%b%crHistoric Tour of Waxahachie%b%c* and other Waxahachie, TX Things to Do Tips

Waxahachie has one of the States richest and most organised collections of turn-of-the-century residential and commercial buildings. The city is well marked with sign posts showing a historic drive you can take. A lot of these houses sit on narrow streets, so stopping and parking is fairly difficult at times. There are a significant amount of historical sites that still remain right in the heart of the city. Much of the downtown area remains unchanged. About twenty percent of all the Texas buildings in the National Register of Historic Places are in Waxahachie.

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This house was built in 1896 for a banker and civic leader H. W. Trippet, it was then sold to Walter E. Shive who owned the Waxahachie seed, grain and coal store. The home is indicative of the houses built at the turn of the century in this neighbourhood and features cedar fish-scale shingles, a wraparound porch and octagonal tower. It was restored by the Robert Bell Family in 1983.
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Address: 209 North Grand Avenue

This house is listed on the Historic register and is on the 'historic tour'. It was built in 1899 and is one of the cities best examples of Queen Anne style architecture. There is a round corner asymmetrical floor plan. On the property there is the original outbuildings such as a barn, windmill house, servants quarters, arbour and 'pit' (which is an underground hot house). The original owner operated a freight and grocery business before he founded a bank in 1881 which later merged with the Citizens National Bank. The home is privately owned by Patrick descendants.

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Address: 233 Patrick Street

The downtown square area is the centerpiece of Waxahachie. The energetic local economy of the late 1800s and early 1900s added to a construction growth that resulted in the building of the unique Courthouse and a rapid development of the surrounding downtown commercial area.
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Address: Main Square, Downtown, Waxahachie

There have been four different courthouses on this since the Shawnee Trail in 1849. This particular courthouse is one of the most recognised in the State. Built in 1896 at the astronomical cost of $150,000. It has been made famous as a backdrop for films such as "Places in the Heart" and "Bonnie and Clyde".

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Address: Main Street, Downtown Waxahachie

The exterior of this red granite building is adorned with beautiful young girls and gruesome gargoyles. The sculptures of these adornments came from Italy and there is a legend that Harry Hurley feel in love with a beautiful local girl called Mabel Frame. His initial carvings immortalized her beauty and when she rejected his interest his carving turned to ugly, twisted, tortured contortions
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Address: Main Street, Waxahachie

This is a memorial erected to both the living and the dead of Ellis County who wore the 'grey'. This memorial was erected in 1912 by the Daughters of the Confederacy.

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Address: Main St, Downtown Square, Waxahachie

Richard Ellis was President of the March, 1836, Independence Convention at Washington-on-the-Brazos, which declared the independence of Texas from Mexico. Ellis County was named after him. He was born and educated in Virginia 1781 and died in 1846 with the reports saying that "Judge Ellis came to his death suddenly by his clothes taking fire." There is a 1936 Centennial Marker placed here.
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Address: Courthouse Square

The was built in a Romanesque Revival style around the time the courthouse was completed. The original tower is now gone from the existing landmark building

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Address: Rogers and Main Streets

The museum houses a variety of historical exhibits and artifacts which depict the history of Ellis County. The building itself is in restored Romanesque Revival style which was constructed in 1889 originally as a Masonic Temple.
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Address: 201South College Street