On Oct. 8, Zipline launched the Austin area's first commercial drone delivery service, and customers within three miles of 3000 E. Palm Valley Blvd. could start ordering on Oct. 9. Community Impact reports that the drones fly at about 300 feet, carry up to about five pounds, and lower orders by tether into backyards. The company expects to expand to other parts of the city. Zipline did its first demonstration flight at Stony Point High School because the campus has a drone aviation program.
A few weeks earlier, on Sept. 21, the city cut the ribbon on the Old Settlers Boulevard Extension. It is a $23.4 million, four-lane connection of almost a mile between North Red Bud Lane and County Road 110, with twin bridges over McNutt Creek. One side has a 10-foot shared-use path and the other a six-foot sidewalk, both connecting to existing walkways in Siena and along Old Settlers Boulevard and Red Bud. The city expects it to ease some traffic on U.S. 79, and long-range plans would carry the road east to State Highway 130.
Where The Corridor Shares A Day
Two Saturdays and one Friday this fall pull Round Rock in more than one direction, so knowing the overlaps helps.
On Oct. 17, Pumpkin Palooza wraps up at 2 p.m. Two hours earlier, the 32nd Hairy Man Festival opens at Cat Hollow Park, 8320 O'Connor Drive, running noon to 5 p.m. The Brushy Creek Municipal Utility District hosts it. Entry is free, and organizers ask for two nonperishable food items or $2 per person for the Round Rock Serving Center. The Serving Center also benefits from the St. Richard's patch, so the same charity gets help from both ends of town that day.
Halloween falls on a Saturday in 2026, so the city's Hometown Halloween lands on Friday, Oct. 30, from 3 to 7 p.m. Part of East Main Street closes for trick-or-treating at downtown businesses, plus live music and trivia in Prete Plaza. The St. Richard's Trunk or Treat starts at 6 that evening, so it's possible to do downtown first and end the night back on Palm Valley.
On Oct. 24, the 10th-anniversary Round Rock Diwali Festival takes place at Centennial Plaza, 301 W. Bagdad Ave., with free entry.
Nov. 7 shows how the town's history is split. Round Rock Market Days fills Prete Plaza from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. that Saturday, beside the downtown lot the house gave up for a walkway to the library courtyard. That same morning, at 10 a.m., the house reopens on the farm where it started.
If you have questions about the history of a historic property or the land around it, I'm always glad to talk it through. LaTashia Mitchell would love to hear from you, so let's connect.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
