About ACRE
Some of us have been working to preserve the rural area of Eastern
Central Texas since the mid-1980's, when Austin tried to put its
airport here. Over the last thirty years, there have been
other huge construction projects that would pave over our area—the
first bullet train (the one from France), a regional Central Texas
airport, the Trans-Texas Corridor, a freight rail line. Now,
Williamson County is proposing another corridor, a wide highway
through the southeastern part of the county.
It’s always something!
ACRE started out in 2005 as a grass-roots effort to save our
Coupland, Texas, area from the threat of the Trans-Texas Corridor,
including expanded rail lines - thus, Anti-Corridor/Rail Expansion,
or ACRE. We increased this effort to coordinate with other
rural groups up and down Texas Highway 95, who also were threatened
by the Corridor project.
Now that the major threats have diminished, we can concentrate on
our area as a wonderful place to live and a desirable destination
for visitors to enjoy.
We hope to preserve our beautiful rural and small-town areas and to
let others know about the good things that we have here - in the
wonderful towns along Highways 95 and 71, through the eastern part
of Central Texas - from Temple in the north, through the
Salado/Holland area, Bartlett, Granger, Taylor, Coupland, Elgin,
Bastrop, Smithville, to La Grange in the south.
There are many entertaining destinations just a short drive from
Austin. In the towns of Eastern Central Texas, there are
within about 100 miles all the attractions for a wonderful day trip
or weekend trip - dining (fine and casual), lodging (resort and bed
& breakfasts), entertainment (old-time dancehalls, live music,
special events and festivals), art (artists and their studios,
galleries), and shopping (gifts, jewelry, crafts, fashion).
ACRE can stand for many things:
A is for Artists and their work, Art Galleries, Antiques,
Attractions, historic Architecture.
C is for Crafts, Collectibles.
R is for Restaurants, Real Estate.
E is for Entertainment, Events.
. . . plus more like Shopping and Gifts, Lodging, and Museums.
Related resources
Contact Susan Garry for more information.