Anton Wulff was born in 1822 in Hamburg, Germany. He left Hamburg on June 17, 1848 on a ship for the States. Unable to find work in New York where he landed in August, he moved on to Cincinnati, then down the Ohio River to Mississippi, then to New Orleans. Finally with little money left he made his way to San Antonio where he worked as a sales clerk. He eventually went to work for Joseph Landa on Main Plaza for thirty dollars a month. In 1852 he moved to Fredericksburg and started his own dry goods store.

 In 1852 he traveled back to San Antonio and married Maria Guadalupe Olivarri, a descendant of the Leal family who came to San Antonio in 1731 from the Canary Islands. After receiving his US citizenship he expanded his businesses to other cities and moved back to San Antonio. In 1857, possibly because of rising anti-German and pro-secession sentiment in San Antonio, Wulff moved his family and business to the Mexican side of the Rio Grande, where he started a mercantile business. He supplied both United States and Confederate garrisons at Fort Davis with hay and corn. In 1861 Lt. Col. Baylor declared Wulff a spy. In fleeing he took his family and moved to Monterrey, and in 1863 he moved his family to Hamburg for the duration of the Civil War.

 In 1870 he came back to San Antonio and constructed the "castle" on King William Street. He elaborately landscaped the grounds with flowers, tress and shrubs. He was a dedicated gardener. Wulff planted trees, shrubs, and flowers on various public plazas at his own expense. Mayor James H. French noticed his dedication and Wulff was made the first city park commissioner. Wulff beautified the Alamo Plaza, which at the time was known as the "Frog Pond." He and his friend Mahncke, the hotel owner, planted seedlings from the Guadalupe on the banks of the San Antonio River. Today these trees enhance the beauty of the River Walk.

He got streets paved, made parks and made the city, vibrant and beautiful. It is said that he transformed the Plaza, from an unsightly mud hole into a circle laid in an artistic manner, and planted with trees, rare shrubs, roses, and other flower-bearing plants." He was a businessman and civic leader. He died in 1894.

The Handbook of Texas Online: Wulff, Anton Friedrich