Ellis County is a

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

located in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

. As of 2020, its population was estimated to be 192,455. The

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...

Waxahachie Waxahachie ( ) is the seat of government of Ellis County, Texas, United States. Its population was 41,140 in 2020. Etymology Some sources state that the name means "cow" or "buffalo" in an unspecified Native American language. One possible ...

. The county was founded in 1849 and organized the next year. It is named for Richard Ellis, president of the convention that produced the

Texas Declaration of Independence The Texas Declaration of Independence was the formal declaration of independence of the Republic of Texas from Mexico in the Texas Revolution. It was adopted at the Convention of 1836 at Washington-on-the-Brazos on March 2, 1836, and was forma ...

. Ellis County is included in the

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

– Fort Worth– Arlington

metropolitan statistical area In the United States, a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) is a geographical region with a relatively high population density at its core and close economic ties throughout the area. Such regions are neither legally incorporated as a city or tow ...

Geography

According to the

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...

, the county has a total area of , of which are land and (1.7%) are covered by water. Lake Waxahachie is located about five miles south of Waxahachie in Ellis County, Texas. Owned and operated by Ellis County Water Control and Improvement District Number One on behalf of the city of Waxahachie, the lake was formed by impounding the Waxahachie Creek in 1956. The water covers about 650 acres and has a maximum depth around 50. The former community of South Prong was located beside the creek before the lake was created. There has been a country club and a two-acre public park with boat ramp since the lake was completed. The lake is a recreational resource for the entire county.

Major highways

Interstate 35E * I-45 (TX)

Interstate 45 Interstate 45 (I-45) is a major Interstate Highway located entirely within the US state of Texas. While most Interstate routes which have numbers ending in "5" are cross-country north–south routes, I-45 is comparatively short, with the ...

U.S. Route 67 U.S. Route 67 is a major north–south U.S. highway which extends for 1,560 miles (2,511 km) in the Central United States. The southern terminus of the route is at the United States-Mexico border in Presidio, Texas, where it continues ...

U.S. 77 *

U.S. 287 * Texas 34

State Highway 34 * Texas 342

State Highway 342

Adjacent counties

Dallas County Dallas County may refer to: Places in the USA: * Dallas County, Alabama, founded in 1818, the first county in the United States by that name * Dallas County, Arkansas * Dallas County, Iowa * Dallas County, Missouri * Dallas County, Texas, the nin ...

(north) * Kaufman County (northeast) * Henderson County (east) * Navarro County (southeast) * Hill County (southwest) * Johnson County (west) *

Tarrant County Tarrant County is located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of 2020, it had a population of 2,110,640. It is Texas' third-most populous county and the 15th-most populous in the United States. Its county seat is Fort Worth. Tarrant County, one of 2 ...

(northwest)

Communities

Ellis County, TX Courts building IMG 5610

Cities (multiple counties)

* Cedar Hill (mostly in

) * Ferris (small part in Dallas County) * Glenn Heights (partly in Dallas County) * Grand Prairie (mostly in Dallas and Tarrant Counties) * Mansfield (mostly in Tarrant County and a small part in Johnson County) * Ovilla (small part in Dallas County)

Cities

* Bardwell * Ennis * Maypearl * Midlothian * Oak Leaf * Pecan Hill *

Red Oak The genus ''Quercus'' contains about 500 species, some of which are listed here. The genus, as is the case with many large genera, is divided into subgenera and sections. Traditionally, the genus ''Quercus'' was divided into the two subgenera ''C ...

(county seat)

Towns

Alma Alma or ALMA may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Alma'' (film), a 2009 Spanish short animated film * ''Alma'' (Oswald de Andrade novel), 1922 * ''Alma'' (Le Clézio novel), 2017 * ''Alma'' (play), a 1996 drama by Joshua Sobol about Alma ...

* Garrett *

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

Milford Milford may refer to: Place names Canada * Milford (Annapolis), Nova Scotia * Milford (Halifax), Nova Scotia * Milford, Ontario England * Milford, Derbyshire * Milford, Devon, a place in Devon * Milford on Sea, Hampshire * Milford, Shro ...

Palmer Palmer may refer to: People and fictional characters * Palmer (pilgrim), a medieval European pilgrim to the Holy Land * Palmer (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Palmer (surname), including a list of people and ...

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never f ...

(mostly in Johnson County)

Census-designated place

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

Unincorporated communities

* Auburn *

Avalon Avalon (; la, Insula Avallonis; cy, Ynys Afallon, Ynys Afallach; kw, Enys Avalow; literally meaning "the isle of fruit r appletrees"; also written ''Avallon'' or ''Avilion'' among various other spellings) is a mythical island featured in the ...

* Crisp * Forreston *

Ike Ike or IKE may refer to: People * Ike (given name), a list of people with the name or nickname * Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969), Supreme Commander of the Allied forces in Europe during World War II and President of the United States Surname ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

* Rankin * Rockett * Telico * Trumbull

Demographics

''Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos can be of any race.'' According to the

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...

of 2000, 111,360 people, 37,020 households, and 29,653 families resided in the county. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical ...

was 118 people per square mile (46/km²). The 39,071 housing units averaged 42 per square mile (16/km²). The

racial makeup A race is a categorization of humans based on shared physical or social qualities into groups generally viewed as distinct within a given society. The term came into common usage during the 1500s, when it was used to refer to groups of variou ...

of the county was 80.63% White, 8.64% African American, 0.59% Native American, 0.35% Asian, 7.92% from other races, and 1.86% from two or more races. About 18.42% of the population was Hispanic or Latinos of any race. By 2020, its population increased to 192,455. The racial makeup in 2020 was 55.34% non-Hispanic white, 12.33% African American, 0.37% Native American, 0.79% Asian American, 0.41% some other race, 3.62% multiracial, and 27.04% Hispanic or Latino of any race. A

Williams Institute The Williams Institute on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Law and Public Policy, usually shortened to Williams Institute, is a public policy research institute based at the UCLA School of Law focused on sexual orientation and gender ident ...

analysis of 2010 census data found about 3.2

same-sex couples A same-sex relationship is a romantic or sexual relationship between people of the same sex. ''Same-sex marriage'' refers to the institutionalized recognition of such relationships in the form of a marriage; civil unions may exist in countries ...

per 1,000 households were in the county.

Politics

Ellis is a staunchly

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

county in presidential elections. The last Democratic presidential candidate to carry the county was

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 76th governor of Georgia from 1 ...

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 ...

, and since

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

, Republican presidential candidates have won with more than 66% of the vote.

Law enforcement

The Ellis County Sheriff's Office provides law enforcement services to the county. The current sheriff is Brad Norman. The agency also operates the Ellis County Jail in

Media

Ellis County is part of the

/ Fort Worth television media market in North Texas. Stations in the market are

KDFW-TV KDFW (channel 4) is a television station licensed to Dallas, Texas, United States, broadcasting the Fox network to the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is owned and operated by the network's Fox Television Stations division alongside MyNe ...

KXAS-TV KXAS-TV (channel 5) is a television station licensed to Fort Worth, Texas, United States, broadcasting NBC programming to the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is owned and operated by the network's NBC Owned Television Stations division along ...

WFAA-TV WFAA (channel 8) is a television station licensed to Dallas, Texas, United States, serving the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex as an affiliate of ABC. It is owned by Tegna Inc. alongside Decatur-licensed Estrella TV affiliate KMPX (channel 29) ...

, KTVT-TV,

KERA-TV KERA-TV (channel 13) is a PBS member television station licensed to Dallas, Texas, United States, serving the Dallas–Fort Worth Metroplex. Owned by North Texas Public Broadcasting, Inc., it is sister to National Public Radio (NPR) member stati ...

KTXA-TV KTXA (channel 21) is an independent television station in Fort Worth, Texas, United States, serving the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is owned by the CBS News and Stations group alongside Fort Worth–based CBS station KTVT (channel 11). ...

KDFI-TV KDFI (channel 27), branded on-air as Fox 4 More or More 27, is a television station licensed to Dallas, Dallas, Texas, United States, broadcasting MyNetworkTV to the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is owned-and-operated station, owned and opera ...

KDAF-TV KDAF (channel 33) is a television station licensed to Dallas, Texas, United States, serving the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex with programming from The CW. It is owned and operated by network majority owner Nexstar Media Group (based in near ...

, KFWD-TV, and

KDTX-TV KDTX-TV, virtual channel 58 (UHF digital channel 21), is a Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) owned-and-operated television station licensed to Dallas, Texas, United States, and serving the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The station's studios ar ...

. The county is home to one local radio station KBEC 1390 AM and 99.1 FM. The station has been in continuous operation since 1955 and is the oldest Family owned radio station in Texas. A weekly newspaper, the ''Ellis County Press'', is based in Ferris and published Thursdays. The ''

Waxahachie Daily Light The Waxahachie Daily Light is a newspaper serving Ellis County, Texas. Its daily circulation is 2,300. History The Waxahachie Daily Light started publishing in 1867 and it is the only paper serving Ellis County that started before 1900 and is s ...

'' and ''Waxahachie Sun'' are published biweekly; other weekly newspapers are ''The Ennis News'' and ''Midlothian Mirror''.

Education

School districts include: *

Avalon Independent School District Avalon Independent School District is a public school district based in the community of Avalon, Texas. The district operates one high school, Avalon High School. Finances As of the 2010–2011 school year, the appraised valuation of property ...

Ennis Independent School District Ennis Independent School District is a public school district based in Ennis, Texas, United States. In addition to Ennis, the district serves the towns of Alma, Bardwell, and Garrett in southeastern Ellis County. A portion of the district e ...

Ferris Independent School District Ferris Independent School District is a public school district based in Ferris, Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), a ...

* Frost Independent School District * Italy Independent School District *

Maypearl Independent School District Maypearl Independent School District is a public school district based in Maypearl, Texas (USA). Schools *Maypearl High School Maypearl High School is a public high school located in Maypearl, Texas (USA) and classified as a 3A school by ...

* Midlothian Independent School District *

Milford Independent School District Milford Independent School District is a public school district based in Milford, Texas ( USA). In 2009, the school district was rated " academically acceptable" by the Texas Education Agency. Schools Milford ISD is consolidated into one lar ...

* Palmer Independent School District * Red Oak Independent School District *

Waxahachie Independent School District The Waxahachie Independent School District is a public school district located in Waxahachie, Texas, a suburban community serving as the county seat for Ellis County, which adjoins Dallas County to the north. Waxahachie ISD is a district of abou ...

It is in the service area of

Navarro College Navarro College is a public community college in Texas with its main campus in Corsicana and branches in Fairfield, Mexia, Midlothian, and Waxahachie. The college has an annual student enrollment of more than 9,000 students. The Corsica ...

.Texas Education Code, Sec. 130.189. NAVARRO COLLEGE DISTRICT SERVICE AREA.
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Notable people

Clyde Barrow Bonnie Elizabeth Parker (October 1, 1910May 23, 1934) and Clyde Chestnut (Champion) Barrow (March 24, 1909May 23, 1934) were an American criminal couple who traveled the Central United States with their gang during the Great Depression. The co ...

of Bonnie and Clyde * J. D. Grey, clergyman, pastor of Tabernacle Baptist Church in Ennis, 1931–1934; later president of the Southern Baptist Convention *

Ernest Tubb Ernest Dale Tubb (February 9, 1914 – September 6, 1984), nicknamed the Texas Troubadour, was an American singer and songwriter and one of the pioneers of country music. His biggest career hit song, " Walking the Floor Over You" (1941), ...

, country singer and songwriter * Donnie Fleeman professional light-heavyweight boxer, only Ellis County native to fight 3 world champion heavyweights; Sonny Liston,

Ezzard Charles Ezzard Mack Charles (July 7, 1921 – May 28, 1975), known as the Cincinnati Cobra, was an American professional boxer and World Heavyweight Champion. Known for his slick defense and precision, he is often considered the greatest light heavywei ...

, and Muhammad Ali (formerly Cassius Clay). 47 national/international fights in his professional career. 37 wins, 22 KOs. Won State Heavyweight Title (Golden Gloves) in 1953 - contender for National Heavyweight Title, but lost to Sonny Liston. Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali) was Fleeman's last professional fight, and took place in Miami, Florida, in 1961. This was Clay's 5th professional

ght. * Lecil Travis Martin, known more commonly as Boxcar Willie, country singer and songwriter

References

External links

Ellis County government's website
*
''Memorial and biographical history of Ellis county, Texas ...''
published 1892, hosted by th
Portal to Texas History

''The Texas spirit of '17: a pictorial and biographical record of the gallant and courageous men from Ellis County who served in the Great War''
hosted by th
Portal to Texas History
{{authority control Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex 1850 establishments in Texas Populated places established in 1850