Entertainment & Sports
Paul Richards Park
This ballpark has hosted athletic events since the early 20th century. By 1914, local officials began planning for a field to attract a major league baseball team to train in Waxahachie. After various team representatives visited in 1915, local businessmen formed the Waxachie Ball Park Association to raise funds. The Detroit Tigers decided to train here in 1916 if facilities were satisfactory.
History
Red Oak Cemetery
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 gave the land to Liberty Baptist Church, later renamed First Baptist Church, Red Oak.
History
Rockett Christian Church
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 octagonal front porch, interior beaded board wainscoting, and the original wooden pews.
Transport
Rogers Street Bridge
Located on an early Waxahachie Creek fording site that served pioneer settlers of the area, this truss bridge was built in 1889. It was manufactured by the Wrought Iron Bridge Company of Canton, Ohio, and was one of thirteen approved by Ellis County commissioners from 1888 to 1890. The span provided an extension for Rogers Street, a road named for Emory Rogers, donor of the Waxahachie townsite.
Architecture
Rosemont
This 20-room home was built in 1894 for $12,000 by Eliza and Burt Ringo Moffett, who owned a flour mill nearby. Amanda B. Cox, the mother of 14 children, purchased the residence in 1930 and her heirs occupied it until 1978.
Transport
Rutherford's Crossing Bridge
Constructed in 1919 by the Texas Bridge Company at a cost of $565.00, this Warren Pony truss bridge provided transportation across Red Oak Creek for area residents. Prior to the bridge's construction, the only way for people to cross the creek in this vicinity was by fording the waters, a task which often proved impossible due to bad weather and floods.
Architecture
Saint James A.M.E. Church
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 craftsmanship and incorporates Gothic Revival style details such as twin towers and gabled facade and Romanesque style rounded windows.
History
Sardis Cemetery
The earliest marked grave in the Sardis Cemetery is that of Susan Jane Rachael (Peevey) Kelly, who died in childbirth in 1871. Early settler Robert Mayfield donated land for the graveyard for the use of families in the Sardis Community. The burial site contains the graves of veterans from several wars and of many area pioneers.
History
Sardis School
Children of the Sardis Community attended school in the Methodist church building from the early 1870s until a small two-room schoolhouse was constructed near this site in 1897. By 1915 the school population had grown such that a larger facility was needed. Over the years, the Sardis School system served as a source of leadership for the community.
History
Shiloh Cemetery
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 settlers of Ovilla. James S. and Martha Berry and the Rev. Finis E. King formally deeded land for the Shiloh Cumberland Presbyterian church and cemetery.
History
Shiloh Cumberland Presbyterian Church
The first organized church in Ellis county, the Shiloh Cumberland Presbyterian Church 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 Rev. Finis E. King, a pioneer area minister, with the assistance of the Rev. J.C. Provine of Paris in Lamar County.
History
Site of a Confederate Powder Mill
Erected in 1862 by William Rowen. On April 29, 1863 it was destroyed by an explosion and its owner killed. Also killed was Joshua G. Phillips.
History
Site of Grady School
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 1919 by a second building on the south side of the creek. Mrs. Simon Bowden Farrar named the school for Henry W.
History
Site of Old Hawkins Springs
William Alden Hawkins (1800-67) and wife Anna Eddy (1800-95), from La Porte, IN., arrived with family at this site in May 1848, becoming first settlers in area. The family included Marcellus Tolbert (1824-96); Mary Melissa (1824-84), with her husband Harrison F.
History
Site of Polytechnic Institute
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 stockholders erected a two-story school building at this site. After Works died, the facility became Whitten Institute, with the Rev. Thomas G.
History
Site of the Plantation Home of Edward H. Tarrant
(1796-1858) Veteran of the War of 1812. Pioneer Indian fighter. Commander of Texas frontier troops. Statesman of vision. The house was built in 1845. Near by he built the first mill in Ellis County. Here he resided until his death, August 2, 1858. Erected by the State of Texas 1936
History
Smith Cemetery
(Established in 1852) Burial place of pioneers and generations of descendants; on a knoll that was in wilderness when cemetery opened, but now overlooks nine urban areas. Founded by Nancy Owen Smith for her family and neighbors. First burial was for her husband Hans Smith (1799-1852), lawmaker in Missouri (1830-32, 1834-36) and Arkansas (1844-46), who moved here in 1846.
History
St. Paul Cemetery
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, L.M., gave adjacent land for a church in 1894, the property became known as St. Paul Church and Cemetery.
History
St. Paul's Episcopal
City's oldest church. Dedicated by pioneer Bishop A.C. Garrett, 1885. Lancet windows, doors. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1965
Architecture
Strickland-Sawyer House
Maggie Young Beall, a widow, built a house here in 1888. One year later is was purchased by J.F. Stickland (1861-1921), a cofounder of Texas Power and Light Company and a pioneer of area interurban lines. In 1897 he had C.W. Thrash build the present home over the existing residence. J.W. Sawyer (1868-1927), a druggist, bought the property in 1914 and members of his family lived here until 1945.
History
Telico Cemetery
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 honor, and a place of worship was constructed later near the gravesite.
Architecture
The H.P. Barkley Home
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 local businessman, purchased the house in 1905 and resided here until 1949.
Architecture
The Mahoney-Thompson House
Constructed in 1904 by Dennis Mahoney, contractor and builder. He came from Connecticut to Texas in late 1800s to build Trinity University in Waxahachie (now in San Antonio). Cornerstone was laid March 21, 1902. He later moved to Waxahachie and erected this stately house, which later belonged to family of his son-in-law, W.B. Thompson.
Architecture
The Mulkey-Loggins House
This property was part of a tract settled in 1854 by pioneer Philip A. Mulkey (d. 1862). Ennis was founded in 1871, when the Houston & Texas Central Railroad reached this point. Mulkey's son James (1859-1903), a prosperous cattleman, included this site in the Highland addition, a neighborhood that he developed after Ennis became the railroad's divisional headquarters in 1891. Dr. James C.
History
The Sims Family of Ellis County
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 thousands of acres along chambers creek that would stretch from the Boz-Bethel area in the north to Italy in the south.
Elsewhere in Texas
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