This year, as the cities of Hutto and Taylor celebrate their 150th anniversaries, many credit the arrival of the railroad as the catalyst for the economic boom that enriched eastern Williamson County during the late 19th century.

However, the Czechs and the Swedes — two immigrant groups known for their industriousness, farming skills and unique cultural traditions — also fueled the growth of the region during that era.

“Taylor was founded in 1876 when the railroad was built, and 30 years later, it was the biggest town in the county,” said Jon Stephenson, a member of the Williamson County Historical Commission. “That was driven mostly by immigrant populations.”

THESWEDES

According to the commission, the earliest wave of Swedish immigrants came to Texas in the mid 19th century at the behest of Swante Magnus Swenson, the first modern-era Swedish settler who arrived in America in 1836.

After becoming a successful self-made plantation owner and businessman, in 1847 Swenson returned to Sweden to recruit families to work on his farms for a year in exchange for free passage to Texas, alongside his uncle and business partner, Swante Palm, county officials said.

“It turned into this pipeline of Swedes from the same area of Sweden coming to Texas,” Stephenson said.

Many of these newcomers settled between Round Rock, Hutto and Taylor.

“They were hardworking farmers, and they were hospitable neighbors,” Stephenson said. “They fit right in with the other Anglo settlers in the county, but they also were a close-knit group who looked out for each other.”

Georgetown resident Larry Olson said his grandparents, Anna and Anton Olson, who owned a 184-acre farm near Taylor, would often recount the hardships their families had endured prior to immigrating to the United States in the early 1900s.

“Sweden was agrarian, and a third of the population left from 1880 to 1920,” said Olson, whose Anna+Anton Olson Legacy Foundation currently funds local nonprofits in honor of his late grandparents. “Grandpa would tell me that they had to make soup out of birch bark sometimes. They hadn’t industrialized, so the population had gotten really big but the opportunities weren’t there and there was a shortage of food.”

By the 1880s, Swedes had become the largest immigrant group in Williamson County, settling around Georgetown, Palm Valley, Hutto, Taylor, New Sweden and beyond.

“If you look at the census, the 1880, 1900 and 1910 census, the Swedes are the most dominant group of immigrants born in a foreign land,” Stephenson said.

These Swedes not only farmed, but also became “businessmen, service people, you can go down the list,” Stephenson said. “Some were tailors, watchmakers and jewelers. They just fit right into this growing county. ”

Former Taylor Mayor Brandt Rydell, who is half-Swedish, remembers hearing the Scandinavian language spoken at the Hutto Lutheran Church, previously known as Hutto Swedish Evangelical Lutheran Church, during his youth.

“Growing up in the 1970s, there were certain times of the year with certain services where a hymn would be sung in Swedish, and there were enough Swedish speakers in the congregation from the older generation that the church would be filled with the sound of a Swedish hymn,” Rydell recalled.

These days, Hutto Lutheran is a thriving congregation that continues to recognize its Swedish roots despite changing demographics, he added.

“I am just amazed at the vitality, but there is barely a hint at the Swedish heritage of it,” he said. “My family is about what is left, but they still honor the origins and the traditions.”

One way is by celebrating Saint Lucia, a Swedish holiday observed on Dec. 13.

“It is a winter tradition, with a candlelight procession, and they serve these saffron buns,” Rydell said. “The kids pass it out. The girls are dressed in white, with one with candles in her hair, and the others are like the attendants. And the boys are called star boys with (conical) caps… One aspect of Santa Lucia is the children in the family are supposed to serve their parents breakfast in bed.”

Rydell said he loved his grandmother’s homemade rye bread and other baked items. However, one tradition he avoided was her “lutefisk,” a dried white cod fish soaked in lye and buried in ash.

“It becomes this gelatinous texture,” he said with a laugh. “It’s a very involved process and not delicious, but it’s a reminder of how hard folks had it.”

Olson also has memories of his grandma’s limpa rye bread and buttery cookies.

“When we were up there we would always go on Saturday nights to see her sister Ellen at her farm in Hare,” Olson said. “They were Swansons, and we were Olsons, and so both the sisters made these Swedish spritz cookies, a kind of a white cookie, that they would put in these funnels and push them out and make shapes. They would make those cookies in the shapes of S’s and O’s.”

THECZECHS

According to the historians, Czech immigration to Williamson County began in the 1880s, primarily from the historical Czech lands of Moravia and Bohemia, which are now currently part of Czechia, or the Czech Republic.

Though Czechs originally settled in the San Antonio area earlier in the 1800s, these newcomers were drawn to Taylor, Granger and Corn Hill because of the “abundance of good, relatively inexpensive farmland and the rich, blackland prairie soil,” Stephenson said.

Many of these new Williamson County residents were fleeing poverty and political instability in their homeland, he added.

“There was just this political turmoil over there,” Stephenson said. “People in Europe craved land. Land was very hard to come by.”

The Czechs had large, close-knit family units centered around farm life and a strong Christian faith, officials said.

Taylor businessman Tim Mikeska, the CEO of Mikeska’s Bar-B-Q Inc. and the owner of Mikeska Brands USA, echoed this assertion.

“In the 1880s and 1890s in Moravia, it was a difficult time, and everybody was poor,” said Mikeska, whose greatgrandfathers emigrated to the area in the 1890s. “People like my family were sharecroppers because they didn’t own any property.”

However, Texas offered a different way of life — and new opportunities.

Many of these immigrants became landowners, business founders and important members of the community through participation in churches, schools and social clubs, Mikeska said.

Prominent area churches with deep Czech roots today include Saint Cyril and Saint Methodius Church in Granger, as well as St. Mary of the Assumption Catholic Church and Taylor Brethren Church in Taylor.

Czechs also formed meat clubs, through which they used their butchering and traditional sausage-making skills honed in the Old World.

“Back then, there was no refrigeration so when you processed an animal you had to do something with it quick,” Mikeska said. “My great-grandfather would go out in the community and butcher other people’s animals: cattle, hogs, goats, sheep, ducks, geese, everything. They were butchers and they were very skilled at what they did.”

Over time, this turned into a popular family barbecue business that was even featured in Texas Monthly magazine.

“My grandfather John taught all six of his sons how to butcher animals by taking them to the beef club in Taylor,” he added. “This evolved into butcher shops and markets, and that evolved into barbecue and catering, and that has evolved into wholesale food distribution in 26 states.”

These days, the Mikeska brand just began offering a sausage wrapped in a pastry from a generations-old family recipe, which Mikeska emphasizes isn’t a “kolache.”

Despite what some marketing campaigns might have you believe, the kolach is a Czech pastry stuffed with sweet fillings, not meat.

“Let’s get this straight,” Mikeska said with a laugh. “Kolach is one, and kolache is plural for more than one. You can call it a pig in a blanket or you can call it a sausage kolache, but we find that very offensive. That would be like if you called a tortilla a frisbee. The thing that we put meat into in a pastry is called a klobasnek.”

Though the Czech influence has faded somewhat, Granger still had its own Czech-language newspaper called The Našinec, which means “fellow countrymen,” printed until 2018, said Monica Stojaník, the town’s former mayor.

In addition, the local radio station in Taylor played Czech music on Sunday afternoons and daily until the early 2000s, she added.

Still, the Czech folk-music tradition continues in the area through the Taylor Czech Chorus, which often performs lively songs at Heritage Square Park and many other area venues, said Stojaník, who speaks, reads and writes Czech and serves as the nonprofit organization’s spokeswoman.

“We do polkas and waltzes, and we also do some spiritual music called polka Masses,” Stojaník said.

In addition, Stojaník can often be found wearing a kroj, which is a traditional folk costume featuring lace and ribbons, while sharing the Czech flag and other items at various area elementary schools, family reunions and more.

“I’m going to be honest,” Stojaník said. “I am so proud of my Czech heritage.”

SEEDS FOR THE FUTURE

These days, visitors to eastern Williamson County are more likely to hear Korean spoken than any other language besides English or Spanish, thanks to the recent arrival of Samsung Austin Semiconductor to Taylor.

Nevertheless, the cultural impact of the Czechs and the Swedes can still be felt to this day, the descendants of the pioneers said.

“It’s amazing,” Mikeska said. “My family risked everything to get on a ship and spend six to eight weeks at sea to come to a country where they could not speak the language, but they saw the opportunity and they saw the freedom.”

He added, “The dreams of my father and our grandfathers built the foundation, and today the Mikeska name stands as proof that faith, hard work and opportunity in this country can turn humble beginnings in a small village in Moravia into a legacy that serves thousands of people and hundreds of restaurants across America.”

For his part, Olson said his Swedish grandparents instilled in him a love of his heritage, an entrepreneurial spirit and a desire to help area nonprofits grow stronger.

Since Anna+Anton was founded in 2021, nearly $1 million in grants have been given to local charities, including the Boys and Girls Club of East Williamson County and The Greater Taylor Foundation to fund their recent communitywide needs assessment.

Olson said that as eastern Williamson County continues to grow, he wants to make sure no one gets left behind.

But he also wants the Olson name to live on.

“I’m kind of the last of the clan, and I have been looking at ways to recognize their names,” Olson said of his immigrant grandparents. “When I am no longer here, I didn’t want their names to disappear. They were just too important to me.”

TAYLOR — With its neon sign looming over the 300 block of North Main Street, the Howard Theatre has weathered wars, droughts and the Great Winter Storm of 2021.

Drawing on community and family support to bring it back to life, the venerable cinema after major funding drives and hard work by organizers opened after a closure of a few years for limited showings in the spring.

Everyone who has been in town for any length of time has a story about the Howard. It might be attending a kids’ birthday party with cartoons flickering on the big screen or a nervous first date decades ago.

The venue has always welcomed neighbors for family-friendly entertainment downtown.

“We dressed up for superhero movies and ‘Star Wars’ premieres. Being able to do such a nostalgic thing with my son meant the world to me. We have cried together in that theater, laughed and grown up there through the years,” said Dennis Levitin, a movie enthusiast and cartoon artist, including inking strips for the Taylor Press.

THEOLDHOWARD,THERITAAND THENEWHOWARD:AHISTORY

According to Cinema Treasures, an online website documenting theaters across the U.S for 25 years, the original Howard Theater was located on the west side of Main Street, now Taylor Sporting Goods.

Opened in 1924 by Howard Bland, it showed first-run movies.

Bland debuted another theater on the east side of Main Street in 1940 to show B-run movies, naming it The Rita. In the 1950s, Bland closed the Old Howard and rebranded the Rita, adding the Art Deco neon sign announcing the new Howard Theatre.

In the 1970s, the theater went from one to two screens by adding a stage and a wall at the end of the balcony, creating a smaller upstairs theater and a larger downstairs theater. It was a staple for movie-watching residents for decades.

In 2020, the Howard shuttered during the pandemic. When it did reopen, two small pipes burst, flooding the new seats and the carpet.

Shortly after, the former owners wanted out.

With more passion for preserving the space than funds, Taylor entrepreneur Channing Kingery-Boles took over ownership in 2023. With a newly formed nonprofit board, Kingery-Boles spearheaded the effort to reopen the theater, assisted by donations and volunteers.

NOWSHOWING

Earlier this spring, the Howard Theatre began showing second-run movies on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. Starting Friday nights with a 7 p.m. movie, followed by dual movie times on Saturdays and Sundays with a matinee and evening showing, the screen comes to life with classics and fan favorites.

The theater is currently operating the main downstairs chamber, outfitted with 97 widely spaced seats, including four seats accessible to the mobility challenged. The space between the rows is generous, with some close to 4 feet apart.

With its budget-friendly pricing, a second-run movie is $5 per person for a matinee and $8 per person for an evening showing. The concessions are also a bargain, with a large bag of popcorn running $4 and a soda for just two bucks.

Some of the recent second runs have included “Back to the Future,” “Grease,” “E.T. the Extra-terrestrial” and “Top Gun.”

WHATARESECOND-RUNMOVIES?

Soon after purchasing the Howard, Kingery-Boles learned about the movie business, like how films are distributed and the types of theaters. With one screen in a historic property, the way forward became clear.

According to Kingery-Boles, the first-run theater model didn’t work for the Taylor cinema, where the distribution company takes a high percentage of the box-office sales, especially since the Howard has one screen and would have to run the same movie for a month.

However, with a second-run movie, theater owners pay a licensing fee to show the film, which is more economical, she explained. As in most theaters, the concession stand is an important income stream, as are special events.

In addition to second-run movies, the Howard plans to offer free screenings of public domain movies over the summer. These classic films are over 100 years old and are no longer protected by trademark, copyright or a patent.

COMINGSOON:FILMFESTIVALS

According to Kingery-Boles, the Howard Theatre will host the She Speaks Film Festival on Sept. 18 and Sept. 19 to celebrate “bold, inspiring stories” created by women.

“When we came and toured then met all the different women who basically keep the downtown commerce of Taylor running, it was just kind of a no-brainer being a female-centered festival,” said Sarah Joy Byington, local filmmaker and sponsor manager for the She Speaks Film Festival.

CINEPHILESSTRESSWHYCINEMAS AREIMPORTANT

According to four-time Oscar-winning director Sean Baker, “Watching a film in a theater with an audience is an experience. We can laugh together, cry together, scream in fright together, perhaps sit in devastated silence together. And in a time in which the world can feel very divided, this is more important than ever. It’s a communal experience you simply don’t get at home.”

Kingery-Boles echoed the sentiment. “We are building a sense of community and want people to have fun,” she said.

HOLDANEVENTATTHEHOWARD

As a community cinema, the Howard Theatre will continue to host events, private showings and benefits including corporate gatherings, like team building, to fundraisers and private movie nights.

The theater also airs bring-your-own DVDs and Blue-ray videos.

According to Kingery-Boles, a couple’s movie night from Monday to Thursday costs $99, and parties for up to 10 people are $150.

For larger events, the charge can range from $250 to $499 and above.

GETYOURTICKETS

According to Kingery-Boles, theater staff aim to announce movies three weeks in advance via the theater’s website, https:// www.howardtheatre.com/ or Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/p/The-Howard-Theatre-100063459013477/.

Tickets are available online or at the box office at 306 Main St., and the theater accepts cards and cash.

What’s happening in East Wilco arts and entertainment

— COMPILED BY CATHERINE PARKER

SUNDAY, MARCH 1 

• Hutto Silent Book Club at The Story Emporium & Bookshop, 202 U.S. 79, Hutto, 3-4:30 p.m., free and all ages.

MONDAY, MARCH 2

• Chair yoga at Taylor Public Library, 801 Vance St., Taylor, 9:30 a.m., free.

• “Moving Stories Monday” at The Story Emporium & Bookshop, 202 U.S. 79, Hutto, 10:30-11:30 a.m. for ages 4-12, 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. for ages 13-18.

• Sketch Club at Atelier 95, 311 N. Main St., Taylor, 6:30-9:30 p.m.

Donation: $15, ages 18 and up.

TUESDAY, MARCH 3 

• Storytelling with Kelley McRae at Black Sparrow Music Parlor, 113 W. Second St., Taylor, 7 p.m., free, ages 18 and up.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 4

• Storytime at Taylor Public Library, 801 Vance St., Taylor, 10:30 a.m., free, all ages.

• Preschool Storytime at the Hutto Public Library, 500 W. Live Oak St,. Hutto, 11 a.m.

• Senior Social at Taylor Public Library, 801 Vance St., Taylor, 2 p.m., free.

• Hutto Farmers Market at 350 Ed Schmidt Blvd., Hutto, 3-7 p.m.

• “Wine Down Wednesday” at The Story Emporium & Bookshop, 202 U.S. 79, Hutto, 5:45-6:45 p.m., free, ages 21 and up.

• Yoga by Taylor Parks and Recreation Department, 1412 Davis St., Taylor, 6:30 p.m., $5.

THURSDAY, MARCH 5

• Chair yoga at Taylor Public Library, 801 Vance St., Taylor, 9:30 a.m., free.

• Butts ’N’ Guts by Taylor Parks and Recreation Department, 1412 Davis St., Taylor, 6 p.m., $5.

• Track Time & Walk to Run by Taylor Parks and Recreation Department, 1412 Davis St., Taylor, 6:30 p.m., $12.

• Taylor Neighbors Coalition at Black Sparrow Music Parlor, 113 W. Second St., Taylor, 7 p.m., free, ages 18 and up.

FRIDAY, MARCH 6

• Senior Social at Taylor Public Library, 801 Vance St., Taylor, 2 p.m., free.

• SeniorFit by Taylor Parks and Recreation Department, 1412 Davis St., Taylor, 10:30 a.m., $5.

• Mindfulness Art Workshop at The Story Emporium & Bookshop, 202 U.S. 79, Hutto, 6-7:15 p.m., details at www. thestoryemporiumandbookshop.com.

• Karaoke Night and pool tournament at Cotton Country Club, 212 E. Davilla St., Granger, doors open at 5 p.m.

• Sterling Country at SPJST Lodge 29, 5025 FM 619, Taylor, 7:30 11:30 p.m., free.

• Texas Zephyrs & Giddy Up Go at Black Sparrow Music Parlor, 113 W. Second St., Taylor, 8 p.m., $10 at the door, ages 18 and up.

• Neal McCoy at Coupland Dancehall, 101 Hoxie St., Coupland, doors open at 6 p.m. Ticket info at CouplandDancehall.com.

SATURDAY, MARCH 7

• Heritage Square Farmers Market, 400 N. Main St., Taylor, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., free.

• Record Pop-Up at Curio Mrvosa Books and More, 114 N. Main St., Taylor, noon-5 p.m.

• Teen Writing Group at The Story Emporium & Bookshop, 202 U.S. 79, Hutto, 1-2 p.m., free, ages 13-18.

• Author signing: Nikei S. Salas at The Story Emporium & Bookshop, 202 U.S. 79, Hutto, 2-5 p.m., free.

• “Paint & Pour Night” at The Story Emporium & Bookshop, 202 U.S. 79, Hutto, 6-7 p.m. $30 per person, ages 21 and up.

• The Light Aluminum at Black Sparrow Music Parlor, 113 W.

Second St., Taylor, 8 p.m., $10 at the door, ages 18 and up.

SUNDAY, MARCH 8 DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME BEGINS • Resume workshop for adults at The Story Emporium & Bookshop, 202 U.S. 79, Hutto, 2-4 p.m, details at www. thestoryemporiumandbookshop.com.

MONDAY, MARCH 9

• Chair yoga at Taylor Public Library, 801 Vance St., Taylor, 9:30 a.m., free.

• “Moving Stories Monday” at The Story Emporium & Bookshop, 202 U.S. 79, Hutto, 10:30 a.m. to -1:30 p.m. for ages 4–12, 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. for ages 13–18.

• Sketch Club at Atelier 95, 311 N. Main St., Taylor, 6:30-9:30 p.m.

Donation: $15, ages 18 and up.

TUESDAY, MARCH 10

• SeniorFit by Taylor Parks and Recreation Department, 1412 Davis St., Taylor, 10:30 a.m., $5.

• Pilates by Taylor Parks and Recreation Department, 1412 Davis St., Taylor, 6 p.m., $5.

• Track Time & Walk to Run by Taylor Parks and Recreation Department, 1412 Davis St., Taylor, 6:30 p.m., $12.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 11

• Storytime at Taylor Public Library, 801 Vance St., Taylor, 10:30 a.m., free, all ages.

• Preschool Storytime at the Hutto Public Library, 500 W. Live Oak St., Hutto, 11 a.m.

• Senior Social at Taylor Public Library, 801 Vance St., Taylor, 2 p.m., free.

• Hutto Farmers Market at 350 Ed Schmidt Blvd., Hutto, 3-7 p.m.

• Anime & Manga Club at The Story Emporium & Bookshop, 202 U.S. 79, Hutto, 5:30- 6:30 p.m., free, ages 13 and up.

• Sounds Bowls (ages 18 and up) & Sunshine Kids Club at Black Sparrow Music Parlor, 113 W. Second St., Taylor, 6 p.m., free.

• Yoga by Taylor Parks and Recreation Department, 1412 Davis St., Taylor, 6:30 p.m., $5.

THURSDAY, MARCH 12

• Chair yoga at Taylor Public Library, 801 Vance St., Taylor, 9:30 a.m., free.

• “Women Who Wander” at The Story Emporium & Bookshop, 202 U.S. 79, Hutto, 6-8 p.m. free, RSVP at www. thestoryemporiumandbookshop.com.

• Butts ’N’ Guts by Taylor Parks and Recreation Department, 1412 Davis St., Taylor, 6 p.m., $5.

• Track Time & Walk to Run by Taylor Parks and Recreation Department, 1412 Davis St., Taylor, 6:30 p.m., $12.

FRIDAY, MARCH 13

• Senior Social at Taylor Public Library, 801 Vance St., Taylor, 2 p.m., free.

• SeniorFit by Taylor Parks and Recreation Department, 1412 Davis St., Taylor, 10:30 a.m., $5.

• Monthly Book Club at The Story Emporium & Bookshop, 202 U.S. 79, Hutto, 5-6:30 p.m., free.

• Karaoke Night and pool tournament at Cotton Country Club, 212 E. Davilla St., Granger, doors open at 5 p.m.

• Closing party for “100 Bucks Art Show” at Curio Mrvosa Books and More, 114 N. Main St., Taylor, 5-8 p.m.

• Robert Lawhorn & Triple Threat at SPJST Lodge 29, 5025 FM 619, Taylor, 7:30-11:30 p.m., free.

• Steve Delopoulos at Black Sparrow Music Parlor, 113 W.

Second St., Taylor, 8 p.m., free, all ages.

• Asleep at the Wheel at Coupland Dancehall, 101 Hoxie St., Coupland, doors open at 6 p.m. Ticketing info at CouplandDancehall.com

SATURDAY, MARCH 14

• Downtown Taylor Community Alley Cleanup starting at 9 a.m.

• Heritage Square Farmers Market, 400 N. Main St., Taylor, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., free.

• “Gilmore Girls Day” at The Story Emporium & Bookshop, 202 U.S. 79, Hutto, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., free.

• Middle Earth D&D Campaign (ages 18 and up) and Teen D&D One-Shot (ages 13-18) at The Story Emporium & Bookshop, 202 U.S. 79, Hutto, 1:30-5:30 p.m., details at www. thestoryemporiumandbookshop.com.

• Open Mic Night at Black Sparrow Music Parlor, 113 W. Second St., Taylor, 6 p.m., free, all ages.

SUNDAY, MARCH 15

• “Writing Talk: Turning Ideas into a Book” at The Story Emporium & Bookshop, 202 U.S. 79, Hutto, 2-3:30 p.m., free, all ages.

MONDAY, MARCH 16 SPRING BREAK FOR TAYLOR AND HUTTO INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICTS • Chair yoga at Taylor Public Library, 801 Vance St., Taylor, 9:30 a.m., free.

• “Moving Stories Monday” at The Story Emporium & Bookshop, 202 U.S. 79, Hutto, 10:30-11:30 a.m. for ages 4-12, 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. for ages 13–18.

• Sketch Club at Atelier 95, 311 N. Main St., Taylor, 6:30 -9:30 p.m. Donation: $15, ages 18 and up.

TUESDAY, MARCH 17

• SeniorFit by Taylor Parks and Recreation Department, 1412 Davis St., Taylor, 10:30 a.m., $5.

• Pilates by Taylor Parks and Recreation Department, 1412 Davis St., Taylor, 6 p.m., $5.

• Track Time & Walk to Run by Taylor Parks and Recreation Department, 1412 Davis St., Taylor, 6:30 p.m., $12.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18

• Storytime at Taylor Public Library, 801 Vance St., Taylor, 10:30 a.m., free, all ages.

• Preschool Storytime at the Hutto Public Library, 500 W. Live Oak St., Hutto, 11 a.m.

• Senior Social at Taylor Public Library, 801 Vance St., Taylor, 2 p.m., free.

• Hutto Farmers Market at 350 Ed Schmidt Blvd., Hutto, 3-7 p.m.

ARTS & MUSIC

• Teen Writing Group at The Story Emporium & Bookshop, 202 U.S. 79, Hutto, 5:45-6:45 p.m., free, ages 13-18.

• Yoga by Taylor Parks and Recreation Department, 1412 Davis St., Taylor, 6:30 p.m., $5.

THURSDAY, MARCH 19

• Chair yoga at Taylor Public Library, 801 Vance St., Taylor, 9:30 a.m., free.

• Butts ’N’ Guts by Taylor Parks and Recreation Department, 1412 Davis St., Taylor, 6 p.m., $5.

• Track Time & Walk to Run by Taylor Parks and Recreation Department, 1412 Davis St., Taylor, 6:30 p.m., $12.

• Music on Main: The Animeros at Heritage Square Park, 400 N.

Main St., Taylor, 7 p.m., free.

FRIDAY, MARCH 20

• Senior Social at Taylor Public Library, 801 Vance St., Taylor, 2 p.m., free.

• SeniorFit by Taylor Parks and Recreation Department, 1412 Davis St., Taylor, 10:30 a.m., $5.

• Karaoke Night and pool tournament at Cotton Country Club, 212 E. Davilla St., Granger, doors open at 5 p.m.

• Midnight Wranglers at SPJST Lodge 29, 5025 FM 619, Taylor, 7:30-11:30 p.m., free.

• Open Jam Night at Black Sparrow Music Parlor, 113 W. Second St., Taylor, 8 p.m., free, all ages.

• Austin Meade at Coupland Dancehall, 101 Hoxie St., Coupland, doors open at 6 p.m. Ticket info at CouplandDancehall.com.

SATURDAY, MARCH 21

• TMA Urban Farm & Garden’s Plants and Pastries Party, 701 S.

Main St., Taylor, 9 a.m.

• Heritage Square Farmers Market, 400 N. Main St., Taylor, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., free.

• Local vendor market at The Story Emporium & Bookshop, 202 U.S. 79, Hutto, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., free.

• Atlas Major at Black Sparrow Music Parlor, 113 W. Second St., Taylor, 8 p.m., $10 at the door, ages 18 and up.

• Katie Watson at Coupland Dancehall, 101 Hoxie St., Coupland, doors open at 6 p.m. Ticket info at CouplandDancehall.com.

MONDAY, MARCH 23

• Chair yoga at Taylor Public Library, 801 Vance St., Taylor, 9:30 a.m., free.

• “Moving Stories Monday” at The Story Emporium & Bookshop, 202 U.S. 79, Hutto, 10:30-11:30 a.m. for ages 4-12, 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. for ages 13-18.

• Sketch Club at Atelier 95, 311 N. Main St., Taylor, 6:30-9:30 p.m. Donation: $15, ages 18 and up.

TUESDAY, MARCH 24

• SeniorFit by Taylor Parks and Recreation Department, 1412 Davis St., Taylor, 10:30 a.m., $5.

• Pilates by Taylor Parks and Recreation Department, 1412 Davis St., Taylor, 6 p.m., $5.

• Track Time & Walk to Run by Taylor Parks and Recreation Department, 1412 Davis St., Taylor, 6:30 p.m., $12.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25

• Storytime at Taylor Public Library, 801 Vance St, Taylor, 10:30 a.m., free, all ages.

• Preschool Storytime at the Hutto Public Library, 500 W. Live Oak St., Hutto, 11 a.m.

• Senior Social at Taylor Public Library, 801 Vance St., Taylor, 2 p.m., free.

• Hutto Farmers Market at 350 Ed Schmidt Blvd., Hutto, 3-7 p.m.

• Yoga by Taylor Parks and Recreation Department, 1412 Davis St., Taylor, 6:30 p.m., $5.

THURSDAY, MARCH 26

• Chair yoga at Taylor Public Library, 801 Vance St., Taylor, 9:30 a.m., free.

• Butts ’N’ Guts by Taylor Parks and Recreation Department, 1412 Davis St., Taylor, 6 p.m., $5.

• Track Time & Walk to Run by Taylor Parks and Recreation Department, 1412 Davis St., Taylor, 6:30 p.m., $12.

• Poetry Open Mic at Black Sparrow Music Parlor, 113 W. Second St., Taylor, 7 p.m., free, ages 18 and up.

FRIDAY, MARCH 27

• Senior Social at Taylor Public Library, 801 Vance St., Taylor, 2 p.m., free.

• SeniorFit by Taylor Parks and Recreation Department, 1412 Davis St., Taylor, 10:30 a.m., $5.

• Game Night at The Story Emporium & Bookshop, 202 U.S. 79, Hutto, 4-7:30 p.m., free, ages 18 and up.

• Karaoke Night and pool tournament at Cotton Country Club, 212 E. Davilla St., Granger, doors open at 5 p.m.

• Second Hand Rose at SPJST Lodge 29, 5025 FM 619, Taylor, 7:30-11:30 p.m., free.

• Trey Harland at Black Sparrow Music Parlor, 113 W. Second St., Taylor, 8 p.m., $10 at the door, ages 18 and up.

• Sterling Elza at Coupland Dancehall, 101 Hoxie St., Coupland, doors open at 6 p.m. Ticketing info at CouplandDancehall. com.

SATURDAY, MARCH 28

• Heritage Square Farmers Market, 400 N. Main St., Taylor, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., free.

• Taylor Studio Tour in Taylor, noon-5 p.m., free. For more, visit www.taylorstudiotour.com/.

• Middle Earth D&D Campaign (ages 18 and up) and Teen D&D One-Shot (ages 13-18) at The Story Emporium & Bookshop, 202 U.S. 79, Hutto, 1:30-5:30 p.m., details at www. thestoryemporiumandbookshop.com.

• Taylor Youth Safety Bike Rodeo at Pasemann Elementary School, 2809 North Drive, Taylor, 2-5 p.m. (2-3 p.m. lowsensory hour), free for all ages.

• “Gatopalooza Art Show” opening reception at Curio Mrvosa Books and More, 114 N. Main St., Taylor, 5-8 p.m.

• Peer Feedback Circle – Writers Meet-Up at The Story Emporium & Bookshop, 202 U.S. 79, Hutto, 4-6 p.m., free.

• Bob Schneider at Coupland Dance Hall, 101 Hoxie St., Coupland, doors open at 6 p.m. Tickets: https://www.etix. com/ticket/p/46402724/bob-schneider-coupland-couplanddancehall.

• Chubby Knuckle Choir at Black Sparrow Music Parlor, 113 W. Second St., Taylor, 8 p.m., $10 at door, ages 18 and up.

SUNDAY, MARCH 29

• Taylor Studio Tour in Taylor, noon-5 p.m., free, more Information at www.taylorstudiotour.com/.

• Children’s Author Reading: Dana Rawdah at The Story Emporium & Bookshop, 202 U.S. 79, Hutto, 12:30-2 p.m., free.

• East Wilco Dems Meet at Black Sparrow Music Parlor, 113 W.

Second St., Taylor, noon, free.

MONDAY, MARCH 30

• Chair yoga at Taylor Public Library, 801 Vance St., Taylor, 9:30 a.m., free.

• “Moving Stories Monday” at The Story Emporium & Bookshop, 202 U.S. 79, Hutto, 10:30-11:30 a.m. for ages 4-12, 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. for ages 13-18.

• Sketch Club at Atelier 95, 311 N. Main St., Taylor, 6:30-9:30 p.m.

Donation: $15, ages 18 and up.

TUESDAY, MARCH 31

• SeniorFit by Taylor Parks and Recreation Department, 1412 Davis St., Taylor, 10:30 a.m., $5.

• Pilates by Taylor Parks and Recreation Department, 1412 Davis St., Taylor, 6 p.m., $5.

• Track Time & Walk to Run by Taylor Parks and Recreation Department, 1412 Davis St., Taylor, 6:30 p.m., $12.

APRIL

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 1

• Storytime at Taylor Public Library, 801 Vance St., Taylor, 10:30 a.m., free, all ages.

• Preschool Storytime at the Hutto Public Library, 500 W. Live Oak St., Hutto, 11 a.m.

• Senior Social at Taylor Public Library, 801 Vance St., Taylor, 2 p.m., free.

• Hutto Farmers Market at 350 Ed Schmidt Blvd., Hutto, 3-7 p.m.

• Yoga by Taylor Parks and Recreation Department, 1412 Davis St., Taylor, 6:30 p.m., $5.

THURSDAY, APRIL 2

• Chair yoga at Taylor Public Library, 801 Vance St., Taylor, 9:30 a.m., free.

• Butts ’N’ Guts by Taylor Parks and Recreation Department, 1412 Davis St., Taylor, 6 p.m., $5.

• Track Time & Walk to Run by Taylor Parks and Recreation Department, 1412 Davis St., Taylor, 6:30 p.m., $12.

• Taylor Neighbors Coalition at Black Sparrow Music Parlor, 113 W. Second St., Taylor, 7 p.m., free, ages 18 and up.

FRIDAY: APRIL 3

• Senior Social at Taylor Public Library, 801 Vance St., Taylor, 2 p.m., free.

• SeniorFit by Taylor Parks and Recreation Department, 1412 Davis St., Taylor, 10:30 a.m., $5.

• “You Be the Judge” at The Story Emporium & Bookshop, 202 U.S. 79, Hutto, 12:30- 1:30 p.m, free, ages 13 and up.

• Karaoke Night and pool tournament at Cotton Country Club, 212 E. Davilla St., Granger, doors open at 5 p.m.

• Open Jam Night at Black Sparrow Music Parlor, 113 W. Second St., Taylor, 8 p.m.

SATURDAY, APRIL 4

• Heritage Square Farmers Market, 400 N. Main St., Taylor, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., free.

• Easter Egg Hunt at Memorial Field, 1213 Davis St., Taylor, 10 a.m. to noon.

• Black Sparrow Showcase at Black Sparrow Music Parlor, 113 W.

Second St., Taylor, 8 p.m., $10, ages 18 and up.

• Ghosts of the Hill Country at Coupland Dancehall, 101 Hoxie St., Coupland, doors open at 6 p.m. Ticket info at CouplandDancehall.com.

SUNDAY, APRIL 5 EASTER • Hutto Silent Book Club at The Story Emporium & Bookshop, 202 U.S. 79, Hutto, 3-4:30 p.m., free.

MONDAY: APRIL 6

• Chair yoga at Taylor Public Library, 801 Vance St., Taylor, 9:30 a.m., free.

• “Moving Stories Monday” at The Story Emporium & Bookshop, 202 U.S. 79, Hutto, 10:30-11:30 a.m. for ages 4-12, 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. for ages 13–18.

• Sketch Club at Atelier 95, 311 N. Main St., Taylor, 6:30-9:30 p.m.

Donation: $15, ages 18 and up.

TUESDAY, APRIL 7

• SeniorFit by Taylor Parks and Recreation Department, 1412 Davis St., Taylor, 10:30 a.m., $5.

• Pilates by Taylor Parks and Recreation Department, 1412 Davis St., Taylor, 6 p.m., $5.

• Track Time & Walk to Run by Taylor Parks and Recreation Department, 1412 Davis St., Taylor, 6:30 p.m., $12.

• Storytelling with Kelly McRae at Black Sparrow Music Parlor, 113 W. Second St., Taylor, 7 p.m., free, ages 18 and up.

WWW.EASTWILCOINSIDER.COM

Energizing lovers of literature across Central Texas

Creating a community one book at a time is the philosophy driving most indie bookstores in Central Texas including eastern Williamson County.

In an era of instant media, bookstores entice customers into their brick and mortars with recommendations, events and the chance to meet fellow bibliophiles.

Every April, booksellers band together to celebrate each other and promote the art of reading with the bookstore crawl known as the Austin Texas Book Trail.

The love of all things literary is capped off by Independent Bookstore Day, an annual event.

AUSTINTEXASBOOKTRAIL

Now in its third year, the Austin Texas Book Trail features 36 independent bookstores spread across Central Texas open for visits the weekend of April 4 and April 5.

From Dripping Springs snd Bastrop to Leander and Taylor, the mission of the Austin Texas Book Trail is to uplift newer bookstores, cherish the old and energize the local literary community, according to founders Jacqueline Rangel and Michelle Zhang.

“We were initially a one-day event in 2024, coordinated with Independent Bookstore Day, but we pulled apart from it in 2025 to stretch the self-guided crawl to two days over a weekend in April,” Rangel said.

According to Rangel, participation has grown from 29 bookstores in 2025. For more, see www.austintexasbooktrail.com/.

CURIOMRVOSA BOOKSANDMORE

Opening in 2021 and now in its second, larger location, Curio Mrvosa Books and More at 114 N. Main. St. in Taylor stocks an eclectic mix of fiction, nonfiction, novelty gifts and vintage finds.

It has been on the Austin Texas Book Trail since the beginning.

“We curate an unusual mix of new, used and vintage books and endeavor to be a welcoming and weird alternativeculture mom-and-pop shop like the ones we frequented back in the ’80s and ’90s,” said co-owner Alyse Mervosh.

For the Austin Texas Book Trail weekend, Curio Mrvosa Books and More will offer a 10% discount for visitors with trail maps, available at any of the participating bookstores. It will also host a raffle in the store.

According to Mervosh, the shelves are stocked with interesting local titles such as Austin’s “Music Scene,” edited by Mitch Baranowski. Other recommendations include “The Witch of Willow Sound: A Novel” by Vanessa F. Penney, a gothic fiction book.

“We encourage kids to read,” Mervosh said.

Curio Mrvosa Books and More features a large section dedicated to young readers, from board books for babies to graphic novels for middle grades and beyond. The store even has a section of free books for kids to take.

A new addition to the shop is the Build Your Own Ephemera files. This flat file features graphic images and single pages from vintage books that can be used for projects and sold by the envelope. Divided by subject, customers will find people, places and animals, sci-fi elements and a drawer just for kids.

“We celebrate physical media,” said Mervosh.

In addition to books and novelties, it also hosts a different artist each month, celebrating them with an opening and closing reception. It is also a featured location on the Taylor Studio Tour each year.

In its larger space, Curio Mrvosa offers a meeting space for book clubs and book signings. It also opens up its space to small community events.

“We even offer a discount to encourage book clubs to buy local,” said Mervosh.

Hours are noon-4 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday and noon-4 p.m. Sunday.

For more, visit curiomrvosa.square.site/.

LARK AND OWL BOOKSELLERS

Founded by women in 2018, Lark and Owl Booksellers is also participating in the Austin Texas Book Trail. Located in historic downtown Georgetown, 205 Sixth St., Suite 101, its books are as diverse as its readers who whittle away a few hours thumbing through titles, the booksellers said.

Nestled among the volumes, customers will find Alouette Bistro offering baristamade coffees and teas, plus an assortment of baked goods and lunch items including quiche and sandwiches.

Hours are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday to Sunday.

THE STORY EMPORIUM &BOOKSHOP

Opening in late 2025, the Story Emporium & Bookshop in Hutto is the newest independent bookseller in the area.

Located at 202 U.S. 79 in Hutto, it stocks a curated mix of new and used books in genres for readers of all ages.

According to owner Ash O’Rourke, readers will find their favorite top titles for all ages, from children’s picture books and graphic novels to young-adult selections.

Adult readers will discover contemporary, fantasy and historical romance, literary and contemporary fiction, mystery, horror and thrillers.

The Story Emporium & Bookshop also stocks fantasy, science fiction and nonfiction titles along with a section featuring local authors.

Though not a part of the Austin Book Trail this year, The Story Emporium and Bookshop hosts events during the month.

From a Silent Book Club to writing workshops, readers and writers can gather in a supportive space, O’Rourke said.

Hours are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday. For more, visit www. thestoryemporiumandbookshop.com/.

INDEPENDENT BOOKSTOREDAY

Scheduled for April 25, the 13th Annual Independent Bookstore Day celebrates independently owned bookstores across the country.

In 2026, over 1,300 stores will participate, organizers said.

For readers east of Taylor, there is also a bookstore in Rockdale. Main Street Bookshop is located at 202 W. Cameron Ave.

Elgin features a pop-up bookstore, Lonely Hunter Books, inside of Lo-Fi Coffee House and Studio at 109 A Central Ave.

In 1876 the International-Great Northern Railroad steamed into Williamson County and established depots not far from Austin that would become the cities of Taylor and Hutto.

Now, 150 years later, both municipalities are commemorating the importance of the railroad in 2026 with sesquicentennial celebrations.

Yet at the same, the railroads that created an economic boon for East Wilco in the 19th century — while still vital — pose plenty of challenges for the fast-growing county in the 21st century as the population expands, roads are built to accommodate more autos and new industries locate to the region, officials said.

“We as citizens can complain about blocking the crossings or the long permitting and approval processes, but we also know that trying to get any changes made from (Union Pacific Railroad) is a battle … Don’t expect to win the fight,” said Scott Murrah, an engineer whose local projects have faced delays from Union Pacific.

Union Pacific officials declined to comment directly for the story, but did send this response: “Communities developing projects on or near Union Pacific right of way can start the process by reaching out to our public projects team on our website, where you can find detailed information on how the process works.”

The railroad provided this link: www. up.com/communities/public-projects.

According to local historians, without the railroad Hutto, Taylor and many other Central Texas towns might not exist.

“We had several pioneer families around here and about all they could do was survive. But when the railroad came it meant you could be a farmer and you could grow something like cotton and get it to market,” said Don Doss, a member of the Williamson County Historic Commission.

Doss added, “That made it possible for a lot of people to make money and raise a family and build a house and that was very viable for a long time.”

The railroad connected Williamson County to the rest of the United States and the Port of Houston, igniting a boom in the cotton industry. In the early 1900s, Doss said, the county was the secondlargest producer of cotton in Texas and the state was the largest producer of cotton in the world.

Houston shipped more cotton than any other port on the planet.

“Without the railroads, Williamson County could have been like a lot of the counties you see now in East Texas where they only have small rural towns and no real industrial growth ... at least until Austin grew up,” Doss said.

A MIXED BLESSING

In the 21st century, the local tracks are now owned and operated by Union Pacific. BNSF Railway has trackage rights on the UP rails through the area. There is also an Amtrak stop in Taylor for passenger transport.

Cotton is no longer the economic driver for east Williamson County, but freight trains still run the rails through the cities. While the towns initially relied on the railroad for survival, in 2026 the rails are a mixed blessing for the growing communities, according to some local leaders.

HUTTOAND EMERGENCY PLANNING

In Hutto, where the train tracks bisect the city as they run parallel to U.S. 79, the train affects all parts of life from the daily commute to school to transportation and logistics for first responders. The tracks cross several major intersections and have an impact on 79, a main transportation artery through the city.

An average of 15 trains pass through Hutto each day.

“In a fast-growing district like (the) Hutto Independent School District, rail lines don’t just mark history—they actively shape the present. They influence where schools can be built, how students are transported safely, and how long students spend on the bus,” said Hutto ISD board Chairwoman Amy English.

English said district buses cross the railroad tracks more than 40,000 times a year. By law, the transport vehicles must stop at every railroad crossing. Hutto ISD is working to secure a secondary transportation hub on the other side of the tracks from the current facility that will cut the number of railroad crossings nearly in half.

In addition to the inconvenience of adding to travel time, waiting for a train to pass could have disastrous results during an emergency.

Police Chief Jeffrey Yarbrough said his department works to keep patrol officers available in different sectors of the city so residents aren’t waiting on a response when patrol cars are stuck at crossings.

Hutto Fire Rescue has stations on both sides of the tracks to get crews to scenes faster.

The railroad presents unique hazards that require specialized planning and training.

“The railroad running through Hutto is an important factor in how Hutto Fire Rescue plans and delivers emergency services. Trains can occasionally block crossings, which could potentially delay response times,” said spokeswoman Cassie Balderas. “Having four strategically located stations throughout our service area ensures that emergency resources can reach calls from multiple directions, even when trains are present.”

According to Balderas, fire crews coordinate efforts with other Williamson County agencies and regularly train for a range of incidents that could occur along the tracks, including derailment of cars carrying passengers, hazardous-materials shipments and other unknown cargos.

The department responded to three railroad crossing accidents in 2024 and one in 2025.

Overall, there were 40 reported incidents or accidents from 2021-2025 with four fatalities in Williamson County, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.

LONG DELAYS IN THRALL

Trains are regulated by federal law, and there are no state laws that limit how long a stopped train can block an intersection. Trains have been known to block the two crossings in Thrall for more than an hour at a time, cutting off access between 79 and the schools, forcing buses, parents and other commuters to find alternate routes miles out of their way, according to residents and officials.

GRANGERAND

THE WATERLINE WOES

In Granger, trains frequently block the tracks for up to 30 minutes at a time but on rare occasions the three crossings have been rendered impassable for days, according to Murrah, president of 5M Associates, a firm that has worked with Granger and several other cities in Williamson County.

“We do understand the importance of the railroad and its effect on our surrounding economy, but the Granger community does not benefit directly from the railroad’s presence,” Murrah said.

Granger is divided in half by the railroad, which follows Texas 95. The city has two parallel tracks through town and is used as a passing zone for northbound and southbound trains.

Murrah said the close proximity of the crossings usually means that all three are blocked when one train has to wait for an oncoming train.

While freight trains can move fast, Union Pacific can be a slow-moving bureaucracy, Granger officials said.

Getting approval to go under or over the tracks can add months and in some cases years to a project.

In Granger, Murrah’s company ran into delays while installing a new water line that crossed under the tracks. The holdup kept the Granger Secondary School from opening until March due to a lack of accessible water.

“The permit for the bore under the railroad cost the city about $17,000 and took about three months for approval ... this was just to get permission to bore under the railroad,” Murrah said.

When the drilling hit an unexpected snag and a second hole bored into groundwater, UP halted all operations and required the city to hire a geotechnical engineering firm to perform groundpenetrating radar services.

The revised drawings took four months to complete and another three months to receive UP approval.

Murrah believes it might have taken even longer for the railroad company to approve the revised permit, but Mayor Bruce Waggoner contacted District 52 state Rep. Caroline Harris Davila and her office made inquiries with Union Pacific.

He believes her support helped speed the process by several months.

“For small cities like Granger, the (Union Pacific Railroad) is the 800-pound gorilla that the city has to live with,” Murrah said.

EASTWILCOHIGHWAY

Granger hasn’t been the only government entity to call on state or U.S. leaders for help when working with Union Pacific.

In September 2024, Williamson County Precinct 4 Commissioner Russ Boles faced delays on a pair of bridges crossing over the tracks on FM 3349 as part of the East Wilco Highway.

For many long months drivers traveling on 79 between Hutto and Taylor saw the skeletons of unfinished bridges with no work being done because the permit to cross the tracks had not been approved.

With the project already behind, Boles said he received a message from the railroad company the permit needed to pass by yet another department that would potentially delay construction another three months.

Boles reached out to Congressman Pete Sessions, who interceded with Union Pacific. Boles had the permit in hand within two weeks.

ECONOMICADVANTAGES

While railroads may cause issues with development, in other cases they give small cities special economic advantages, officials said.

The RCR Taylor Logistics Park at 79 and FM 3349 is a rail yard served by both UP and BNSR. It is situated with easy access to Samsung Austin Semiconductor and industrial sites in both Taylor and Hutto. It is also a main shipping hub for Tesla, which has leased a facility within the park for transporting its Model Y vehicles and Cybertrucks.

Officials with the Taylor Economic Development Corp. consider the facility a strategic asset.

“As the only rail-served port facility in Central Texas, Taylor is uniquely positioned to attract and support a diverse range of industries that rely on rail for the efficient movement of raw materials and finished goods,” said Ben White, CEO/President of the EDC. “This competitive advantage enhances our ability to recruit manufacturers, logistics providers and distribution operations that depend on reliable freight rail service— bringing quality jobs and (an) expanded tax base to our community.”

In addition, White said the Amtrak station in Taylor adds to the city’s options, allowing the town to leverage both freight- and passenger-rail assets for industry and community development.

RAILROADS AND A TRAVELING EXHIBIT

Taylor will celebrate its rail-based history during its sesquicentennial year with a visit from the Smithsonian’s Museum on Main Street traveling exhibit – “Spark! Places of Innovation.”

The traveling exhibit will be in town from Aug. 15 to Sept. 27.

Taylor is the only city in Williamson County to host the showcase this year.

The event was created to explore “the unique combination of places, people, and circumstances that sparks innovation in invention” in rural communities, according to organizers.

“Taylor’s addition to the exhibit will highlight the region’s close ties to the railroad, cotton and incoming tech industry – along with local art, stories and historic vehicles,” said Taylor Special Events Coordinator Ruby Fisher. “Our hope is that folks leave the exhibit with the story of Taylor.”

More details are pending.

Three out of four of these young offenders return to the criminal-justice system within three years.

Williamson County officials are trying to reverse that trend.

The Transformative Justice Program, hailed as “unique” among criminaljustice professionals, is giving young-adult offenders a second chance at redemption and a productive life instead of a cell and a cot.

“If you had a school and you only succeeded with 25% of the students, you wouldn’t keep doing the same thing, but that’s what the criminal-justice system has been doing for decades,” said District Attorney Shawn Dick.

About 10 years ago, Elizabeth Henneke, founder and chief executive officer of the Lone Star Justice Alliance, proposed the idea of the Transformative Justice Program to Dick and 277th state District Court Judge Stacey Mathews, whose docket includes cases involving juveniles, or those 16 and under charged with a crime.

Dick and Mathews both agreed the system needed to change and decided the change would start with them.

Mathews and prosecutor Stephen Hesse noted the county already had a strong diversion program for juvenile offenders, but those slightly older were falling through the cracks of the justice system.

“It seemed to me that if we extended that (youth program) into young adulthood and provided some of the same services that we were able to give to juveniles … we would reduce criminality and recidivism,” Hesse said.

Dick and Mathews spent several years gathering all the key partners and components to create a program.

One piece of this multifaceted puzzle included extensive research. To receive state funding, the Legislature wanted data, but Mathews said there was none at the time.

“There had never been any randomized controlled study in the criminal-justice system that we’re aware of or that our researchers were aware of,” Mathews said.

The judge compared the research they needed to that of medical trials. They had to receive approval from ethics boards and program participants had to sign consent forms.

“It was a very interesting process because it’s humans we’re looking at and that’s what makes this work so critical,” Mathews said.

Georges Naufal and Emily Naiser from the Texas A&M University’s Public Policy Research Institute became involved with the TJ project in 2018.

The data-collection period began in earnest in November 2020. From 2018 to 2020, Naufal said they had to determine what research design was feasible for project evaluation, what data existed, how the program would function and how outcomes would be captured.

Initially, Dallas County was also in the study as officials there attempted a similar program, but due to a lack of funding and other resources they dropped out.

“The TJ program is complex. It’s not easy to set up and manage,” Naufal said. “Building successful programs like this one relies on a variety of community services and committed stakeholders.”

Naiser added, “The Transformative Justice Program in Williamson County has proven to be quite unique.”

Participants must be nonviolent felony offenders, but TJ is not a one-size-fits-all rehabilitation program. The goal is much larger and broader than that.

“It’s teaching these youth about accountability, about their role in our community, about how to be a productive member of society, but it’s also about giving them an individualized treatment plan so that they have the tools they need to succeed in life,” Dick said.

Some of the tools include mental health and drug counseling, parenting classes for those participants with children and life skills such as resume building, budgeting and furthering their education.

It is a requirement that participants have their general education diploma before they can graduate from the program.

“And then we really require them to do something else. Like attending Austin Community College or training and certification programs,” Dick said. “Why would a program like ours settle for anything less? These kids should be encouraged to go to trade school, go to college, go to graduate school. The whole world is still in front of them.”

From the first day, Dick said TJ case managers and lawyers work to get these young adults invested in their future.

HOWITWORKS;NOTEASY

Transformative justice works faster than the standard criminal-justice system, authorities said. Once offenders decide to participate in the program, many remain in jail less than one day.

“There’s research about how every day, every hour somebody is sitting in jail negatively affects lives,” said Jo Poenitzsch, an attorney at the TJ facility.

Once the paperwork is signed, the offender receives an immediate personal recognizance bond to get out of jail, then they promptly meet with someone from the program.

Poenitzsch pointed out in the regular criminal-justice system offenders who bond out can hire legal counsel or get a court-appointed attorney, but they may not meet with their lawyer that day and they will not have a court date for a month or more.

Some of the young adults do “moan” about the amount of work and length of time the TJ program takes, but “I remind them that regular probation is a minimum of three years,” Poenitzsch said.

Dick acknowledged TJ isn’t easy. It involves three different phases and takes 10-18 months to complete.

“It’s a lot of work, but if you can get an emerging adult to think long-term, the results for their life are night and day,” he said.

In phase one, current needs and immediate challenges are evaluated and addressed, such as mental-health issues and substance-abuse problems.

Unlike many other programs, a substance-abuse relapse is not an immediate dismissal from TJ.

Case manager Marc Ruiz said, “We expect them to have a relapse and have those issues. That’s why we have the counseling. That’s why we have the substance-abuse program that we’ve got.”

Ruiz said the program also uses a relapse as a chance for accountability, allowing the young adult to be honest.

“When they realize they’re not going back to jail, they have more ‘buy’ into the program,” Ruiz said That leads to phase two, the step toward positive change in outlook and direction.

During phase three, participants focus on the growth they have made and look outward toward helping others in their community.

The program teaches the emerging adults that they are also accountable to their community.

“They have to give something back,” Mathews said.

Before the program’s introduction, the arrested young adults posed a risk to society and to themselves, the district attorney said.

“These youth that were coming out of the justice system were harming themselves and the community,” Dick said. “They were becoming a burden and a drain on our society and tax base.”

Now, they are learning the benefit of community service, but TJ participants will not be out on the side of the road picking up trash—unless they want to.

Mathews said the program does not want to dole out service hours to fill up time but offer something that gets the young adults interested and actively engaged in looking beyond themselves to help others.

“What we’re trying to do for this population is to be that community, teach them what community means. And then it becomes their turn. Now they get to go out into their community and make it better,” Mathews said.

Many participants did not recognize themselves as part of a community before becoming a part of TJ.

“They were just shocked at how even the judge and the prosecutor, how everybody, wanted to learn about them and wanted to help them and actually did care about them,” Poenitzsch said.

THE FRUITS OF SUCCESS

Successful graduation includes having their offense expunged from the court record, in addition to the new skills they will have learned and tools they will have developed to create a different path in life.

Today, the progam has a graduation rate of 60%, but officials want that figure to be much higher.

“I’d like 100%,” Poenitzsch said, adding she knows that’s not likely for any program.

Still, officials acknowledged the numbers are higher than those found in the traditional justice system.

Naufal and Naiser concluded if the young adults could make it through TJ’s first 200 days, they were more likely to complete the program.

“Our system is very individual based. You have to figure out what the needs are for each emerging adult that comes in, each treatment program plan, each accountability plan is based on them and their case and their needs,” Dick said. “It’s challenging because you’ve got to find all of these different resources and different ways to help different people, but I think the individualized nature is also what leads to the success.”

During the Feb. 6 session of Williamson County Commissioners Court, Dick, Matthews, Naufal and Naiser shared their findings and data.

The program received permission from the county’s representatives to apply for a fiscal year 2027 grant through the state Criminal Justice Grants Program for $164,000, with commissioners agreeing to contribute matching funds.

The funding is budgeted for the purchase of a new software system and salaries for a program director and case manager.

For more information and ways to help or donate, visit tj-wc.org.

ON THE COVER

Danielle and Will Vermillion are the owners and operators of Vermillion Farms, the only aeroponics farm in Williamson County. The Coupland- based endeavor features COUPLAND — Farming in Texas has always been a struggle pitting man against nature. From mercurial weather to pestilential assaults, farmers today can now also add the challenges of labor shortages and global-market fluctuations to their list of livelihood complications.

AGRIBUSINESS

ROOTOF THE MATTER A look into aeroponics farming

Land is a separate concern. Texas has seen the price of land increase at a mind-blowing, exponential rate in the last six years, but rising costs are not the only worry as children of farming families leave to seek other careers and properties become industrial operations or are swallowed by urban sprawl.

What is to be done? How can these issues be mitigated while also growing fresh, healthy food?

Will and Danielle Vermillion of Coupland might just have an answer.

They own and operate Vermillion Farms, the only aeroponics farm in Williamson County.

‘TOWERFARMING’

Aeroponics is the process of growing produce without soil, but Will Vermillion added aeroponics is really about giving plants the oxygen they need.

“We all know that plants want our (carbon dioxide), but what most people don’t know is that a plant’s roots really want a lot of oxygen. They usually get that from water, but with plants in the ground or in a hydroponic system, the oxygen doesn’t always reach down to the roots,” Vermillion said.

There are different versions of the aeroponics technique, but they all involve plants’ roots exposed and not buried in dirt.

Vermillion Farms plants its crops in 12foot vertical towers. Many call aeroponics “tower farming,” but other aeroponics systems use flat boxes set on tables, stacked on top of other tables with grow lights hanging between them.

Vermillion’s interest in aeroponic farming stemmed from a documentary he saw about the subject that utilized the stacked tables and grow lights method.

“One-hundred percent of the photosynthesis was artificial, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but there is a lot more cost involved. With the towers, I use all-natural sunlight,” Vermillion said.

The Vermillions have a 4,300-squarefoot greenhouse constructed from diffused polycarbonate panels.

“They shatter the light so it’s more evenly distributed, which is very important when you’re growing in towers…The panels also block 99% of the (ultraviolet rays) and 100% of the infrared so that no surface is getting radiated from the infrared rays and I don’t get sunburned from the UV,” Will Vermillion said.

Inside the Vermillion Farms greenhouse there are 200 towers that each take up 12 square feet with 52 plants per tower.

“When you compare that to field-grown, they might be able to grow nine plants in that same amount of space,” Vermillion said.

Vermillion Farms produces one acre’s worth of crops from one-tenth of an acre.

The towers are positioned inside the greenhouse to allow the plants to receive light evenly from the top to the bottom. The roots are suspended in mid-air inside the towers, receiving nutrients through enriched mist.

“That way most of (the plant’s) life is in the air which allows better mineral absorption,” Vermillion said.

Through the misting system, aeroponics farms use 95% less water than crops planted in the ground.

CROPS

Vermillion Farms grows romaine, butter leaf and arugula lettuces, spinach, tomatoes, cucumbers and seven different herbs including chives and cilantro.

Before the seedlings at Vermillion Farms are placed in the towers, they are planted under grow lights in rockwool, which is a natural product created primarily from crushed basalt rock that is spun into a fiber in a process similar to that of cotton candy. The fiber is then pressed into a spongelike sheet with holes bored into it for the seedlings.

Vermillion said rockwool works so well in the aeroponics towers because it is light, not super dense and it absorbs the perfect combination of air and moisture.

“The defining factor of what makes aeroponics so great is that you’re creating this hyperoxidated environment for the roots so that it’s able to absorb the oxygen it needs through the root base and grow and be the best possible plant,” Vermillion said.

Even when harvested, the Vermillions leave the roots on their plants.

“The moment you take (the roots) off, the plants start to decompose, which means it’s losing nutrients,” Will Vermillion said. “Our produce is the most nutritionally dense you can find compared to anything in the grocery store, if for no other reason than (the plant) is still living.”

He has also noticed the roots of many of his herbs have the same distinct aroma as the plant itself.

“Some people are starting to say to use the roots too,” Vermillion said, noting he has seen recipes calling for not just cilantro but cilantro root.

RAPIDGROWTH

Most Vermillion Farms crops grow so quickly, the family receives a greater return on their investment.

“On average, depending on the plant, you can see 20-40% faster growth in aeroponics crops than crops planted in the ground,” Vermillion said.

Plants can grow in the winter, too, though with less daylight many take eight to nine weeks to sprout as opposed to six weeks in the summer.

“And we don’t have to stop for seasons,” Vermillion said. “We grow 52 weeks a year.”

The weather outside the greenhouse doesn’t affect production inside. In the heat of Texas summers, the temperature in the greenhouse never climbs above 85 degrees.

“A lot of it depends on the humidity, but we’ve got the evaporative cooler that does most of the work,” Vermillion said.

The evaporative cooler, also known as a “swamp cooler,” is 5 feet high and 30 feet long. It keeps the greenhouse temperature 10 to 25 degrees cooler than the outside.

In the winter, temperatures in the greenhouse don’t drop below 60 degrees. Propane heaters at both ends of the greenhouse provide the warmth with fans on the floor circulating the warm air. Sail cloth is also stretched above the towers on cold nights, trapping the warm air down below with the plants.

In the event of a power outage, the Vermillions also have generators to keep the electricity going.

MOREBENEFITS

Another benefit to growing crops indoors is that it generally prevents the pesky problems caused by insects and other pests, although the Vermillions have noted they occasionally get spider mites on their tomatoes and aphids on the cucumbers.

A regular release of live ladybugs received through the mail tackles their aphid problem as aphids are a favorite snack of ladybugs. The Vermillions also discovered another natural and very simple deterrent to the spider mites: water. They spray the mites with a hose and the problem is solved.

The Vermillions maintain an all-natural, organic approach to their farming but do not have organic certification.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has given aeroponics- and hydroponicsgrown crops an organic designation, despite disagreement from the National Organics Standard Board that has argued organic farming comes from healthy soil fertility and biodiversity. The USDA countered the Organics Food Production Act doesn’t explicitly prohibit soil-less growth systems.

Sidestepping the issue, the Vermillions have labeled their produce “beyond organic.”

EXPERIMENTALFARM

There are no aeroponic towers at the Stiles Farm Foundation in nearby Thrall, but farm manager Ryan Collett said he is interested in the process.

Stiles Farm is an experimental farm operated by the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service. Not only does the farm raise different crops or try different farming practices, but they test agricultural technology, such as the John Deere autonomous tractor — which originates at a facility just south of Coupland — and using drones for treating and analyzing crops.

Collett and Vermillion both consider aeroponics farming a type of agricultural technology.

Collett would like to try aeroponics farming, but “it would pull me away from the other aspects of our business model,” he said.

Collett also noted if someone wanted to get into tower farms they should focus all their time and attention on that process — which is exactly what the Vermillions have done.

Vermillion Farms is a family-run business and the Vermillions have embraced the life of farmers, “seven days a week, day in and day out,” Will Vermillion said.

While the aeroponics farm was Vermillion’s idea, he has had his wife’s wholehearted support, even when she was working at farmers markets with their third child strapped to her chest.

“I knew from the beginning that I was going to be involved…I love this,” Danielle Vermillion said.

In the early stages of the farm, the Vermillions enlisted family members to help sell produce at 13 different farmers markets in the surrounding area.

“But now we’re down to three,” Will Vermillion said.

On Saturdays, the Vermillions can be found at the Wolf Ranch Farmers Market in Georgetown and Barton Creek Farmers Market in Austin. Sundays, Vermillion Farms sets up shop at the Texas Farmers Market at Mueller in Austin.

The Vermillions have plans for expansion. They would like to build more greenhouses and increase their crop production. Eventually, Vermillion Farms would like to deliver boxes of fresh food directly to customers’ doorsteps.

“When I first learned about (aeroponics farming), I said, ‘This is how we do this. This is how we feed people’… Economically, environmentally and nutritionally, it hits every nail on the head,” Will Vermillion said.

Hometown law officers maximize resources

Even as several crime categories saw drops in Taylor and Hutto in 2025, funding challenges have the cities’ police departments seeking creative strategies to make the most of their resources while manpower remains an issue.

In addition, the Williamson County Sheriff’s Office is using more high-tech tools to take a bite out of crime.

With populations of 14,661 and 17,872 respectively, Hutto and Taylor are small cities with limited budgets. The revenue the towns bring in has to fund all municipal services, including the police departments.

In addition, being part of the greater Austin area with more than 2.4 million people creates larger challenges as East Williamson County law enforcement deals with homegrown offenders as well as roving criminal activity from other towns.

“The resources that we have as a city are not unlimited. With our requests to meet the growing demands of the community, we have to be measured in what we ask for and the timing of that because if we go and we get everything, that’s taking something from some other department,” said Hutto Police Chief Jeffrey Yarbrough.

Yarbrough and Taylor’s interim Police Chief Joseph Branson both say the need for more patrol officers is increasing as the area population grows, but in the meantime they are finding other solutions to keep their communities safe.

Taylor is employing more cameras that are tied directly into the police station, enabling constant monitoring of potential hot spots for drug use and vandalism. The city is also enacting a vacant building ordinance that will help in fire prevention as well as reduce the potential for criminal activity.

The city is also pushing a new ordinance that limits loitering and vagrancy downtown. Meanwhile, Hutto is increasing from one drone pilot to four, in order to have more coverage for an aerial program Yarbrough said has been an effective means to add more “eyes” to watch for crime. He has reworked shift coverage and patrol sectors to maintain a consistent police presence throughout town, he added.

Yarbrough has also been able to create additional staff positions to free up patrol officers from non-patrol functions. The department has added a court compliance accreditation manager to take over gathering data needed for trials and a crisis intervention officer to assist when an enforcement-trained person is needed for situations involving people with mental illness or diminished capacity.

Both chiefs say the relationship between officers and the community is an important factor. Hutto has several programs that put officers out on the streets, and Yarbrough himself frequently meets with new businesses.

Taylor has a downtown foot patrol that helps establish a visible presence.

“We’ve had great results from that, getting to personally know our downtown business owners, shoppers and residents that visit downtown. That’s been a really good program for us,” Branson said.

POOLINGRESOURCES

Williamson County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Noel Johnson said the county sees many of the same types of crime trends as the cities do, and the local agencies frequently work together.

“We have a very strong working relationship with our city partners,” Johnson said. “In some of the smaller communities we really rely on them and they rely on us for assistance, especially on the east side of the county. Areas like Granger and Thrall and Bartlett are much smaller departments, much more limited. So we rely on them to support us and to back us up and we try to be there for them in any way that we can as well.”

WCSO included city law-enforcement agencies on several proactive initiatives in 2025 targeting trending crimes.

The Criminal Investigation Department conducted package-theft operations during the holidays, construction-theft operations in areas with a lot of development activity, vehicle-burglary operations and “antijugging” operations focused on a couple of banks that had seen a high number of customers targeted.

Johnson said jugging is a dangerous crime that has grown in the past few years. It involves thieves watching to see when a person comes out of a bank with an envelope holding money or important documents. They then follow the person to their next destination, and if the victim leaves the envelope in the car the thieves break in and steal it. People often leave their valuables in the car if their next stop is a business. If they go directly home, the burglars then know where they live and that they might have cash.

The Flock Safety license-plate readers that are used on main transportation corridors across the county have led to additional opportunities for different agencies to work together as they look for or track the progress of a suspect vehicle. Though controversial in the eyes of privacy advocates, many residential neighborhoods have now installed license-plate readers that can be monitored by WCSO as well.

“It’s been a game changer,” Johnson said. “We are covering almost 1,000 square miles and serving over 300,000 people in the unincorporated areas of the county, and many times working with anywhere from nine to 15 deputies on duty at a time. With the numbers of call-ins that we have, we definitely are working hard to make sure that we’re meeting those needs.”

According to demographic figures, Williamson County is one of the fastest-growing in the nation, and new industries including data centers and the multibilliondollar Samsung Austin Semiconductor are fueling much of the population expansion, which likely will lead to more calls for first responders.

CRIMEBYTHENUMBERS

Offenses tracked by the Texas Department of Public Safety Uniform Crime Reporting System show that countywide, reported crimes decreased from 2024 to 2025.

For the Sheriff’s Office, total incidents dipped from 4,524 to 3,967.

Most offense categories saw declines, except for a slight rise in fraud, animal cruelty and obscene material cases. Burglary, larceny and vehicle theft saw significant decreases of more than 20%. Murder/ non-negligent homicide in the county increased 118% from 11 to 24 cases in 2025.

Manslaughter by negligence increased from one incident in 2024 to five in 2025.

WCSO cleared 871 of the 3,967 cases, with some open episodes still being investigated.

In Taylor, the Police Department handled 6% fewer incidents, dropping from 824 in 2024 to 775 in 2025. Most of the decrease was in crimes against property, shrinking from 509 to 413 with a significant lower tally in larceny and theft offenses.

However, crimes against persons rated higher in 2025, jumping from 239 to 267 reports. The city saw an increase in assault offenses and in forcible sex offenses.

Drug arrests also increased in 2025, from 61 to 79. Taylor PD cleared 244 of 775 total incidents in 2025.

In Hutto, there was an almost 16% nosedive in criminal incidents, falling from 1052 in 2024 to 885 in 2025.

The biggest decreases were in drug offenses, larceny, theft and burglary. Vandalism and fraud saw small increases. Crimes against persons also rose slightly, from 223 to 234 incidents.

Hutto officers cleared 223 of 885 total incidents.

The majority of criminal arrests involve male suspects, with 75% of those arrested by the Sheriff’s Office being men.

In Hutto, 71.4% are male. In Taylor, 75.2% are male.

ACTIVISTS:FEDERALINITIATIVES FREEZINGOUTVICTIMS

Some industry officials, activists and pundits in the media have questioned whether there truly has been a drop in offenses.

Immigration status and deportations in Texas have affected how residents view law enforcement. Some crime victims are not calling for police help due to a fear of deportation, pro-immigration advocates argue.

Yarbrough and Branson clarified that immigration is a federal issue, not a municipal one, and their officers are not asking those they encounter for their immigration status.

“We don’t want anybody in our community to feel like they’re extremely vulnerable and they don’t have any confidence in reporting an incident because HPD is going to inquire about their immigration status,” Yarbrough said. “That is not what HPD or most police departments focus on. We focus on helping the victim, holding the person who committed the crime accountable and providing the support and resources to those people to get them through the crisis.”

As of late January, neither Hutto nor Taylor worked directly with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, but the dynamic is changing quickly.

In January, Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis updated the city’s policies to allow Austin officers to follow their own discretion on whether and when to contact ICE.

The Legislature passed a law in 2025 that requires all counties with a jail, including Williamson, to enter into an agreement to work with ICE. The state also requires local police departments to support federal immigration operations when requested.

“The Taylor Police Department is not assisting Immigration and Customs Enforcement with immigrationenforcement activities,” Branson said. “TPD would only provide assistance to ICE if requested during an emergency, and only in the same manner we would assist any law-enforcement agency facing an immediate public safety concern. Public safety depends on open communication and cooperation between residents and law enforcement, and we are committed to maintaining that trust.”

BUILDINGABETTERFORCE

Hutto and Taylor are both in need of additional officers to answer the public’s expectations of “responsive public safety,” but in reality both departments are running out of room.

The Taylor Police Department is shoehorned into an old beer distribution facility. Hutto operates from the former City Hall. Taylor has some officers working in a converted storage container. Yarbrough recently split his own office in half to create additional room.

Both departments require more space for officers and the technology that comes with modern policing, and that relief is on the horizon.

Hutto is in the early design phase of what will likely be a $57 million Justice Center to house the Police Department and the Municipal Court. Taylor will break ground this year on a $53 million Justice Center that will incorporate a new City Hall as well as the Police Department and Municipal Court.

Williamson County is also planning to build a new Justice Complex to hold its expanding Sheriff’s Office operations, as well as a new county jail facility and the district courts.

“Our community is growing. Our staffing is growing but it’s not growing at a pace that catches up. It’s growing at a pace that we as a community can manage when it comes to the many different needs of a community like this,” Yarbrough said. “At the end of the day, we serve our community. They don’t serve us, we serve them. So we have to be responsive to their needs.”

More information on crime statistics can be found at txucr.nibrs.com/Report/CrimeTrends.

GIVEMESHELTER Rents and mortgage payments stable but still outstrip worker wages seeking affordable housing

Affordable places to live in Williamson County are like the jackalope or chupacabra of real estate. Some people swear they’re out there, but the search is the stuff of legend.

While many subdivisions are popping up in the Hutto and Taylor areas, most of them are well above what many can afford thanks to demand from people searching outside Austin for lower prices.

With thousands of new jobs added in the county and a major influx of thousands more in the next few years, especially advanced manufacturing jobs in East Williamson County, the prospect of finding a place to live less than 30 minutes from work is becoming even more daunting.

“We don’t have enough houses today and we know the jobs are coming,” said Williamson County Judge Steven Snell.

He spoke at the recent Central Texas Growth Forum hosted by the Austin Board of Realtors and Unlock MLS, sharing a stage with Travis County Judge Andy Brown.

“We talk about housing affordability. It’s tough when the land’s not affordable, and the building materials aren’t affordable, and the permitting fees are crazy depending on where you are. And yet you’ve got to have affordable housing at 7% interest rate or whatever you have,” Snell said.

The median price of the 29,383 houses sold in 2025 in the five-county Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos Metropolitan Statistical Area was $435,000, which was 2.4% less than the 2024 median price, according to data from ABoR and Unlock MLS.

The 10,070 houses sold in Williamson County last year resulted in a median price of $417,000. That’s a whopping 26% less than the $570,00 median price tag on homes sold in 2025 inside the city of Austin.

There was some softening in December, with the median sales price in Wilco at $415,000.

THE AUSTIN EXODUS

With that kind of price difference, industry observers aren’t surprised that Austin workers are seeking cheaper options. When the thousands more expected jobs, such as the nearly 2,000 at Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.’s advanced semiconductor fabrication plant in Taylor, come to Williamson County, prices could heat up again if not balanced with new developments.

The bargains are in counties that are a little longer haul to the employment centers of Austin, such as Caldwell County at a median price of $282,000 last year, Bastrop County at $352,000 and Hays County at $375,000.

For every plant manager, engineer, marketing executive and dentist, there are many times more people engaged in oil changes, operating a retailer’s cash register or working in restaurant kitchens.

The lower-wage earners are competing for the same inventory of houses and apartment rentals as those with high salaries.

Because of construction costs, profit motive and not enough tax-incentivized multifamily developments that include some apartment rental rates tied to the poverty level, too few job holders can live near where they work.

“As we grow and you think about all our small businesses and our restaurants, they need employees, and employees aren’t going to drive by 100 job opportunities and spend that gas money to get out to the corners of Williamson County,” Snell said. “It’s a balance. We’re having those growing pains; we’re going to continue to have them.”

COMMUTINGFACTOR

In 2021, it was estimated that 53% of Taylor residents who worked had commutes of 30 minutes or more, according to an analysis of U.S. Census data by the Greater Taylor Foundation. Now, those coming to new jobs in Taylor are looking at similar commutes to keep a roof over their heads.

That’s why the multifaceted issue needs a multipronged solution, Snell said. Roads are the first part.

“We want you at home with your family or at work or in one of those great green spaces, or parks or a downtown community in one of our small cities out there having a great time. We don’t want you stuck in traffic,” Snell said.

“We have to plan ahead. At some point, Williamson County is going to have more people than Travis County. We’re not going to have the big city like Austin. We’re going to have lot of mid-sized cities throughout the county. As soon as we get water, it’s ‘Katy, bar the door’ on the north side as well,” he said.

The county judge added, “If we can stay in communication (with the cities), if we can know when the growth is coming, if we know where the houses are being built and when they’re being built then we can get those roads on the map.”

The other solution is more new homes and apartments at different price points and not all luxury.

“Affordable means different things to different people,” Snell said. “There are no starter cars and starter homes anymore. There needs to be diversification of prices” including smaller homes and apartments.

DEFINING ‘AFFORDABLE’

An analysis of data from Unlock MLS found the housing market in 2025 was dominated by houses that don’t match most definitions of affordable.

In the five-county MSA, 58% of the houses sold last year went for more than $400,000 with nearly one in 10 fetching over $1 million.

Williamson County saw 55% of all house sales in 2025 changing hands at more than $400,000. Only 13% of the houses went for less than $300,000.

In Travis County, just 10% of sales were below that threshold while twothirds of the houses were more than $400,000.

Builders faced with rising costs and some softness in sales are now getting back to putting more inventory out there, which will help continue to stabilize the market as demand increases along with job growth, economists say.

“We’re coming out of a year or two where things have been a little soft for builders,” said Vaike O’Grady, research advisor at Unlock MLS. “I expect to see builders reengage.”

While she thinks builders want to provide homes at a variety of price points, O’Grady said they face stumbling blocks.

For one, the cost of development, including land acquisition and materials, hasn’t gone down. Smaller lot sizes could help control costs but “cities have been under pressure to keep out smaller lots,” O’Grady said.

Having more houses available on the market (while it won’t push prices down significantly) will keep the market more stable for the buyer and seller instead of skyrocketing costs brought on by high demand for too few houses from about 2020 to 2022.

Even people willing to spend a largerthan-normal chunk of their

income on

mortgage payments to score a house were shut out by multiple bids and incentives over the asking price.

“I am optimistic because of some of the big plays around Samsung and the (Austin Bergstrom International) airport,” O’Grady said. “Jobs will ramp up and inventory around Williamson County will get picked up. I’m encouraged that there’s more conversation about how to get more housing.”

At some point, Williamson County is going to have more people than Travis County.”

— STEVEN SNELL, WILLIAMSON COUNTY JUDGE

New owner promises to maintain music traditions, create new ones

COUPLAND — In fall 2025, the Coupland Dancehall changed hands, calming fears it would close and instead passing the torch to new owners of the famed Central Texas boot-scootin’ venue known for acts ranging from Americana to rockabilly.

As generations come and go on the dance floor, Lightstream Presents employees said they are bringing regional expertise to fully realize the potential of the local jewel.

With the live-entertainment group at the helm, the Coupland Dancehall has recently undergone upgrades to the sound system, kitchen and restrooms.

The building’s antiques and history still shine; however, new tables and chairs level up the guest experience, Lightstream Presents said.

THEBOOTSCOOTINGBUILDING

The Coupland Dancehall occupies several buildings along the 100 block of Hoxie Street, steps from the railroad tracks and a historical depot. From the covered porch out front to the rustic interior, the combined spaces feature their own aesthetic.

Built in 1904, one of the buildings started as the Coupland Drug Store. Above the pharmacy, the town doctor operated a few examining rooms, and rumors have it that some of his patients might still come to visit.

Another of the buildings constructed in 1910 housed the Speckles Brothers Dry Goods, Boots and Shoes. By 1916, a restaurant and saloon opened.

Along the way, it was home to a local newspaper as well.

Though not a dancehall in its early years, the space was converted into a 7,000-square-foot live music venue by one of its former owners.

The Coupland Dancehall served as a backdrop for music videos featuring Stevie Ray Vaughn, Pat Green and Kevin Fowler.

The site boasts movie credits as well, including “Lonesome Dove.”

Spotify used it to promote George Strait’s single “Every Little Honky Tonk Bar” in 2019.

NEWOWNERS,SAMEVIBE

All the things guests love about Coupland are still there, plus now the new team said they are dedicated to continuing live-entertainment production. Regionally operated, Lightstream Presents owns and manages three other locations in Central Texas: Haute Spot in Cedar Park, The Backyard in Waco and Buck’s Backyard in Buda.

“Everything is done in-house and in collaboration with the talent. Our inhouse talent bookers work with touring acts to coordinate and respond to initial opportunities,” said Kurt Wheeler, Lightstream Presents partner.

According to Wheeler, the internal marketing team creates the media assets used to promote the shows and distributes them.

“We also actively work with local talent to fill support slots and shine a spotlight on regional bands that round out an evening of entertainment,” Wheeler added.

Coupland will host premier artists soon, and those shows will be labeled “Live in Concert.”

Other artists will perform for the traditional “Dance Nights.”

UPGRADINGWITHANEYE TOWARDDANCEHALLCHARM

After acquiring the Coupland Dancehall in October, Lightstream Presents went to work upgrading the space without diminishing the history, a company representative said.

Much of the work was completed in five weeks before reopening in November.

According to Wheeler, the company completed behind-the-scenes work, including beefing up the subfloor and renovating the kitchen. Many of the antique furnishings got cleaned up and moved to improve the flow during shows.

The antique bars are lined up against the back wall, leaving spaces near the stage available for guests. The boudoir portrait of a former owner still hangs above the bar, watching from her perch.

Another addition, a 3-foot riser next to the dance floor, elevates the second set of reserved seating. This allows unrestricted views of the stage and the dance floor.

Restrooms also got upgrades. The women’s received a glow-up; however, it still sports a full-length dressing mirror.

ASOUNDSYSTEMTHAT’SMUSIC

TOYOUREARS

Lightstream Presents books live entertainment at all four of its locations, bringing in talent that prefers venues with upgraded audio, a company official said.

In the initial renovation of the Coupland Dancehall, the historic site received a new, custom-designed audio system from the same team that outfitted Austin’s Moody Theater.

“Lightstream Presents takes pride in our attention to detail to the guest experience when it comes to audio. In partnership with Auvili and d&b Audiotechnik, the new audio system was custom designed to fit the space,” said Bryan Hagemann of Lightstream Presents.

The entire space was sound mapped under the guidance of d&b Audiotechnik, one of the top manufacturers of live audio systems, he added.

“We strive for even audio coverage throughout the space, creating an experience where there is no bad seat in the house,” Hagemann said.

The compact cardioid line loudspeakers, or CCL, combined with array processing technology, deliver perfect sound coverage, according to the company.

“The new system consists of brandnew CCL loudspeakers and SL Subs (subwoofer). This cardioid line array allows us to focus the sound where we want it and mitigate unwanted reflections where we don’t,” Hagemann said.

COMINGBACKTOCOUPLAND DANCEHALL

For decades, Coupland Dancehall has also served as a restaurant.

Starting with the Valentine’s Dinner and Dance with Rick Trevino, guests will see a rollout of food on select dates this spring.

According to John Bock, food and beverage director with Lightstream Presents, the dancehall initially will serve brisket, sausage and chicken, utilizing a smoker “that makes the whole town smell like barbecue.”

Lightstream Presents offers in-house catering for barbecue and fajitas, plus a full bar. The space is available for events from weddings to corporate gatherings, accommodating 500 people.

According to Lightstream Presents, Teen Nights will make a return in the spring as well.

For the latest show information and to purchase reserved seating, visit www.couplanddancehall.com.

For more on event planning, reach out to Bock at JohnBock@hautespotvenue.com.

COUPLAND — Atop a sun-drenched hill at the city’s edge sits a two-story metal building bearing the leaping-deer logo and slogan “Nothing Runs Like a Deere” familiar to every farmer and suburban lawn-mower jockey across the nation.

The building, garages and the 285 acres around them make up John Deere Research & Development-Austin on Texas 95 just south of town.

The East Williamson County test farm complements Deere & Co.’s technology hub open on Austin’s South Congress Avenue since 2022.

The 188-year-old company based in Moline, Ill., was drawn to Austin for the tech talent and Central Texas weather that lets the engineers and operators assess equipment year-round. They started with 40 acres in a now-relocated farmhouse and formally established the test center in 2025.

Testing at the site includes smart equipment such as self-driving farm tractors used for seeding, tilling and other agricultural functions. Deere’s artificial intelligence-driven systems also include its See & Spray technology that only sprays pesticide when an unwanted variety of weed is detected to drastically reduce the use of weed-eradicating substances.

When the software needs even more real-world testing on crops, the equipment is loaned to the 2,700-acre experimental Stiles Farm Foundation in Thrall.

“They want to make sure the latest version of their software works on their equipment. We run it in real-world scenarios and then give them feedback,” said Ryan Collett, farm manager at the Stiles Farm Foundation operated by the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service.

John Deere autonomous equipment tested at Stiles Farm includes planters, tractors and tillage equipment.

“We’ve gotten to use a variety of stuff that we wouldn’t have been able to if we had to buy it ourselves,” Collett said.

Attempts to contact Deere public relations to arrange an interview with company officials went unanswered for weeks until an outside public relations contractor replied and said, “After reviewing the opportunity, the team has decided to pass on this one.”

FARMING GOES HIGH TECH

Sarah Wurden, an engineer working on a computer application that allows Deere tractors to analyze data collected in the field, said in an article on the company website she hadn’t realized how much of a tech concern John Deere was until she gravitated to their booth at a recruiting event.

“We help customers visualize the vast amounts of data that their machines collect so they can see what worked, what didn’t and make smarter decisions for next year’s crops,” Wurden told the company publication.

Even as a software developer, she said the hands-on experiences with the farm equipment utilizing the app has been a favorite part of the job.

One of the features for the fully autonomous tractor being tested in Coupland is “if the machine finds an obstacle in the field, it snaps a photo, marks the spot on the map, and sends it to the farmer before routing around the obstacle,” Wurden said. “Seeing that technology in action and realizing how it can evolve through further innovation while also appreciating its potential impact on the future of farming is just incredible.”

MAKING A SPLASH

The company made a splash in January 2025 at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas with several autonomous innovations in farm equipment, heavy construction machinery and even riding lawn mowers.

The challenges of finding skilled labor and creating more efficiency in farming are what drives innovation in the field, according to company officials.

“Our agriculture, construction and commercial landscaping customers all have work that must get done at certain times of the day and year, yet there is not enough available and skilled labor to do the work,” said Jahmy Hindman, chief technology officer at Deere, in a written statement ahead of last year’s CES. “Autonomy can help address this challenge.”

He added, “That’s why we’re extending our technology stack to enable more machines to operate safely and autonomously in unique and complex environments. This will not only benefit our customers, but all of us who rely on them to provide the food, fuel, fiber, infrastructure and landscaping care that we depend on every day.”

The Autonomous 9RX tractor for large-scale agriculture has been an attention getter for the company with customers. It features 16 individual cameras for a 360-degree view of the field so “farmers can step away from the machine and focus their time on other important jobs,” according to the company description.

The tractor has an advanced autonomy kit that calculates the tillage depth with more accuracy over long distances. That means it can pull more equipment and drive faster in the field.

It is unclear if the 9RX is one of the pieces of equipment tested in Coupland.

While farm operators can buy the latest autonomous tractors from the dealer, the company has kits that can upgrade existing equipment.

Another piece of Deere technology tested at the farm is AutoTrac, an autonomous tool that takes the wheel, cuts down on operator fatigue, prevents the tractor from going over the same land again and unnecessarily compacting the soil.

An arial photo of the Coupland test farm on the Deere website shows numerous pieces of equipment there to go through their paces.

The company touts collaborative efforts with area farmers from the dealer to the field. The site bridges the gap between fieldwork and strategy, test site manager Kyle Leinaar said in a Deere website article in September.

“It’s where boots-on-the-ground insights meet enterprise-wide innovation,” Leinaar said.

The selection of the site focused on the balance of “rural access and urban convenience” along with the ability to test throughout the year.

“Thanks to Texas’ early seasons, the team is planting corn in February before the Midwest even thaws,” according to the company.

In just a few years, the research and development center has mapped more than 20,000 acres with local farmers, Leinaar said.

“We have had opportunities to test with farmers running a mixed fleet and expose them to the advantages of our full tech stack,” he said. “When farmers found out John Deere was moving in, there was confusion but also excitement.”

We run it in real-world scenarios and then give them feedback.”

— RYAN COLLETT, STILES FARM FOUNDATION

HUTTO –– Todd and Katy Robison have turned years of world-travel experience into a business they not only love but live.

Through their travel agency Dream Vacations, they help new and experienced travelers plan the experience they want and provide personal support to make sure the trip goes smoothly.

“We say our business is family-owned and family-inspired because truly travel has been part of my family since before I was born,” Katy Robison said. “My grandparents have always traveled. My parents have visited over 100 countries. It’s been a huge part of our life.”

The couple said a few years ago as they spoke with friends about a second trip to Israel, they suddenly found they were planning a group excursion with 40 people committed.

The Robisons realized they could leverage their in-depth knowledge of traveling the planet into a business.

They looked into Dream Vacations, a top travel advisor network based in Florida, and found a business opportunity that aligned with their view of how travel should work. The company offers proprietary resources geared toward all types of tourists.

It was a good fit, and the Robisons recently celebrated their business opening with a ribbon cutting at the Hutto Area Chamber of Commerce.

“We have all kinds of resources people just wouldn’t have trying to do it themselves on the internet. That’s why we say, ‘We do the work so you can make the memories,’” Todd Robison said.

The Robisons said people would be surprised to find out how much a travel advisor can do for them. They might also be surprised to learn the Robisons’ services are free. Travel agents get paid a commission from the hotels, cruise lines and other destination centers. They sometimes also have special deals to offer.

The customer pays the same amount whether they book themselves or through the Robisons.

“We know how to travel on a budget and we know how to respect everybody’s budget,” Katy Robison said.

Customers also like the fact that if something goes wrong, there’s someone who can help.

Examples cited by Robison included a family needing to return home early due to illness, another customer who was waylaid by a train strike in Europe and a client whose first cruise included help getting packed and a primer on the boarding process.

“If you just book online, you don’t get that personal touch and you don’t have that person that you can call to ask questions. We will hold a customers’ hand the whole way to make sure everything is right,” Robison said.

TAYLOR — Back in 1886, Taylor residents dodged horses on Main Street in a town built by the railroad and known for its cotton exports.

Fast forward to 2026: Horses might still be found on Main, but they are being hauled by a Dodge truck while the hightech Samsung Austin Semiconductor foundry rises from the Blackland Prairie.

This year marks Taylor’s sesquicentennial, and the city will be celebrating all year with new programs, a new pool and a big party in the fall to mark the city’s 150th birthday.

There should be plenty of fun for everyone during the year, according to a statement from City Hall officials.

“The sesquicentennial is going to be the biggest party Taylor has ever seen. The city has a full year of celebrations planned, including major community milestones like the grand opening of the all-new Doris Roznovak Aquatic Center and our signature capstone event in November, The Big 1-5-0,” a spokesman said.

KICK OFF THE NEW YEAR AT THE LIBRARY

New for 2026, the Taylor Public Library, 801 Vance St., is launching several programs with wide appeal, officials said. From gardening and a new book club to the Science, Technology Engineering, Arts and Mathematics — or STEAM — Challenge for kids, the library hosts programming for all ages.

First, it installed a free seed library last fall. According to library officials, anyone may select three packets of seeds per visit. Best of all, a library card isn’t required.

The seed repository is in a card catalog cabinet in the back of the library, near the young-adult section. There are even complimentary seed-starter pots.

For Taylor’s sesquicentennial year, the library will host classes on history and genealogy. The first will feature a speaker from the Williamson County Genealogical Society at 6 p.m. Jan. 13.

Other new library events include a local chapter of the Silent Book Club, an introvert-friendly, no-pressure book club with chapters all over the planet.

The first meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Jan. 27.

The library in May also is hoping to feature a panel of local authors, with more details to come.

RODEO ROOTS IN FEBRUARY

February kicks off the riding and roping season in Texas with big rodeos in most large cities. Taylor is forever tied to the sport, since it is home to rodeo legend Bill Pickett, In 1888, Pickett moved to Taylor with his family. Starting as a ranch hand, Pickett pioneered a maneuver dubbed bulldogging, in which cattle were wrestled to the ground by a cowboy. Pickett later joined Wild West shows and even appeared in movies.

Picket was inducted into the National Rodeo Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City’s National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in 1972, the first African American man to be honored.

In 1989, he was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame. A bronze statue of Pickett overlooks the intersection of Main and Second streets in front of the McCrory Timmerman Building.

MUSICANDARTINMARCH

Taylor folks and their friends can enjoy live music locally at Black Sparrow Music Parlor, 113 W. Second St.

Area dancehalls, such as Coupland Dancehall, 101 Hoxie St. in Coupland, and the Cotton Club in Granger, 212 E. Davilla St., host weekend bands.

March is also the opening month of Music on Main in Taylor, the monthly music series in Heritage Square Amphitheater downtown. The square and park are at 400 N. Main St.

The acts cover all the popular genres and are often accompanied by a night market.

For art, “Birdsong: Reverence A Return to Innocence Art Show” runs until March 15 at the McCrory Timmerman Gallery, 201 N. Main St.

The third annual Taylor Studio Tour is scheduled for the weekend of March 28 and March 29, featuring open studios and retail locations hosting area artists.

GET OUTDOORS IN APRIL

Taylor’s Parks and Recreation Department knocks it out of the park in April with fun kids’ events. It opens the month with the Easter Egg Hunt at Memorial Field in Murphy Park, 1213 Davis St., at 10 a.m. April 4.

The Lil Kickers Soccer Clinic for kids ages 3 to 8 starts April 11 at the Taylor Regional Park Football Field.

Kite Day is a perennial favorite with residents harnessing the wind at the football field April 25.

For more, visit taylortx.gov/27/Parks-Recreation or call 512-309-6266.

STROLL HISTORIC DOWNTOWNINMAY

May is Taylor Fest month, the multicultural and heritage festival in historic downtown. Featuring live music, cultural performances, food trucks and more, it is scheduled for May 2 at Heritage Square, 400 N. Main St.

Shred Fest, an adult and youth BMX and Skate Competition, is scheduled for May 9 at Pierce Skate Park, 326 Porter St. This contest attracts riders from across the region.

According to Ruby Fisher, the city’s special events coordinator, residents should keep a lookout for a beautification project planned for downtown to celebrate the 150th birthday.

The city plans to add a rocking-chair program and additional street furniture downtown.

CANNONBALL INTO JUNE

Not only does 2026 celebrate Taylor’s 150th anniversary, it also welcomes a new pool. On schedule, the city pool in Murphy Park’s Doris Roznovak Aquatic Center, 1600 Veterans Drive, will open in the summer.

According to the Parks and Recreation Department, the new pool will offer dedicated areas for fitness use, including lap swimmers and aquatic classes. The restrooms and concession area are getting updated as well, with added lockers.

For the kids, the new pool will feature a spiraling 20-foot-tall slide, a zero-depth beach entry and a water play structure with slides and buckets. There is a lazy river and new shade structures, too.

To honor Taylor’s own governor of Texas from 1927-1931, the Dan Moody Museum will reveal the Dan Moody Statue in June.

According to Fisher, it is a life-size bronze sculpted by Joe Kenney of Austin with the Pyrology Foundry in Bastrop doing the casting.

POP INTO JULY

Red, white and blue covers Taylor in July, especially downtown, for Independence Day. Murphy Park, 1600 Veterans Drive, is the place to be July Fourth, starting with a kids’ parade with bikes decorated with streamers and balloons.

The park hosts live music during the day and into the evening. The Fourth of July Celebration ends on a crescendo with a fireworks show.

AN EXHIBIT FOR AUGUST

The Smithsonian Institution will

open its Museum on Main Street exhibit in Taylor on Aug. 15 and it will run through Sept. 27. This initiative is part of the Smithsonian Institute’s Traveling Exhibition Service, which brings the Smithsonian to small-town America.

According to the Smithsonian, its exhibitions are designed to engage communities and become a catalyst for conversation about life in small-town America.

The exhibit will be installed on Main Street, with location details to be announced later in the year.

REMEMBERING IN SEPTEMBER

Remembering the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, the city will host the 9/11 Patriot Day March and Remembrance Program. The Memorial March starts at 7 p.m., with a program to follow at Heritage Square.

TREATS FOR ALL IN OCTOBER

Mark the calendar for one of the largest events in downtown Taylor: the annual Main Street Car Show Oct. 31. This year is its 13th anniversary, and cars start lining up before dawn for a good spot. In 2025, more than 600 cars registered for the open-air exhibition.

The Spooktacular Scare on the Square also will be held in Heritage Square on Oct. 31. It is a family-friendly event with costume contests and candy.

THE BIG BIRTHDAY IN NOVEMBER

The second weekend in November is the big birthday party for Taylor. While the details are few at this time, mark the calendar for the weekend of Nov. 14 and Nov 15, and watch the city’s Facebook page at facebook.com/cityoftaylortexas in the coming months.

On Nov. 11, the Salute to the Troops, a Veterans Day program, will be held at the Dan Moody Museum.

HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS IN DECEMBER

Taylor is Christmas Central with events nearly every weekend. From the Downtown Taylor Christmas Decoration Competition to the Taylor Christmas Parade with the Heritage Square Tree Lighting, it’s the place to shop and dine.

TAYLOR — Lucas Evans didn’t plan to be a farmer. But these days the 29-year-old Taylor native is proud to show off lush rows of tall green hemp plants on his farm outside of town.

This is the Blackland Prairie, the dark, rich soil that once drew cotton farmers whose production made Taylor the largest inland cotton market in the world. It’s the kind of soil where generations of Evans’ family before him owned thousands of acres near Hutto a century ago. By 2000, most of it had been sold.

The family didn’t abandon agriculture, though. A new business, E3 Agriculture, traces its roots to 1996, when Lucas was still a toddler. Today he’s taken that legacy in a very different direction.

Evans never lost his passion for the land. At Southwestern University, he majored in environmental studies, sharpening his interest in ecological science and economic sustainability. He graduated in 2018, the same year a federal farm bill decriminalized growing hemp. Intense research convinced him hemp could be the key to an agricultural revival in Texas – a localized, sustainable economy rooted in the soil he grew up on.

“We talk about innovation, but we have missed out on innovation in farming,” Lucas said.

The irony isn’t lost on Evans that while Samsung Austin Semiconductor’s chip plant is bringing billions in investment to Taylor, much of rural East Wilco still sits

“In a world that would seem too daunting for some, what he’s tackling – it’s exactly what you need in somebody driving this kind of mission.”

— JASON JONES hollowed out.

“Drive 45 minutes outside any city in Texas,” he said, “and you’ll find a town where the only things left are a Dollar General and two gas stations.”

He wants to change that – not by replacing tech, but by reclaiming agricultural industry.

“We love Samsung Semiconductor, we’re just a different kind of growth,” he said. “We call our plans for the cotton gin C.H.I.P. One – the Center for Hemp Initiatives Project.”

He added, “There’s a gin in every cotton town in Texas. These gins are the perfect footprint.”

His idea is to turn them into hubs for processing hemp – reviving not just buildings, but jobs, supply chains and small-town economies.

“We’re trying to build back agriculture in Taylor and places like it,” he said. “Hemp is the ideal candidate.”

TEXAS HEMP PROCESSORS

In 2019, Evans founded Texas Hemp Processors. In 2021, he created E3 Agriculture LLC as a parent company for projects that range from research and development into fiber genetics, to consulting with other farmers, to processing hemp for animal feed, building materials, textiles and more.

Since 2018, he said, E3 has processed and sold about a million pounds of hemp, primarily for animal feed and building products.

“From seed to shelter” is one of his mantras. He believes this is just the beginning of a multimillion-dollar operation.

One critical component of Evans’ success so far is his grounding in environmental science. Bluebonnet Bioscience, part of the E3 family, is focused on developing Texas-adapted hemp seed genetics and high-protein feed for ranchers. For several years Evans has worked with Texas A&M University researchers to refine varieties and genetic lines of hemp suited to Texas weather and soil – both of which vary widely depending on location.

“Our work with E3 is mostly in the Taylor area,” said Dr. David Baltensperger, head of Texas A&M’s Soil and Crop Sciences Department. “That’s the Blackland Prairie, a relatively narrow strip of soil along (Interstate 35) to the east of San Antonio all the way up to Dallas. It was Texas’ original cotton country. Hemp has a different quality of fiber that’s longer and stronger than cotton, more like bamboo, so it requires slightly different processing.”

Now that American farmers are growing industrial hemp again, Baltensperger said A&M engineers are working on 3-D printing of everything from building materials to aerospace parts using micronized hemp powder.

“Any time we grow something, we want to have a way to sell what we produce,” said Russ Jessup, director of A&M’s AgriLife Research and Extension Center. “Not many market channels have developed yet to process hemp. But there is a huge demand for lightweight, sturdy objects. … In aerospace, the automotive industry, construction, there’s huge opportunity being explored for industrializing hemp.”

REPURPOSING COTTON GINS

Evans is betting on those opportunities. He runs seed trials and research projects at his 40-acre farm, contracts with other growers in the region, and supplies hemp seed, fiber, hurd and resin for various uses. His vision is intensely local: processors near farmers, farmers near markets and all of it tied together by rural infrastructure that already exists.

Repurposing abandoned cotton gins is a key part of that plan.

This spring E3 purchased the shuttered Williamson County Gin, a 1940s-era mill that hasn’t processed a bale in years. The windows of the 15,000-square-foot metal structure are cracked, the walls and beams weathered. But while some see a relic of a vanishing farm economy, Evans sees the hub of a new one. He plans to turn the building into a hemp processing facility.

“The beauty of these gins is, there’s one in every town in Texas cotton country,” he said. “I’m currently talking to the owner of the Lockhart cotton gin, and there’s a lot of interest from other towns who have gins. We’ll keep our 40acre pilot plant and farm outside Taylor for (research and development), and the gin here in Taylor will house our scaled processing production.”

Evans sees the repurposed mill as a step forward in the quest to bring new life to struggling farms and depressed rural areas in East Wilco – new opportunities for nature-fueled growth. Taylor Iron-Machine Works, a century-old family business that originally built and repaired equipment for farmers, is right next door to E3’s Sturgis Street mill. Like Evans, CEO Curtis Hickman is a direct descendant of his company’s founder and was raised near Taylor, just outside Thorndale.

Their primary project is a decorticator, essentially a cotton gin for hemp.

“The decorticator takes the main stalk and breaks it down between the hurd, that pulpy core and the fiber on the outside,” Hickman said.

Their first machine, he added, likely will be about 15 feet long and 6 or 7 feet tall, built from scratch in the same metal building his family constructed decades ago. The goal is efficiency – producing clean fiber for textiles and hurd for building materials like hempcrete and board.

Hickman said he’s watched Evans grow the project piece by piece.

“I’ve known him about two years,” he said. “We’ve made some bricks out of the hurd. Now I think the focus is more on particle board.”

For Hickman and the team at Taylor Machine Works, returning to agricultural manufacturing feels like getting back to their roots, he said.

What happens after the hemp is separated?

Hemp seed becomes livestock feed – a business that “keeps the lights on right now,” he said. “We’re using all the seed. It’s very high protein and omega oils. Animals love it.”

The company works with mills to create balanced feed mixes, primarily for chicks and laying hens.

Fiber and hurd, meanwhile, become building materials. Evans is producing hemp chipboard, 4-by-8 hemp-wood panels and hempcrete blocks. The fiber he doesn’t use locally is sent to North Carolina for nonwoven textiles.

“The gin is about the infrastructure,” he said. “We’re really using the building – the electricity, the compressed air – for pressing panels and such.”

Jason Jones, another East Wilco native and founder of Liberty 3-D construction company, is also enthusiastic about E3. Evans is one of his suppliers for an innovative 14-home development in Rockdale that uses steel framing and 3-D-printed hemp-based board for insulation and wall systems.

“Lucas has been fantastic to work with,” Jones said. “We’re doing 14 homes. The idea is a nontraditional home that isn’t just concrete and carpet, something energy-efficient. Three of the structures are using material from Lucas’s farm.”

Jason Jones admires Evans’s determination.

“In a world that would seem too daunting for some, what he’s tackling – it’s exactly what you need in somebody driving this kind of mission,” he said.

East Wilco officials are watching closely.

The Taylor Economic Development Corp. has already pledged conditional grants to help E3 redevelop the Sturgis Street gin. There’s some buzz building about growth on the south side of town.

But Evans is clear-eyed about the hurdles. Banks are still shy about financing hemp processors.

“We can’t get a half-million-dollar loan,” he said. “We’re always in fundraising mode.”

Farmers are eager for a new crop – especially one that may pay $800 to $1,300 an acre – but many are hesitant to plant without more stable markets.

Still, he believes the risk is worth it. “Industry is looking for sustainable inputs,” he said. “Farmers want this. Communities need this.”

It’s optimistic. But then so is a field of hemp growing tall in the blackland soil where cotton once ruled. Evans is confident he is on the leading edge of a new American enterprise – one that is taking root in East Williamson County and places like it nationwide.

Today, that shade tree is gone, to be replaced by a 100-foot-tall concrete and steel transmission pole being installed by Oncor Electric Delivery Co. as part of a system upgrade.

The installation of the poles across Taylor has sparked concerns, including from Mayor Dwayne Ariola and others. Fox said she sympathizes.

“I’m glad I’m not driving anymore because I don’t think I could back out of my driveway with that there,” Fox said about the large concrete base built to support the new pole.

In addition to the beloved catalpa tree, Fox said utility company workers removed some hedges.

“I have people asking me all the time what I’m being paid. I’m not being paid. I couldn’t put a price on it anyhow,” she said.

Throughout Taylor and the surrounding countryside, large steel utility poles are replacing the wooden t-shapes that have been an iconic part of the Texas landscape for generations.

Oncor spokeswoman Kerri Dunn said the project to rebuild the 100-yearold Taylor Switch-Holland 69 kilovolt transmission lines will better serve the city and the community.

The poles are around 100 feet tall, and where the transmission line makes a turn the poles are supported by concrete bases up to 9 feet wide and over 3 feet tall, such as the one in Fox’s yard.

They are part of the 144,000 miles of power lines Oncor and its subsidiaries operate, delivering electricity to more than 4.1 million homes and businesses.

“The original line was built in the 1920s and consisted of aging wood-pole structures and equipment that was nearing the end of its useful life. Our team has also responded to a recent increase in weather- and equipment-related outages for customers served by this line, which we believe will be alleviated with this rebuild,” Dunn said.

The poles being replaced hold transmission lines, which are used to carry high-voltage electricity from where it is generated to the substations, where it is then distributed along lower-voltage lines to homes and businesses.

Oncor is only replacing transmission lines in this project, not distribution lines, so the change from wood to metal poles will not be happening citywide.

LOOKING TO IMPROVE TRANSMISSION

Dunn said this transmission line feeds into the Taylor substation and affects Taylor residents’ electricity delivery. The upgrade will help improve service reliability and provide additional capacity potential at Taylor substation, according to the utility.

At this time, the voltage level will remain at 69 kV though the new lines can support twice that amount as the area’s need for more electric power grows with additional industries and population.

City leaders first heard about the upcoming project in May and tried to work with Oncor on altering a portion of the line route.

Ariola said they were surprised when they saw firsthand the scope of what was happening in October.

“We were informed simply that the maintenance that they were going to conduct, the work was simply maintenance of existing transmission lines with upgrades to poles. So we’re thinking wood to metal of some type, not really deep into the sizes,” the mayor said.

Ariola said Oncor’s first version of the line upgrade showed poles being installed in the Taylor City Cemetery, running through the historic African American burial section.

“So that was a non-starter. We issued a stop work (order) and requested a version (going) around the cemetery,” Ariola said. “It made sense to go around the outside, the outer rim. And in answer to our stop work, Oncor issued a stop work of their own of all Oncor activities in the city limits, (including) pole replacements, disconnections and meter installations.”

Dunn agreed that Oncor did cease work due to the stop-work order, but said it was due to the city requesting “an immediate stop to all Oncor work” in Taylor.

“Oncor honored the city’s request to support ongoing discussion regarding the project. Unfortunately, during this time, Oncor was unable to interconnect homes and businesses who were seeking electric service due to the stop-work order. Oncor continued coordinating with the city and resumed all project work when the stopwork order was rescinded,” Dunn said.

Oncor did reroute the transmission lines to skirt the easement along the front of the cemetery.

City spokesman Daniel Seguin said it was in Oncor’s interest to make that change because the state requires any construction at a cemetery to go through special cultural resources and archaeological investigation to ensure nothing is going over graves that may be unmarked or improperly identified.

NOTIFYING PROPERTY OWNERS; SOME STILL UNAWARE

Utility company officials said they determined locations for the poles on a site-by-site basis, aiming to install the steel poles at or near the location of the previous wooden poles.

Dunn said they did make some minor location changes after discussions with landowners and on-site observations.

Although the project did not require landowner notification – Oncor already owns the easements where it is building – the company sent multiple mailings during the planning and early construction phases to properties located along the line.

Still, many homeowners were unaware of the project’s size until it was underway.

“One day you’re enjoying a quiet neighborhood. The next they are installing the biggest utility pole you have ever seen in your front yard. Can’t stop it so I just laugh about it now. A little warning would have been nice,” Taylor resident Carla Hoffman posted on social media in October.

Hoffman said she was unable to leave her driveway due to the construction.

She asked one of the workers and was told they would be installing a high-power utility pole.

Unlike Fox, who has lived in her home for decades and plans on leaving it as an inheritance to her daughter, Hoffman is a first-time homeowner who purchased her house on Hosack Street in May.

A lifelong Taylor resident, Hoffman was proud to finally become a homeowner and in a letter to the city, she spoke of how much she loved the town, her neighborhood and her neighbors.

She said on Oct. 13 she awoke to the street being unexpectedly shut down, and neighbors she spoke with were equally confused since they had seen no notices.

“Huge steel metal power lines placed right in people’s front yards in a neighborhood. It’s hard to put into words how unsightly this is,” Hoffman wrote.

City representatives told her they were basically powerless to reroute the project, and since Oncor owns the easements, the utility was within its legal right to continue.

Fox also said she received no notice until two days before construction began.

“They just came to the door because of the tree. I gave them permission to take the tree down. I didn’t really think I had any choice,” she said.

MEETING WITH ONCOR

At the Texas Municipal League annual conference held in October in Fort Worth, Ariola and City Manager Brian LaBorde spoke with Oncor executives. Ariola showed the company representatives a photo of Fox’s home, with the large concrete pole base beside her driveway.

City officials expressed their view that what Oncor was doing was not right, and Oncor executives agreed to come to Taylor sometime soon and see the impact of their decisions in person.

“It’s within their legal right to do what they’re doing, but it devalues our citizens’ property. It would have cost them a whole lot more money to go around Taylor but that would have been the correct answer.

And when we tried to hold them to task, all of our work stopped. And our hands were tied,” Ariola said.

While the mayor acknowledges taking the shortest route is a business decision based on cost and return on investment, he added a process which takes the community into consideration would make for a better partnership.

Ariola said electric-company workers are not to blame for what is happening, noting “pole climbers” are the ones out working during severe weather to restore power and keep residents’ lights on.

TO SOME, MORE THAN UNSIGHTLY

While residents are apprehensive about their quality of life living with giant utility poles towering over the trees and landscaping, there are other concerns as well.

Fox worries about flooding, since the concrete base is built in the natural drainage path past her home. Others have raised concerns about unsightly trimming of trees near power lines, and some wonder about the effects of extremely-low frequency radiation and electromagnetic fields However, the World Health Organization reports there have been no definitive studies linking EMFs to illness.

In addition, the large utility poles can decrease the value of a home for resell, according to real estate industry experts.

“A 2018 study from the Journal of Real Estate Research found that vacant lots near high-voltage power lines sell for 44.9% less than equivalent lots that aren’t located near power lines,” according to an article by Orchard, a national real estate company. “If you take a step back, a lot that is located within 1,000 feet of transmission lines tends to sell for 17.9% less.”

Local real estate broker Pamela Pfiel said much of what a property sells for is determined by market factors. Homes like those on Hosack and Old Thorndale Road tend to attract firsttime homebuyers, blue-collar workers and older people looking to downsize.

Having a shortage of those types of homes in a city can drive up demand.

“There are pros and cons to the new metal poles. First and foremost, they are an eyesore that can hurt property values in the immediate vicinity, especially properties adjacent to the poles,” Pfeil said. “However, the tall metal poles reduce the quantity of wood poles and are well above the tree lines, so it eliminates power-outages from broken tree limbs.”

DAVID AND GOLIATH

Residents and city leaders said they feel powerless against the utility.

“When I first heard personally about the project, how it was going through the neighborhoods, I knew, Oncor, they’re doing those folks wrong,” Seguin said. “It’s not just the mayor being an advocate...you have an entire staff of 200 folks at the city of Taylor who are working in advocacy each and every day.”

Even if Oncor executives come to Taylor in December, as hoped, what the visit will accomplish is unclear.

“This is obviously a done deal now. There’s no going back from what they’ve started to install. If they come down to visit, I hope it shows them this is not OK in a small neighborhood and they reconsider next time and try their hardest to go around a neighborhood,” Hoffman said.

Dunn said the company recognizes the importance of engaging with local leaders and community members about significant projects such as transmission line rebuilds.

She said Oncor will continue to closely work with customers and local officials as the project proceeds.

Construction is expected to finish by the end of the year, weather permitting. Cleanup and restoration work will likely continue into spring 2026.

“Everybody’s upset. Never mind the fact that when you look out the front door all you’re going to see is this big post,” said Fox. “The value of this house has gone down to nothing, I’m sure. At this point I’m basically just being robbed.”

“It’s within their (Oncor Electric Delivery Co.) legal right to do what they’re doing, but it devalues our citizens’ property.”

— DWAYNE ARIOLA TAYLOR MAYOR

In February 2024, then-County Judge Bill Gravell made a bold prediction after wrapping up a briefing to Williamson County commissioners about a recent trip to South Korea.

It was an aside comment unrelated to the visit fostering business relations and instead focused on the next wave of economic development in the county tied to emerging technologies.

“We are seeing tremendous movement in the data-processing center world,” Gravell said during the Feb. 6 meeting of the Commissioners Court. “And I think we will see in all our cities in Williamson County in the next year to year and a half – maybe two years – billion-dollar facilities in each of our cities.”

Nearly two years later the statement from Gravell, who now holds a regional post with the U.S. Small Business Administration, turned out to be prescient as data-center developers flock to the areas both north and south of Austin.

The quest for cheap land and a ready source of electricity to fuel the large facilities are the draw with a concentration in Central and North Texas.

There are at least 20 data center projects in the works across the Austin Metropolitan Statistical Area stretching from San Marcos to Georgetown, according to reports.

While the vast, super-cooled warehouses of computer servers don’t provide a lot of jobs once they are operational, they provide two major economic advantages. The building projects fund construction jobs through national and local contractors and subcontractors. And, with an average price tag of more than $1 billion, even with tax incentives they increase the taxable value of the property for cities, counties and school districts.

Current and proposed projects in the Austin area are valued at about $25 billion, according to the Austin Business Journal.

The need for data centers is driven by the explosion of artificial intelligence, or AI, applications that are becoming a part of everyday life. From asking a search engine such as Google or Bing the price of cotton to having an AI assistant write a job resumé, the evolving technology demands more processing power and thousands of acres of mostly farmland across the nation are giving way to vast computer-server complexes.

TEXASISTHEDIGITALFRONTIER

“America’s next frontier of (AI) is building right here in Texas,” according to an email from Gov. Greg Abbott’s office, which oversees the Texas Economic Development & Tourism Office. “The state’s high-tech sector has long been a major player in the U.S. economy and Texas is now poised to lead in new advanced technologies, notably AI and data centers.”

The state is ranked fourth in the nation for the number of total AI-related job postings. The governor’s office projects that investments in AI will lead to a 27% increase in related jobs over the next decade.

The state has touted its ample available space and pro-growth regulatory environment as two of the reasons Texas has outstripped Northern Virginia for construction of facilities with colocation power, which are buildings supplied with heavy-duty megawatts of electricity that are rented to companies to run their data processing servers. Such locations usually have several tenants of varying sizes.

To put the 1,191 megawatts of colocation power underway in the state into perspective, that is enough electricity to simultaneously power about two thirds of all households in Williamson County or more than 12,000 Hutto Memorial Stadiums worth of Friday night lights.

Giant tech companies need enough power for processing to have their own facilities. For example, Apple is building a 250,000-square-foot center in Houston, Facebook and Instagram parent Meta is putting a $1.5 billion operation in El Paso while Google has multiple locations in the Texas Panhandle with a commitment of $40 billion in Midlothian.

The biggest single investment is for Project Stargate, a $500 billion initiative with 10 to 20 data centers on an 895-acre campus in Abilene. The project was granted to SoftBank, OpenAI and Oracle, whose chairman is a major financial supporter of President Donald Trump.

The most recent data from the governor’s office has the number of data centers in the state at 279 as of September 2024.

While Dallas ranks as the top market in the state and third on the planet for the number of data centers, Central Texas is coming along fast, and Williamson County is getting a big share of that growth.

Here’s a roundup of what we know is coming to Wilco as part of the AI boom:

SKYBOX/PROLOGIS

The Skybox Datacenters and Prologis Inc. project on 159 acres of the Hutto Megasite is well underway and could eventually include nearly 4 million square feet of data center space over several buildings. It is the furthest along in construction and one of the largest investments with at least $10 billion in capital expenditures.

The company is in the planning stages for a second campus of 140 acres just to the west of the current site.

In November, the company requested a zoning change from Round Rock to allow it to build a data-center campus in Round Rock on Old Settlers Road. Skybox and Prologis also have a campus in Pflugerville.

BLUEPRINTDATACENTERS

A development from Austin’s Blueprint Projects LLC first came to light in the summer of 2024 when it bought 52 acres at 1601 E. MLK Jr. Blvd. from the Taylor Economic Development Corp. and secured a 50% rebate on property taxes for 10 years and the same rebate on local sales-and-use taxes collected on construction materials purchases.

The $1 billion project is slated to have 135,000 square feet of space for data-center tenants across three buildings and includes a power substation to handle up to 60 megawatts.

The project raised the ire of some nearby residents a year later when the Taylor Press reported an update on the project that included initial rezoning approval from the industrial designation held by the land for two decades to be an employment center.

Residents rallied at a later City Council meeting but were unable to stop the project. The group moved forward with a lawsuit despite assurances from city officials and developers that it would use a closed-loop system that uses less water than traditional data centers, wouldn’t increase traffic with only about 30 employees and was sourcing its electricity separate from Taylor’s supply.

The Taylor EDC had held the land for development for years. But residents such as Pamala Griffin, who testified in court, contended the previous property owner let them play there as children and had always intended that it one day become a public park.

A temporary restraining order that stopped any development was lifted by a 395th state District Court judge in Georgetown and the case dismissed.

Blueprint also is developing a much smaller project in Georgetown that would provide 10 megawatts to a 45,000-squarefoot data center building in the first phase at Westinghouse Road and Blue Ridge Drive.

KDC

Dallas developer KDC is seeking approval from Taylor to construct data centers on 220 acres near the Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. semiconductor foundry where power and water infrastructure are already in place.

Dubbed “Project Comal,” the KDC endeavor expects to have tenants that would use up to 360 megawatts.

A split vote by the Taylor Planning and Zoning Commission in mid-November, however, is sending the project to the Taylor City Council without a recommendation to be classified as an employment center, in part because of some of the same concerns that had Blueprint neighbors upset.

The commission did not have a quorum. The council is scheduled Dec. 11 to make a decision of KDC’s employment center request, which comes along with some development advantages. Most data centers only create a few dozen permanent jobs in maintaining the servers and their environs.

COLOVORE

California company Colovore is working on a 180,000-square-foot data center in Hutto near the intersection of U.S. 79 and Texas 130. The $500 million project could start construction early next year.

HIGHLANDRESOURCESINC.

Between Interstate 35 and Old Chisolm Trail in Round Rock, Highland Resources Inc. is developing three tracts of land that could include data centers, but the company hasn’t released any more specific details about the project on the company’s website.

AMAZON.COMSERVICESLLC

Plans are still tentative for an Amazonowned site where Hester’s Crossing Road ends at CR 172 in Round Rock. The developers have city approvals for a warehouse and distribution center that could include a data center and power station, the Austin Business Journal reported.

The Amazon site is the farthest west in Williamson County before the terrain gives way to rolling hills and pricier land.

Because data-center tenants need massive amounts of power and water to run and keep the server rooms cold for maximum efficiency, they have come under fire nationally, especially by environmentalists and ratepayers who fear their utility costs will increase along with demands on the power grid.

Some data centers, however, are moving to recirculated water systems that fill the cooling units one time and then use the water in a continuous cycle, as in the proposed Blueprint center.

East Williamson County has received serious consideration for so many data center projects because the $17 billion Samsung Austin Semiconductor fabrication plant in Taylor brought with it a deal with Oncor Electric Delivery Co. The Dallasbased company has grown well beyond its North Texas service area to become the fifth-largest electric utility in the nation.

Oncor’s deal to supply power to Samsung allowed it to bring in the infrastructure to the surrounding area to power the numerous companies moving in, including the data centers. The company uses diverse sources to produce electricity including solar farms near Waco and one in the works in San Antonio.