Welcome Cracker Barrel

The peaches and cream of a long and hard-fought battle to locate a destination-type business at I-65 and Highway 36 has finally come to roost in Hartselle.
Congratulations Cracker Barrel on the upcoming opening of your 498th Old Country Store at I-65 and Highway 36, east.
Your presence here is a dream come true for many Hartsellians who have felt that our interstate corridor is long overdue for diversified commercial development.   Your business not only will attract interstate travelers to stop for breakfast, lunch or dinner but serve the local population as well. More importantly for our community as a whole, it will encourage  other businesses to join you in neighboring locations.
Tax revenue dollars linked directly to the interstate are dollars that don’t have to be matched with dollars spent for services such as police and fire protection, street upkeep and recreational facilities. That’s a big win-win for the city.
It’s important to note that we would not be celebrating the addition of a new business like Cracker Barrel today had it not been for the never-say- die efforts and hard decisions made by proponents of interstate corridor development in the past.
A big thank you goes out to our current elected officials for keeping the foot to the pedal when it came time to vote “yes” or “no” on issues involving economic development.