Settlement of this area began as early as 1848. The town of Alma was established in 1871, when the Houston and Texas Central Railroad was built through Ellis County. C.C. Hemming deeded part of his property for the railroad right-of-way and a town . . . — — Map (db m164888) HM
Originally known as Mt. Nebo Baptist Church, this congregation was organized on July 6, 1879, by elders Josiah Leake and S.C. Talley and 16 charter members: J.C., Isabel, and Sarah Martin; W.L. Pierce; J.P. and M.F. Giles, William Hendricks; William . . . — — Map (db m212816) HM
The rural community of Elm Branch served as a social, economic and religious center for the scattered farming families who lived in the area. The settlement contained a school, a Methodist church founded in 1886, and a cemetery. The church . . . — — Map (db m309680) HM
In the 1880s, Ellis County emerged as a leading cotton producing county in the area. A community known as Pleasant Valley developed here, convenient for farmers transporting cotton by wagon. Pleasant Valley School was formed in 1882 to serve the . . . — — Map (db m309683) HM
Bristol Cemetery began with a small plot of land donated by Mr. James Burk in 1879 serving the needs of the community pioneers.
There was no organized upkeep of the grounds until 1912 when a group known as Bristol Cemetery Ladies began . . . — — Map (db m244682) HM
The community's first school was housed in a multi-purpose building erected here in 1870. The Bristol School District was established in 1877. Youth from throughout the area attended Bristol schoolhouses built in 1886 and 1913. A new brick . . . — — Map (db m309670) HM
William R. and Edeline House bought the land on which Burnam Square and Cemetery were located in 1856 for the price of a slave named John. In 1861, after her husband died, Edeline House had the 25-block town laid out and donated one acre for a . . . — — Map (db m164887) HM
Designed by prominent local architect Hix McCanless, this Classical Revival structure was built in 1915 to house city offices and the Ennis police and fire departments. A native of Tennessee, McCanless (1868-1938) was the leading designer and . . . — — Map (db m164886) HM
This structure was built in 1883 to house the Ennis National Bank, which was established the same year, with businessman Joseph Baldridge as its first president. Until 1917, when a new facility was built, the bank occupied the first floor, while . . . — — Map (db m164759) HM
Born in Kentucky, February 15, 1795 • Came to Texas in 1822 with Austin's first colony • Died July 2, 1874 His wife Elizabeth Smith Rankin Born January 30, 1802 Died June 1, 1882 — — Map (db m164753) HM
Mr. Ivan Goodwin was born and raised in Ennis, TX. He went on to enlist and serve honorably in the United States Army Air Corps from 1946-1949, before graduating from North Texas State College in 1952. He then returned to serve his community . . . — — Map (db m164834) HM
Born on an Ellis County farm, Jack Lummus attended school at Alma and Ennis, and Baylor University on an athletics scholarship. He played minor league baseball in Texas and football for the New York Giants. He joined the U.S. Marines in 1942 and . . . — — Map (db m164756) HM
Born in Brenham, Katie Litty Daffan was a well-known author, educator, journalist, and club-woman. She began her career as a teacher and was an officer of the Texas State Historical Assoc. She wrote several books, including a Texas history . . . — — Map (db m164865) HM
LaJuan Schlegel, a self-taught local artist, credits the greatest artist of all, The Heavenly Father, for her talent. Her paintings bring life to the splendor and majesty of nature and are deliberately created to evoke a sense of connection . . . — — Map (db m164841) HM
Pearl C. Matthews purchased this property in 1900 when he and his brother Will, owners of a McKinney department store, opened a second establishment in Ennis. He and his wife Virgie (Thompson) lived in a cottage at this site until 1908 when they . . . — — Map (db m309644) HM
Minnie McDowal grew up in Ennis, where she graduated from High School and married her sweetheart Robert T. McDowal. They had two beloved children, Elizabeth Ann and Robert T., III.
In the late 1940's, Minnie began working at the Plaza Theatre . . . — — Map (db m164839) HM
Built in 1905 for Malinda (Anderson) and Hardin T. Moore, this Neoclassical Revival house is a significant part of Ennis' architectural history. The Moores married in 1892, after both Malinda and Hardin had been widowed in previous marriages. They . . . — — Map (db m164757) HM
W.H. Parsons deeded the original ten acres at this site in 1875 for use as a cemetery. The burial ground was named "Myrtle" for a child whose single grave was included in the tract of land. Also buried here is Frederick H. Ranklin (1795-1874), a . . . — — Map (db m164754) HM
Constructed in 1891, this dam created a body of water known variously as the City Reservoir, Ennis Railroad Lake, and Old City Lake. It was built in answer to a proposal by the Houston and Texas Central Railroad to move its divisional headquarters . . . — — Map (db m164751) HM
In memory of employees of The Dallas Division who gave their lives for their country in World War II
Named in honor of Sgt. W.T. Pierce Jr. First to die in combat
Side panel 1 R.F. Rickard Glynn Massey Fred Reyther Guy Youngblood . . . — — Map (db m164843) WM
The Houston and Texas Central Railroad built tracks through Corsicana en route to Dallas in 1871. In 1872 the town of Ennis was platted along this line on 647 acres selected by Captain W.G. Veale. The town was named for railroad official Colonel . . . — — Map (db m164863) HM
For Daniel Buckley’s sacrifice in the 1836 Battle of Goliad, the Republic of Texas granted his heirs some 2,200 acres on the west bank of the Trinity River, in what became Ellis County. In 1871, his widow sold Alsdorf Faulkner (1838-1901) some of . . . — — Map (db m310010) HM
In the 19th century, Slavic people from Moravia, Bohemia and
Silesia, from the modern-day Czech Republic, began immigrating to
the United States due to political persecution, economic hardship
and a desire for greater freedom. The first Czech . . . — — Map (db m309667) HM
The first burial in this cemetery was that of the Rev. William J. Kirkpatrick, a local Cumberland Presbyterian Minister, who died on May 1, 1867. Shortly after his death, a congregation organized by the Rev. W.G.L. Quaite was named in Kirkpatrick's . . . — — Map (db m309646) HM
Local contractor B. F. Sargeant constructed this residence in 1892 for H.P. Barkley, a conductor and yardmaster for the Houston and Central Texas Railroad. Built in the Victorian style, it features elaborate gingerbread detailing. T.H. Floyd, a . . . — — Map (db m309643) HM
In 1887 the City of Ennis was established at this site, the northern terminus of the Houston and Texas Central Railroad (later part of the Southern Pacific Railroad). The city is named after early railroad official Cornelius Ennis. Expansion by . . . — — Map (db m164866) HM
Built in 1867 for the Kirkpatrick Presbyterian Church, this sanctuary later served other denominations. It was a Baptist church from 1909 to 1961. Designed in the Greek Revival style with high Victorian Italianate details, it features shoulder . . . — — Map (db m309648) HM
Georgia native Thomas C. Neel married Willia E. Latimer in 1848. The couple moved their family to Texas in 1854 and to Ellis County in 1855. They established a cotton and wheat plantation near what would become Ennis. Neel called his wife "Will" and . . . — — Map (db m152969) HM
Founded 1872 as market town on Houston & Texas Central Railway; Named for an H. & T.C. official, Cornelius Ennis (1813-1899). Cumberland Presbyterian built first church, 1872; First school session opened 1873. Chezchslovaks settled here 1874, . . . — — Map (db m164758) HM
Named for African Methodist Episcopal Church Bishop Alexander W. Wayman, this congregation was organized in 1880 by area residents, many of whom moved here from the community of Telico. Dr. C.A. Harris, a physician, served as pastor in the early . . . — — Map (db m164755) HM
In the 1930s, Ennis resident John Louie Clarke (1868–1956) recognized the beauty of Country Club Hills as yearly a profusion of bluebonnets swept across the meadow near his home. Clarke began clearing a walking path to view the wildflowers across . . . — — Map (db m269579) HM
Site was occupied in 1851 by the Ephraim Andrews family and their in-laws, the McKnights, settling a purchased land grant. The Duffs, Greens, McDaniels, and Orrs also pioneered here. The Cumberland Presbyterian Church was founded in 1858. The . . . — — Map (db m164742) HM
Organized by 13 charter members in 1858, this congregation moved from its original site near Bluff Springs (2 miles west) to Ferris in 1875. A church building, erected here in 1890, was razed when this sanctuary was built in 1925-26. Its Classical . . . — — Map (db m164741) HM
The town of Ferris was laid out by the Houston & Texas Central Railway in 1874. In that year, the Reverend John S. Davis and the Reverend George W. Owens became the first of a series of circuit-riding ministers to serve Ferris, establishing a . . . — — Map (db m164743) HM
Named in honor of
Thomas Jefferson Chambers
(1802-1865)
to whom the first land grant within
present Ellis County was made in 1834
by the Mexican government
Also known as Howe's Settlement
in honor of William R. Howe,
first settler in . . . — — Map (db m117286) HM
Pioneer settlers used this site for burials as early as 1856. In 1865 it was part of 20.5 acres deeded to the Methodist Church for a school and church by Rezi Jarvis Banks (1817-1889), a Confederate Army veteran born in Tennessee. Among the . . . — — Map (db m304776) HM
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, cotton became an increasingly valuable crop in the state's economy. By 1852, Texas ranked eighth in the nation among cotton-producing states. In Ellis County, production totaled just 359 bales in 1860. The . . . — — Map (db m289850) HM
3 miles northeast
from here was buried
General Edward
H. Tarrant
Veteran of the War of 1812, member
of the Texas Congress and a
courageous Indian fighter • Born
in North Carolina, 1796 • Died in
Parker County, Texas, August . . . — — Map (db m117285) HM
Frustrated by poor infrastructure, residents of an African American community in Italy called "The Hill" rallied to get a hearing with the city council in the mid-twentieth century. A group of African American men met in a small building on Poplar . . . — — Map (db m212061) HM
A soldier in the Army of Texas
in 1836 • Born in Tennessee, Feb-
ruary 2, 1804; died October 15, 1891
His wife
Mary Hardeman
Born in Tennessee, February
12, 1812 • Died February 19, 1857 — — Map (db m117284) HM
In use from approximately 1850 to 1873, the Shawnee Cattle Trail was the first north-south cattle trail and reached the farthest east of the four great cattle-driving trails from Texas to the northern markets. These included the Shawnee Chisholm, . . . — — Map (db m289841) HM
Some of the first pioneers to help in the development of Ellis County, the Sims family settled on and around what would become the foundation for the L.R. Campbell Ranch, later known as the Pecan Springs Ranch. Over the years they would purchase . . . — — Map (db m289842) HM
Born on June 28, 1873, in Weston, Missouri, William Hobart Stafford was a notable Ellis County educator. His father, John Thomas Stafford, served with Company D in the 65th Missouri Colored Infantry during the Civil War, and later studied at . . . — — Map (db m303748) HM
In 1852 N.P. Sims (1806-1902) gave 10 acres of land at High Springs (4 mi. W) for a church and burial ground to trustees of Bethel Methodist Church. Several graves remain there. G.H. Cunningham (1828-1916) and P.C. Sims (1819-1903) gave church . . . — — Map (db m191315) HM
Greathouse Community, Church, and Cemetery Archibald and Mary Greathouse, who settled in this area in 1848, gave their name to a creek and rural community that grew up here. The church, school, and cemetery that formed the focal point of community . . . — — Map (db m191314) HM
The community of Maypearl was established on the International and Great Northern Railroad line in 1903. The 1907 death of landowner William P. Wilemon and subsequent burial on his farm led Maypearl citizens to discuss the establishment of a . . . — — Map (db m191422) HM
In 1858 J.P. Gilmore and Richard D. Graves gave land for Pleasant Hill Methodist Episcopal Church, south, and for this burial ground. The earliest marked graves date from 1870. J.H.L. Jackson donated additional land in 1895. At that time, the . . . — — Map (db m191349) HM
This charming two-story Queen Anne-style Victorian house was once inhabited by the family of C.W. Mertz, a prominent Cleburne banker, real estate entrepreneur, insurance broker, and civic leader in the early 1900s. Originally located at 730 North . . . — — Map (db m282967) HM
This Church was erected in 1966 in the NW corner of the B.F. Hawkins Survey. (Hawkins, among the original settlers in the area, became the first Clerk of Ellis County Courts and his father, William Alden Hawkins, who settled at Hawkins Spring, was . . . — — Map (db m194941) HM
Methodist worship services in this area date to the late 1840s. Meeting in homes, the people were served by circuit riding ministers from Waxahachie. A schoolhouse built for the pioneer community of Hawkins was also used as a church. Beginning in . . . — — Map (db m194940) HM
What would later become Midlothian began as part of the Peters Colony, which brought settlers to Texas from 1841 to 1848. W.A. and Anna Hawkins and their extended family arrived in 1848, in time to receive acreage for their new home. Their son . . . — — Map (db m194935) HM
In 1911, two congregations merged to form Midlothian Presbyterian Church. One originally organized in 1883 under pastor D.G. Malloy and was part of the Presbyterian Church of the United States of America (PCUSA). The other organized in 1890 under . . . — — Map (db m194934) HM
Early education in the area included an 1850 one-room log cabin in the Hawkins Settlement, serving as a school and church. Its location was where South 14th Street in Midlothian is now. The Hawkins Settlement was later named Lebanon. A new school . . . — — Map (db m194922) HM
Originally located in Ennis, Texas, this fine Victorian-era home was built by Dr. James C. Loggins (1845–1921), mayor and city alderman of Ennis, on land settled in 1854 by Philip A. Mulkey, also a civic leader. Later, his son James Mulkey included . . . — — Map (db m282987) HM
This family burial ground served the Newton family, early area pioneers. Larkin Newton, who owned this property, came to Texas in 1848 with one of his nephews, Elbert. They followed Elbert's brother, Asa Newton, who settled near present-day Ovilla . . . — — Map (db m304778) HM
Burials in this cemetery began with
Peters Colony pioneers who founded
Ovilla in 1844. The earliest marked
grave is that of Mary C. Patton, wife
of elder James E. Patton, who died on
August 14, 1851. The Pattons were
among the original . . . — — Map (db m244959) HM
Founded in 1883 by W.W. Works (1856-1895), Polytechnic Institute was a private, coeducational school. A respected educator and native of this area, Works left here in 1888 to attend the University of Texas. When he returned in 1892, local . . . — — Map (db m194924) HM
In 1881 William Gardner deeded this site to the Mountain Creek School Community. This tract, which contained graves dating from 1875, remained in use as a public cemetery, and adjoining land was set aside for a school. After W.S. Fife and his wife, . . . — — Map (db m194915) HM
In the spring of 1848, the Larkin Newton family arrived in this area from Neosho, Missouri, in response to a 640-acre land grant awarded to them through the Peters Colony. Their contract required them to be on their land with a home constructed by . . . — — Map (db m282992) HM
Jasper "Jake" Preston Sewell, Jr. (1878-1961) bought three lots south of Midlothian's business district in November 1912. In 1915, Jake married Nettie (Witherspoon) Sewell (1886-1978). The Sewells, who attended Polytechnic Institute in Midlothian, . . . — — Map (db m304779) HM
This historic house, also known as "The Pink Lady," was originally located on Highway 77 at Butcher Road in Waxahachie, Texas, and is one of the oldest on Founders Row. This elegant two-story, gingerbread-style Victorian home was once painted . . . — — Map (db m282990) HM
William L. Hawkins, the son of area pioneer settlers, and his wife Emma (Barker) purchased land and a house here in 1892. They removed the original structure in 1901 and hired local wood artisan Will Price to build this house. Made of imported . . . — — Map (db m194923) HM
Chartered in 1855 with eleven members, this congregation was organized at the home of Dr. J.M. Higgins. The first pastor was the Rev. J.M. Perry (1817-1905), a native of Alabama. A chapel on College Street, built in 1856, served the fellowship until . . . — — Map (db m208870) HM
Served in the Army of Texas in
1836 • Born in Alabama, September
10, 1810 • Died January 11, 1885
His wife
Isabella Weir
McDaniel
Born in Alabama, March
8, 1818 • Died May 4, 1897 — — Map (db m117283) HM
W.R. Hudson and J.M. Higgins, early pioneers in this area, came from Cherokee County in East Texas to settle here in 1853. They laid off a townsite in 1854 and named it Milford. The town developed steadily, and soon boasted homes, a school, post . . . — — Map (db m183587) HM
Organized in June 1855 with 16 members, as one of 4 Presbyterian churches within a radius of 500 miles. Early, horseback-traveling pastors organized and served 3 churches in outlying areas. Congregation built houses of worship in 1860, 1896, 1921. . . . — — Map (db m184175) HM
This church was organized by the Rev. Joshua Goins, Sr., in 1883. Services began in the home of Pleasant Zollicoffer and moved to the Odd Fellows' Hall before this church structure was erected in 1907. This building exhibits exceptional . . . — — Map (db m208868) HM
Soldier in the Texas Army in
1836 • Born in Tennessee June
17, 1808 • Died November 24, 1880
His wife
Stacy Choate Jordan
Born in Tennessee, October 15,
1816 • Died January 27, 1884 — — Map (db m117282) HM
In 1873 pioneer settler Thomas Alexander Williams (1827-1900) brought his family to this area which was known as Garden Valley. Soon after his arrival he directed the establishment of a school for the community. Classes were conducted at this site, . . . — — Map (db m212813) HM
A Civil War veteran who served in the Confederate Cavalry brought his family from Greene County, Alabama, and settled on this spot in 1874. He gave this acre of his farm as the building site for the first Garden Valley school, erected about 1875. A . . . — — Map (db m212814) HM
In 1875 area pioneer William M. Claunch (1815-1888) donated twenty acres of his ranch land for a Methodist Church, church campground, and cemetery. The oldest grave in the burial ground is that of Susaner Bynum, the one-year-old daughter of M.C. . . . — — Map (db m191319) HM
Area residents organized a Baptist
church in September 1903. The next
year, the community built a wooden
tabernacle on Red Oak Creek for use by
local churches, including the Baptist
congregation, which participated in
regular services and . . . — — Map (db m244904) HM
Site of the Ovilla Cotton Gin, Established in 1885.
It was the focal point of Ovilla industry as the community
farmed cotton as their primary crop. The gin closed in 1966.
The only remaining structure from the gin is the scale,
which still . . . — — Map (db m244886) HM
One of the oldest communities in Ellis County, Ovilla began as a fortified settlement built in 1844 on upper Red Oak Creek. Shiloh Cumberland Presbyterian Church was founded in 1847 and the town's first schoolhouse was erected in 1849. By the turn . . . — — Map (db m182909) HM
The Ovilla community was founded by members of the Peters Colony in 1844. Benjamin and Erixna Caroline McFarlin were among the early members of the thriving farm community. On November 17, 1886, they deeded four acres to the new Ovilla Methodist . . . — — Map (db m182907) HM
The first organized church in Ellis County, the Shiloh
Cumberland Presbyterian Congregation was chartered
with twenty members on July 25, 1847, two years
before the formation of the county. The church was
begun under the leadership of the . . . — — Map (db m244957) HM
The Rev. T.H. Durham preached at the organizational meeting of this Missionary Baptist Church on Nov. 17 1873. Charter members included Lucinda Crawford, Susan and John Nixon, and Elizabeth and James Perkins. Worship services were originally held . . . — — Map (db m164745) HM
In 1853 disciples in the area around Rockett and Brushy Creek (8 miles northwest) established a church called "Liberty-Sylvania". Members of the congregation were instrumental in the formation of new churches in Corinth, Ferris, Palmer and . . . — — Map (db m164744) HM
Originally a four-room house with south and east porches, this home was built about 1870 by carpenter and blacksmith D.H. Harkey. Dr. J.M. Johnson bought the property in 1896 and added the second story and the colonial revival style columns. In . . . — — Map (db m310011) HM
Originally established in 1895 to serve children on the pioneer Farrar family, Grady school eventually grew into a community rural school. The first school building, located on a hill overlooking the north bank of Red Oak Creek, was replaced in . . . — — Map (db m310014) HM
John I. Richardson (1839-1922), county surveyor, Mason, and veteran of the 12th Texas Confederate Cavalry, married Ann Elizabeth Reagor (1849-1923) in 1865. Both were descendants of the family for which Reagor Springs was named. A cousin, Robert S. . . . — — Map (db m152970) HM
Created December 20, 1849
from Navarro County
Organized August 5, 1850
Named in honor of
Richard Ellis, 1781-1846
a Virginian by birth and education
Jurist and statesman of Alabama
1813-1825
Moved to Texas in 1825
President . . . — — Map (db m152372) HM
Originally known as the Kemble Cemetery, this graveyard began as a family burial ground. Abraham Kemble acquired the land on which the cemetery is located about 1860. He and his wife Mary were both buried here in 1867. In 1892 Kemble descendants . . . — — Map (db m152247) HM
Founded 1875. Site for church and cemetery was given on Dec. 27, 1875, by local landowners John and Elizabeth Gibbons. This tract and some later purchases were deeded to the Methodist Episcopal Church South.
Church and cemetery were named in . . . — — Map (db m93219) HM
Robert Russell Graves (1814-1897) came from Alabama to Texas in 1838 with his wife Esther (Hinkle) Graves (1815-1865), their children, and her father Joseph Hinkle (1771-1859). They came to Ellis County in 1857 and settled on 510 acres purchased . . . — — Map (db m139120) HM
The Rockett Christian Church grew out of early worship services that began in the area about 1853. Formally organized in 1894, the congregation constructed this sanctuary in 1900-01. The Carpenter Gothic building features lancet windows, and . . . — — Map (db m310016) HM
A tin cornice decorated with Masonic emblems tops this three-story brick building constructed in 1889 for Waxahachie Lodge No. 90, A.F.& A.M. The first floor was rented to retail stores, the second occupied by professional offices, and the third . . . — — Map (db m152271) HM
Following the Civil War, the town of Waxahachie grew as the seat of county government and a hub along the Texas Cotton Belt. In 1870-71, Waxahachie became an educational center when Marvin College was established on land donated by town founder . . . — — Map (db m212659) HM
On August 5, 1947 19 men in a 1946 Chevrolet flatbed truck traveling Northbound on Highway 77 in Waxahachie, Texas were killed when a Southbound gasoline truck accidently ran head on into the truck. It was the most fatal accident in the history of . . . — — Map (db m310136) HM
Born in Atlanta, Texas, pioneer aviatrix Bessie Coleman grew up and went to school in a Waxahachie neighborhood a few blocks north of this site. At age 23 she moved to Chicago and first expressed her desire to fly. Since there were no flight schools . . . — — Map (db m152250) HM
In 1853 Bethel Church was begun under a brush arbor at High Springs. After meeting in a log school building at Greathouse, services were moved in 1860 to a schoolhouse at Bethel on Baker's Branch. The first meetinghouse, built south of the . . . — — Map (db m191316) HM
The Calaboose was built as a local lockup for crimes under the jurisdiction of the City of Waxahachie.
This Calaboose was at least the third one in Waxahachie. There is mention of a Calaboose as early as 1876 in the Waxahachie City Council . . . — — Map (db m212701) HM
Central Presbyterian Church began as a Cumberland Presbyterian Church in 1853, with twelve charter members led by the Rev. Daniel G. Molloy. The congregation met in a building on land donated by William Irwin until 1862, when it began sharing space . . . — — Map (db m212665) HM
On this site in 1895 a two story brick building was constructed for Cheeves Bros. Dry Goods Store owned by Pat, Whitt & Thomas Cheeves. At one time the brothers owned 17 Cheeves Bros. Stores throughout Texas. Attorney Clyde Winn and Webb Studio . . . — — Map (db m294557) HM
A fine example of Queen Anne Revival architecture, this house has among its many rooms two hexagons, two octagons. It was built in 1890-91 by Judge Oscar E. Dunlap (1849-1925), a banker, political leader, chairman of Texas Council of Defense in . . . — — Map (db m170519) HM
Eddy Pennell Hawkins, a member of a pioneer Ellis County family, built the first two rooms of this home soon after he wed Netta Lewis Carson in 1878. In 1900 he enlarged it to its present three-story style, a reflection of his position as a . . . — — Map (db m291052) HM
In honor of the dead and living of Ellis County, who wore the gray. Banners may be furled but heroism lives forever.
1861 - 1865 — — Map (db m212782) WM
Ellis County's first courthouse was made of cedar logs and built here in 1850. A second courthouse was built on this square in 1853 and a third in 1874. In 1894 Virginia native and San Antonio architect James Riely Gordon was commissioned to design . . . — — Map (db m151374) HM
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