Welcome to Killeen…
"The city without limits!"

Business is booming in Killeen (population 84,488), which has prospered for more than a hundred years since its founding in 1882 by the Santa Fe Railroad to serve as a shipping station for cotton and cattle. Killeen is located one hour's drive from Austin, three hours from San Antonio, four from Houston and three from Dallas. Airlines providing service to and from Killeen (40 flights daily) are Atlantic Southeast Airlines, American Eagle and Continental.

The Killeen Industrial Foundation owns and operates a fully developed, 250-acre business park, located on Twin Creek Drive at the Santa Fe Railroad.

The Killeen Independent School District serves about 29,000 students in a metropolitan area that stretches 400 square miles, from the town of Nolanville and Harker Heights, through Killeen and across the sprawling Fort Hood military post. The school district employs about 4,100 people, including about 2,000 teachers. KISD is composed of 25 elementary schools, eight middle schools and 4 high schools. For the first time KISD has been designated as a "Recognized District" from the Texas Education Agency. The "Recognized District" rating distinguishes KISD as one of the best in the state of Texas.

Higher education is offered locally through Central Texas College, Tarleton State University-Central Texas and University of Mary Hardin-Baylor. Approximately 100 churches in Killeen represent 20+ denominations.

Recreation here is plentiful with 31 parks, two swimming pools, 32 lighted tennis courts and a municipal golf course. Stillhouse Hollow Lake and Belton Lake are less than a 20-minute drive away.

Welcome to Copperas Cove…
"The city built for family living!"

Walk into Ogletree Gap valley about the time the sun is setting. There might be a slight wind wandering through the oak tree groves and rustling the tall grasses. In a shadowed ravine two deer may be following a well-worn path and now pause, their luminous eyes alert to an unknown presence. In this setting, with the dark-green hills silhouetted against the flamboyant sky and evening quiet coming, it's easy to imagine how it was over a hundred years ago when the basin was filled with cattle and the cowboys were riding herd.

Originally the valley and surrounding hills were inhabited by the Tonkawa Indians. In certain areas the rock fences built by the Indians to contain their cattle can still be found. By the 1840's the first white settlers began arriving. At that time a spring ran through the valley that had a copperas flavor. The story goes that a man drank from the spring and exclaimed, "E'gads, it's copperas!" From this and the fact that the surrounding hills form a natural cove, the community was named Copperas Cove.

With one of the lowest crime rates in all of central Texas, Copperas Cove (population 32,000) is an ideal place to call home. A family-friendly community, Copperas Cove boasts a newly constructed 18-hole golf course and clubhouse, a renovated large park with a new swimming pool (in addition to two other pools), and a new, modern public library. Additionally, there are a multitude of year-round senior and youth recreational programs offered by the City, YMCA, The Boys and Girls Club, and the Copperas Cove Independent School District.

Copperas Cove Independent School District has a reputation for excellence, offering a strong core curriculum enriched by the creative instruction of talented and skilled teachers. CCISD has received a "Recognized District" rating from the Texas Education Agency for the second year. The "Recognized District" rating distinguishes Copperas Cove ISD as one of the best in the state of Texas.

There is always a celebration going on in Copperas Cove. The city hosts three major festivals annually. In May, Rabbit Fest features a parade, a beauty pageant, a carnival and a golf tournament. Historic Ogletree Gap is the setting for the Ogletree Gap Folklife Festival in October. Rounding out the year in December is Krist Kindl Markt, a traditional German marketplace combined with a colorful Texas Yuletide celebration.

Welcome to Harker Heights…
"Right in the middle of where you want to be!"

This lovely community has grown and prospered dramatically from its humble beginnings as a pig farm in the late 1950's. Original developers, P.R. Cox and Harley Kern, could not have envisioned the remarkable population growth from 1,000 in 1960 to the current population of 19,000.

Today the city takes great pride in the excellent quality of life it provides to residents and businesses alike. Harker Heights is known for prosperous small businesses and prestigious neighborhoods. It has the distinction of being one of the few cities in the state that has enjoyed a continual increase in housing development in spite of some decline in available properties, both for sale and lease. Harker Heights is home to many military families, both active-duty and retirees, who believe that they have the best of both worlds.

Harker Heights is part of the Killeen Independent School District. There are four schools consisting of 2 Elementary, l Middle School and l new High School - Harker Heights High School located in the community.

Location, housing and growth all contribute to a great quality of life in Harker Heights. Local residents nurture an atmosphere of pride, which contributes to the sense of unity that typifies the best of Texas' communities.

FORT HOOD With over 33,700 residents, Fort Hood is the largest active duty armored post in America and one of the largest in the world. The only post in the country to support two full armored divisions, the First Cavalry Division and Fourth Infantry Division (Mechanized), Fort Hood covers about three hundred and forty square miles. Fort Hood's primary mission is to maintain a state of readiness for combat missions and a great deal of the combat ready air and ground forces of the United States Army are stationed here, including the Third Corps, the Thirteenth Corps Support Command, the Eighty-Ninth Military Police Brigade, the Five-Hundred-Forth Military Intelligence Brigade, TRADOC Test and Experimentation Command (TEXCOM), and various other units and attendant organizations. Civilians find work as nurses, clerks, store keepers, and the like. Fort Hood has two museums and many pretty ponds and lakes ideal for fishing and swimming. There are two further lakes nearby; Belton and Stillhouse. Soldiers and their families enjoy fishing, swimming, and picnicking. Hunting is allowed in season in designated areas; sportsmen require permission from the Fort Hood Area Access Control. While there are a range of recreational amenities on site, and housing for essential personnel, residents of Fort Hood find affordable homes, top schools, a wide range of religious denominations, excellent shopping and dining, movies and cultural life, and a wide range of recreation venues in neighboring communities like Killeen, Harker Heights, and Copperas Cove. LOCATION Surrounded by the rolling hills and sweet lakes of Central Texas, Fort Hood straddles southwestern Bell and southeastern Coryell counties. The base is bordered by neighboring Killeen and Copperas Cove and is about sixty miles north of Austin and fifty miles southwest of Waco. US Highway 190 (The Central Texas Expressway) runs through Fort Hood and connects it to Interstate 35 to the east. I 35 is the primary north/south route through Central Texas and it leads north to Waco and south to Austin and San Antonio. Copperas Cove is about nine miles west of Fort Hood, Killeen is about four miles east, and Harker Heights is about ten miles east, all on Hwy 190. TRANSPORTATION/AIRPORTS Fort Hood has two restricted airfields for military use, the Robert Gray Army Airfield and the Hood Army Airfield (RGAAF and HAAF). Civilian airports are to be found in Austin and in nearby Killeen. The Killeen Municipal Airport has flights to Austin, Dallas/Forth Worth and Huston international airports. The Austin International Airport has flights to key national and global centers. Amtrak has a station in Killeen and its Texas Eagle train takes passengers to Austin and the Austin International Airport (the journey takes about three hours). BRIEF HISTORY Fort Hood was established in the first months of 1942, shortly after the United States entered the Second World War. Some three hundred farming families had to surrender their land for use, and Fort Hood was officially opened on September 18, 1942. Under the command of General Andrew D. Bruce, Fort Hood was first a tank destroyer tactical and firing center. Named for General John Bell Hood, the instillation was quickly developed to include a replacement and basic training center on its northern boundary. As many as one hundred-thousand soldiers were in training at any one time, and during the latter part of the war, a good four thousand German POWs were interned there. Fort Hood's population dropped dramatically with the cessation of hostilities, but the Korean War, and America's Cold War aims, necessitated a permanent training facility. By the early 1950s Fort Hood was being developed to meet this need. In 1953 Fort Hood was granted a further 49,578 acres of land. Additional parcels of land-United States Air Force and Department of Defense landholdings-continued to be granted throughout the 1950s and 1960s. By 1954 Fort Hood was the nation's only two-division military post, and the Third Corps was relocated from Camp Roberts, California. The end of the Cold War saw widespread military cutbacks but the war with Iraq in 1990-91 put an end to this trend. More than twenty-five thousand troops were sent from Forth Worth to the Middle East and with the conclusion of the Gulf War the Department of Defense designated Fort Hood a top fighting installation and stationed twelve thousand additional troops there. Today Fort Hood is one of the largest military installations in the world, home to principal active army divisions and headquarters of the Third Corps under United States Army Forces command. Fort Worth has one of the largest battle ready forces on the globe and many of its soldiers are currently serving in Iraq. Over two thousand archeological sites (dating from the Ice Age to historic times) have been discovered at Fort Hood; the sites are protected by federal law and include the skeletal remains for forty-five Indians, who were re-interred in their ancestral lands in 1973. ABOUT EDUCATION While some of the families of soldiers stationed at Fort Hood live within the instillation, the majority reside in nearby Killeen or Copperas Cove, and children attend schools there. Both the Copperas Cove Independent School District and the Killeen Independent School District are top notch. Both have received the prestigious "Recognized District" rating from the Texas Education Agency for several years running; this designation distinguishes the districts as being among the best in all of Texas. Fort Hood's higher education options include St Mary's University, the Texas State Technical College, and several Army Learning Centers (which are open to soldiers, their families and DA civilians). These centers offer a wide range of courses, from college prep to personal and professional training, GT improvement and test preparation.

COPPERAS COVE Welcome to Copperas Cove-the city built for family living! Walk into Ogletree Gap valley about the time the sun is setting. There might be a slight wind in the oak tree groves, rustling the leaves and tall grasses. Look into a shadowed ravine and see deer following their well-worn paths, heads up at your approach. As evening quiet descends into the valley and the dark-green hills become silhouetted against the flaming sky, you'll find it easy to imagine how it was over a hundred years ago when the basin was filled with cattle and the cowboys were riding herd. Originally the valley and surrounding hills were inhabited by the Tonkawa Indians, and the rock fences they built to contain their cattle can still be found. The first white settlers began arriving in the eighteen-forties. According to local legend, Copperas Cove derives its name from a spring which ran through the valley at that time. It had a copperas flavor, and according to the story a man drank from it and exclaimed, "E'gads, it's copperas!" The surrounding hills form a natural cove; hence Copperas Cove. With one of the lowest crime rates in all of central Texas, Copperas Cove (population 30,001) is an ideal place to call home. A family-friendly community, Copperas Cove boasts a newly constructed 18-hole golf course and clubhouse, a renovated large park with a new swimming pool (in addition to another pool), and a new, modern public library. Additionally, there are a multitude of year-round senior and youth recreational programs offered by the City, YMCA, The Boys and Girls Club, and the Copperas Cove Independent School District. Copperas Cove Independent School District serves about 7000 students and has a reputation for excellence, offering a strong core curriculum enriched by the creative instruction of talented and skilled staff of more than 500 teachers. CCISD has received a "Recognized District" rating from the Texas Education Agency for many years, which distinguishes it as one of the best in the state of Texas. There is always a celebration going on in Copperas Cove. The city hosts four major festivals annually. In the spring the Five Hills Challenge Bicycle Tour. In May, Rabbit Fest features a parade, a beauty pageant, a carnival and a golf tournament. Historic Ogletree Gap is the setting for the Ogletree Gap Heritage Festival in October. Rounding out the year in December is Krist Kindl Markt, a traditional German marketplace combined with a colorful Texas Yuletide celebration.

HARKER HEIGHTS Welcome to Harker Heights-we're right in the middle of where you want to be! This lovely community has grown and prospered dramatically from its humble beginnings as a pig farm in the late 1950's. Original developers, P.R. Cox and Harley Kern, could not have envisioned the remarkable population growth from 1,000 in 1960 to the current population of 17,872. Today the city takes great pride in the excellent quality of life it provides to residents and businesses alike. Harker Heights is known for prosperous small businesses and prestigious neighborhoods. It has the distinction of being one of the few cities in the state that has enjoyed a continual increase in housing development in spite of some decline in available properties, both for sale and lease. Harker Heights is home to many military families, both active-duty and retirees, who believe that they have the best of both worlds. Harker Heights is part of the Killeen Independent School District which administers 3 elementary and 2 middle schools and 1 high school. The latter has been recently built and a fourth elementary school will be opened in 2005. Location, housing and growth all contribute to a great quality of life in Harker Heights. Local residents have pride in their community, and work together to keep their hometown friendly and safe.

KILLEEN Business is booming in Killeen (population 100,976), which has prospered for more than a hundred years since its founding in 1882, when the Santa Fe Railroad established it as a shipping station for cotton and cattle. Killeen is about an hour's drive from Austin, three hours from San Antonio and Dallas, and four from Houston. Airlines providing service to and from Killeen (40 flights daily) are American Eagle and Sky West. The Killeen Industrial Foundation owns and operates a fully developed, 250-acre business park, located on Twin Creek Drive at the Santa Fe Railroad. The Killeen Independent School District serves about 33,600 students in a metropolitan area that stretches 400 square miles, from the town of Nolanville and Harker Heights, through Killeen and across the sprawling Fort Hood military post. The school district employs about 5,000 people, including about 2,000 teachers. KISD is composed of 28 elementary schools, 8 middle schools and 4 high schools, and has a "Recognized District" rating. This distinguishes KISD as one of the best in the state of Texas. Higher education is offered locally through Central Texas College, Tarleton State University-Central Texas and the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor. There are about one hundred churches in Killeen representing over twenty denominations. Recreation is plentiful here with thirty-one parks, two swimming pools, thirty-two lighted tennis courts and a municipal golf course. Stillhouse Hollow Lake and Belton Lake are less than a twenty minute drive away.

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