Ennis () is a city in eastern

Ellis County, Texas Ellis County is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of 2020, its population was estimated to be 192,455. The county seat is Waxahachie, Texas, Waxahachie. The county was founded in 1849 and organized the nex ...

, United States. The population is 20,159 according to the 2020 census, with an estimated population of 23,686 in 2023. Ennis is home to the annual National Polka Festival. It is part of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex.

History

In 1871 the Houston and Texas Central Railroad (H&TC) arrived at the spot that would become Ennis as it built north towards Dallas. The city was established that year and surveyed a year later. It is named after Cornelius Ennis, a founder of the H&TC Railroad.Ennis Historical Society
Ennis Historical Society. Retrieved on May 22, 2015. Between 1874 and 1890, the population of Ennis grew tenfold from approximately 300 to 3,000. Many of the new settlers came from the war-torn European nations that later became

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

. This early growth was attributed to the success of cotton production in the region, making Ennis a center of trade and commerce for both farmers and the railroad. The influx of Czech and Slovak migrants would also shape and transform the cultural heritage of the community for years to come, making Ennis one of the largest Czech communities in Texas. In 1891, the H&TC chose Ennis to be its northern division headquarters. The machine shops and roundhouse employed several hundred men. One condition of the agreement was that as long as Ennis was able to furnish water the shops could not be moved from the community. The city built the first of three lakes for this purpose: Old City Lake in 1892, followed by New Lake in 1895, and Lake Clark (an extension of New Lake) in 1940.ENNIS, TX , The Handbook of Texas Online, Texas State Historical Association (TSHA)
Tshaonline.org (June 12, 2010). Retrieved on 2015-05-22. However H&TC would later be acquired by the Texas and New Orleans Railroad (T&NO), a subsidiary of Southern Pacific, in 1934. While it no longer hosted the company headquarters, the shops and yard in Ennis would remain and continue to be used as a hub for other lines and branches serving the city. On July 14, 1902, the Corsicana Oil Citys of the

Texas League The Texas League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated in the South Central United States since 1902. It is classified as a Double-A league. Despite the league's name, only its five South Division teams are actually based in the ...

moved that day's game against Texarkana to Ennis, due to Sunday blue laws in Coriscana. Future major-leaguer

Nig Clarke Jay Justin "Nig" Clarke (December 15, 1882 – June 15, 1949) was a Canadian professional baseball player. A catcher, Clarke played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for nine seasons with the Detroit Tigers, Cleveland Naps, St. Louis Browns, Phil ...

set an all-time record by hitting eight home runs in ten at bats in a 51–3 victory. (Clarke was helped mightily by the fact that Ennis' tiny ballpark featured a right field fence only about 210 feet from home plate.) The expansion of the cotton industry supplemented by the railroad provided access to foreign and domestic markets through the port of Houston. By 1920, a total of 152,601 bales of cotton were ginned and shipped from Ellis County, the most of any county in America. In part to the city's significant contribution, the Ennis Chamber of Commerce adopted the slogan 'Where Railroads and Cotton Fields Meet." These two industries - trade and cotton production - produced immense wealth for the community that could be seen in the residential development of the city. Lawyers, doctors, businessmen, and other wealthy residents built churches of many different denominations and numerous fraternal organizations met regularly. Elegant houses along "the Avenue" and north were accompanied by dozens of Folk Victorian houses and Craftsman style bungalows. These Victorian houses and Craftsman bungalows in the northwestern part of the city would eventually become a part of the Templeton-McCanless Residential Historic District. By the mid-20th century Ennis had become a modern community with schools, three movie theaters, several drugstores, banks and automobile dealerships. Descendants of early settlers had developed new traditions like the National Polka Festival and the Ennis Bluebonnet Trail. Moreover, the city was connected to

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

to the north and

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

to the South by Interstate Highway 45. The commercial strip along Ennis Ave. between Downtown and Interstate 45 was hit by a tornado on May 15, 2013, rendering four homes uninhabitable and damaging as many as 55 businesses. The damage caused by the tornado impacted the National Register Historic District, with some of its historic buildings facing demolition. However, demolition was opposed by local community leaders and activists. As a result, these damaged buildings were sold by the city to developers with the intention of repairing the buildings. Further restoration and revitalization plans were implemented in the Downtown Comprehensive Plan, and the city was admitted to the Texas Main Street Program in January 2015. In recent years, Ennis has seen a boost in its economy and its downtown area has been revitalized. Ennis was part of the path of totality during the Solar eclipse of April 8, 2024 with the centerline of the eclipse passing through the northern part of the town. In celebration of the eclipse, Ennis threw a large festival, attempting to attract more visitors to the town and further bolster the economy. The city experienced 4 minutes and 23 seconds of totality.

Railroads in Ennis

Throughout the city's history, railroads have been instrumental in the community's early economic boom and supplemented the city's growth for over a century. Three railroads initially laid tracks and operated to and from Ennis—the Houston and Texas Central (H&TC) running north to south-east, the Texas Midland Railroad spurring to the northeast, and the Waxahachie Tap Railroad—later known as the Central Texas and Northwestern Railroad (CT&N)—coming in from the northwest. The CT&N was merged into the H&TC by the early 1900s and both remaining railroads serving the city would be merged into the Texas and New Orleans Railroad in 1934, eventually merging into its parent company

Southern Pacific Railroad The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials) was an American Railroad classes#Class I, Class I Rail transport, railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was oper ...

by 1961. In 1996, Southern Pacific would merge into

Union Pacific Railroad The Union Pacific Railroad is a Railroad classes, Class I freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pacific is the second largest railroad in the United Stat ...

which is now serves as the sole rail operator in the city, maintaining a yard and local base of operations for the Ennis Subdivision. The construction of the Houston and Texas Central Railway would be directly responsible for the early development of the city. Not only was the community strategically located in the middle of the Blackland Prairie, but it was located along the proposed H&TC line from Houston to Dallas—the first rail connection between both cities. However, the railroad's decision to establish Ennis meant that the nearby town of Burnham—located five miles south near the present-day community of Ensign—would be bypassed. The issue of this decision presented itself when many businesses in Burnham were attracted to the railroad and relocated to Ennis. As a result, a mob of angry residents reacted violently to the railroad's bypass and attacked citizens in the city of Ennis, killing one and injuring several others. Burnham, an otherwise well-planned and relatively developed city, would eventually decline and become a ghost town in the coming decades. In 1870—as the H&TC was laying track in Ellis County—residents of the neighboring city of Waxahachie refused to give bonds to the railroad and resisted the development of a rail link to the system. After the railroad brought significant growth to Ennis and the decline of the bypassed community of Burnham took hold, attitudes changes as opportunistic businessmen and lawmakers chartered the Waxahachie Tap Railroad to link Waxahachie to the H&TC in an effort to reap some of the economic benefits. Construction was completed in 1879, establishing a 13-mile connection across Ellis County between both cities. In 1881, the railroad would be reorganized into the Central Texas and Northwestern Railway and secured state legislation permitting the railroad to build out west into the Panhandle, but no further construction would be made on the railroad. Eventually, the CT&N was merged into the H&TC in 1901. In 1882, the H&TC began construction on a spur line which would span over 100 miles from Ennis to the city of

Paris, Texas Paris is a city and county seat of Lamar County, Texas, United States. Located in Northeast Texas at the western edge of the Piney Woods, the population of the city was 24,171 in 2020. History Present-day Lamar County was part of Red River ...

, linking a southern terminus of the St. Louis and San Francisco Railroad. This would bypass the city of Dallas and provide a direct link from

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...

to the port cities of Houston and

Galveston Galveston ( ) is a Gulf Coast of the United States, coastal resort town, resort city and port off the Southeast Texas coast on Galveston Island and Pelican Island (Texas), Pelican Island in the U.S. state of Texas. The community of , with a pop ...

. However, in 1885—just three years into construction—the H&TC went into receivership after only building half of the line, stopping just south of the city of Quinlan. In 1892, the Texas Midland Railroad was chartered by businesswoman

Hetty Green Henrietta "Hetty" Howland Robinson Green (November 21, 1834 – July 3, 1916) was an American businesswoman and financier known as "the richest woman in America" during the Gilded Age. Those who knew her well referred to her admiringly as th ...

who would purchase the northeastern spur from the H&TC. The link between the cities of Ennis and Paris would finally be made 13 years later. After a decade of operation, the Texas Midland was bought out by parties interested in a link and partnership between the Frisco Line and

Rock Island Line "Rock Island Line" ( Roud 15211) was originally sung as a spiritual by slaves on the plantations of the Mississippi River Valley, and was first transcribed as a folk song in 1929. The first recording was made by John Lomax, who was traveling amo ...

. Plans were announced to build a line 65 miles south from Ennis to Waco to connect with the recently established

Burlington-Rock Island Railroad The Burlington-Rock Island Railroad was a joint railroad in Texas, United States. It came into existence on July 7, 1930, through the reorganization of its predecessor, the Trinity and Brazos Valley Railway Company (T&BV), nicknamed the "Boll W ...

, a joint venture of the Rock Island Line and

Burlington Route The Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad was a railroad that operated in the Midwest, Midwestern United States. Commonly referred to as the Burlington Route, the Burlington, CB&Q, or as the Q, it operated extensive trackage in the states of ...

. There was significant potential of Ennis becoming a major railroad hub and junction, which could have significantly boosted its already booming development. However, this southern extension would never come to fruition and the Texas Midland would eventually be bought out and annexed by Southern Pacific in 1928, which leased the line to its subsidiary Texas and New Orleans Railroad. In 1934, the T&NO would fully acquire both the Texas Midland and the Houston and Texas Central, dissolving both companies in a merger to consolidate the H&TC line into the Southern Pacific system and fully abandon the Texas Midland Route. While Ennis would continue to see T&NO service to Dallas and Houston, the northeastern spur from Ennis to Paris would sit abandoned and go unused for almost a decade. A washout of the bridge spanning the Trinity River would lead to the official abandonment and decommissioning of the line between Ennis and Kaufman in 1942. The city was also served by the Texas Electric Railway, an extensive

interurban The interurban (or radial railway in Canada) is a type of electric railway, with tram-like electric self-propelled railcars which run within and between cities or towns. The term "interurban" is usually used in North America, with other terms u ...

railway network in North Texas that stretched over 200 miles in length at its peak. The line historically ran through Ennis at street level along Dallas Street before running parallel to the T&NO tracks outside of the city center. From 1913 to 1941, Ennis was a stop along the Dallas-Corsicana Line, but the rise of the automobile, decline in ridership, and the economic strain of World War II led to the suspension of service and closure of the line. Like the Texas Midland's spur along Breckenridge Street, the interurban line ran along Dallas Street and was likewise paved over after service was suspended. However, these tracks were revealed and partially restored during street renovations in the late-2010s. By the mid-20th century, the significance of the railroad began to decline in the city, as the postwar boom of the mid-century favored the automobile over the locomotive. Texas and New Orleans' ''

Sunbeam A sunbeam, in meteorological optics, is a lightbeam, beam of sunlight that appears to radiate from the position of the Sun. Shining through openings in clouds or between other objects such as mountains and buildings, these beams of light scatter ...

'' and Hustler services were cut in 1955 and 1957 respectively, after serving the city since the T&NO's takeover of the H&TC. Passenger service would not return to Ennis, as attempts by

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

to restore service to the city were largely unsuccessful. Ten years after the T&NO's merger into Southern Pacific in 1961, Southern Pacific would initially resist attempts to route the Lone Star along the line through Ennis in the early 1970s. In 1989, a spur of the

Texas Eagle The ''Texas Eagle'' is a long-distance passenger train operated daily by Amtrak on a route between Chicago, Illinois, and San Antonio, Texas, with major stops in St. Louis, Little Rock, Dallas, Fort Worth, and Austin. Three days per week, t ...

—the successor of the Lone Star service—running from Dallas to Houston would run nonstop through the city during the alternate service's brief three-year stint in the early 1990s. Shortly after in 1996, Southern Pacific would merge into Union Pacific, who has since been the sole railroad operating in the city. Union Pacific would go on to commemorate the city's significant railroad history by honoring the legacy of its local yard workers—some of whom were fourth and fifth-generation railroaders - in awarding the city a membership to the company's Train Town USA registry in 2013.

Templeton-McCanless Historic District

The Templeton-McCanless Residential Historic District is named in honor of two notable figures instrumental in the early development of the city, one of whom— Hix McCanless—was the architect for several early homes built in Ennis from the late 19th to early 20th centuries. Because of the city's economic boom and the general prosperity of the

Gilded Age In History of the United States, United States history, the Gilded Age is the period from about the late 1870s to the late 1890s, which occurred between the Reconstruction era and the Progressive Era. It was named by 1920s historians after Mar ...

during this era, many of these early homes were built indulgently with ornate details and great levels of craftsmanship in adherence to the pre-modern architectural styles of the time—namely in the Neoclassical,

American Craftsman American Craftsman is an American domestic architectural style, inspired by the Arts and Crafts movement, which included interior design, landscape design, applied arts, and decorative arts, beginning in the last years of the 19th century. ...

, and Folk Victorian styles. However, many of these original homes were lost to neglect, demolition, fire, and careless renovation during the 20th century, precipitating the need to preserve the locally historic significance of those remaining. The historic district was created in 1986 after five years of grassroots efforts from the Ennis Heritage Society (now the Ennis Historical Society) and is now an officially registered district in the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

dedicated to the protection and preservation of these homes. Today, dozens of homes are historically preserved in their original style. Some of the homes have been named after the architect of the house or the family name of its first residents.

City Hall

Ennis City Hall is the seat of municipal government of Ennis. It is located at 119 W. Brown Street. The current building was completed in 1950, and was listed on the

in 1986, and was also designated a

Recorded Texas Historic Landmark Recorded Texas Historic Landmark (RTHL) is a designation awarded by the Texas Historical Commission for historically and architecturally significant properties in the U.S. state of Texas. RTHL is a legal designation and the highest honor the st ...

in 1985. The building was designed in the

Classical Revival Neoclassicism, also spelled Neo-classicism, emerged as a Western cultural movement in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiquity. Neoclassic ...

style by Hix McCanless in 1950.

Geography

Ennis is in the northeastern region of Texas, in eastern Ellis County.

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

passes through the east side of the city, with access from Exits 247 through 255. I-45 leads north to

and south to

. U.S. Route 287 curves around the south side of Ennis and leads northwest to Waxahachie, the Ellis County seat. Texas State Highway 34 passes through the center of Ennis, leading northeast to Kaufman and southwest to

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. Waco is to the southwest. Ennis has a total area of , of which is land and , or 1.85 percent, is water.

Climate

The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters. According to the

Köppen Climate Classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

system, Ennis has a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...

, abbreviated "Cfa" on climate maps.

Demographics

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 20,159 people, 6,642 households, and 4,985 families residing in the city.

Arts and culture

Events

The National Polka Festival is a three-day festival that has been hosted annually since 1967 during the

Memorial Day Memorial Day (originally known as Decoration Day) is a federal holiday in the United States for mourning the U.S. military personnel who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces. It is observed on the last Monday of May. It i ...

weekend to commemorate the city's Czech Texan culture. The festival features

Czech cuisine Czech cuisine has both influenced and been influenced by the cuisines of surrounding countries and nations. Many of the cakes and pastries that are popular in Central Europe originated within the Czech lands. Contemporary Czech cuisine is ...

, Czexan music, a Memorial Day parade through downtown, and polka dances hosted at event halls operated by fraternal organizations such as Sokol or the

Knights of Columbus The Knights of Columbus (K of C) is a global Catholic Church, Catholic Fraternal and service organizations, fraternal service order founded by Michael J. McGivney, Blessed Michael J. McGivney. Membership is limited to practicing Catholic men. ...

. There is a homecoming-like competition among residents and community-based fraternal organizations to crown the annual Ennis National Polka King and Queen. The Ennis Polka Run takes place to help fund the Rotary Club and the Children's Reading Club of Ennis. The Bluebonnet Trails Festival celebrates the state flower of Texas and the vibrant bloom of wildflowers in the surrounding countryside. The festival includes sightseeing excursions and a street fair in downtown. The festival is held on the third weekend of April, and the Bluebonnet Trails are hosted for the entire month. First hosted in Kachina Prairie Park in 1938, the Bluebonnet Trails have since expanded into a route of several dozen miles along rural farm roads throughout the surrounding countryside east and northeast of the city. The routes for these sightseeing excursions have been officially hosted and mapped out by the Ennis Garden Club since 1951. To commemorate the popularity of the Bluebonnet Trails Festival and the efforts made to celebrate and preserve the state flower of Texas, the

Texas Legislature The Texas State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Texas. It is a bicameral body composed of a 31-member Senate and a 150-member House of Representatives. The state legislature meets at the Capitol in Austin. It is a p ...

designated Ennis the "Bluebonnet City of Texas" and also declared Ennis the official "Bluebonnet Trail of Texas" in 1997. The city hosts several other events throughout the year. Unity One Blues on Main Summer Music Festival is a jazz and blues festival hosted in June; Ennis Freedom Fest is a parade and firework show celebrating the

4th of July Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'', a 1972 Soviet drama ...

; the Fall Festival and Monster Mash Dash 5k Marathon are hosted in October; and the Lights of Ennis Festival, the Parade of Lights, and

Our Lady of Guadalupe Our Lady of Guadalupe (), also known as the Virgin of Guadalupe (), is a Catholic title of the Blessed Virgin Mary associated with four Marian apparitions to Juan Diego and one to his uncle, Juan Bernardino reported in December 1531, when t ...

Procession are hosted in December during the Christmas season.

Attractions

Lake Bardwell is a reservoir managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, located southwest of Ennis. It is a flood-control reservoir in the Trinity River Basin and a conservation pool in the Trinity Valley Authority. Surrounding the lake is a park system consisting of Big Mustang Creek Park, Little Mustang Creek Park, High View Park, Love Park, Mott Park, and Highview Marina, all of which offer boat ramps. The lake and parks offer hiking, horseback riding, camping, fishing, and sport boating. Texas Motorplex in Ennis is a quarter-mile drag racing facility built in 1986 by former funny car driver Billy Meyer. It hosts the annual NHRA FallNationals in October, when hundreds of professional and amateur drag racers compete. Galaxy Drive-In Theatre Galaxy Drive-In Theatre first opened in 2004, it was with only three screens. Sixteen years later, they had expanded to seven screens, featuring the newest films Hollywood has to offer. All the films shown at the Galaxy Drive-In Theatre are projected digitally and, in certain instances, in 3-D, a rarity in the world of drive-in cinema. Galaxy Drive-In is open seven days a week, 365 days a year. Ennis Railroad and Cultural Heritage Museum is housed in the former Van Noy restaurant building. The museum's collections include: railroad and cultural memorabilia including items related to the Houston and Central Texas Railroad; a large diorama of the old engine roundhouse that once existed just north of the museum's location; a large collection of rare china; and a MKT caboose. Kachina Prairie is a city park preserving one of the last remaining examples of untouched Texas blackland prairie. The first Ennis bluebonnet trail was marked through this area in 1938.

Government

The city of Ennis has a City Commissioner/

City Manager A city manager is an official appointed as the administrative manager of a city in the council–manager form of city government. Local officials serving in this position are referred to as the chief executive officer (CEO) or chief administ ...

government type, with several commissioners representing different wards of the city government in city council. The city is also one of the largest incorporated cities in the United States that continues to elect its City Marshal. The mayor is Kameron Raburn.

Education

Education is administered by the Ennis Independent School District, which consists of two early childhood centers, four elementary schools, two intermediate schools, one junior high, and Ennis High School. Secondary education offers several extracurricular programs, such as UIL (

University Interscholastic League The University Interscholastic League (UIL) is an organization that creates rules for and administers almost all athletic, musical, and academic contests for public primary and secondary schools in the U.S. state of Texas. It is the largest organ ...

) Academics and Sports, TSA (

Technology Student Association The Technology Student Association (TSA) is a national non-profit Career and technical student organization, career and technical student organization (CTSO) of over 300,000 middle and high school student members engaged in Science, technology, e ...

), and the

National FFA Organization The National FFA Organization or FFA is an American nonprofit career and technical student organization, which offers middle and high school classes that promote and support agricultural education. Future Farmers of Virginia (FFV) was founded in ...

. Junior high and high school sports include baseball, football, basketball, volleyball, tennis, cross country, track, powerlifting, softball, soccer, and golf.

Notable people

* Darrell Lance Abbott, musician and songwriter, co-founder of

Pantera Pantera () is an American Heavy metal music, heavy metal band formed in Arlington, Texas in 1981 by the Abbott brothers (guitarist Dimebag Darrell and drummer Vinnie Paul), and currently composed of vocalist Phil Anselmo, bassist Rex Brown, an ...

and Damageplan * Vincent Paul Abbott, musician and songwriter, co-founder of

and Damageplan * Ray Armstrong, college and professional football player * Bob Banner, producer, co-producer of ''The Carol Burnett Show'' * Clyde Barrow, partner in Bonnie and Clyde crime duo. Resided in Ennis later in lifeCzeching Up on History by Randy Bigham
''EnnisNOW Magazine''. May 2013 * Alfred H. Bennett, District Judge of the

United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas The United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas (in case citations, S.D. Tex.) is the federal district court with jurisdiction over the southeastern part of Texas. The court's headquarters is in Houston, Houston, Texas, and ...

* Pam Bowers, college

women's basketball Women's basketball is the team sport of basketball played by women. It was first played in 1892, one year after men's basketball, at Smith College in Massachusetts. It spread across the United States, in large parts via women's college compet ...

coach * Gary Campbell, college football player and coach *

Steve Collins Stephen Collins (born 21 July 1964) is an Irish former professional boxer who competed from 1986 to 1997. Known as the Celtic Warrior, Collins is the most successful male Irish boxer in recent professional boxing history, having held the WBO ...

, college football player * Chase Craig, writer-cartoonist. Worked with

Dell Comics Dell Comics was the comic book publishing arm of Dell Publishing, which got its start in pulp magazines. It published comics from 1929 to 1973. At its peak, it was the most prominent and successful American company in the medium.Evanier, Mark"Wh ...

and

Gold Key Comics Gold Key Comics was an imprint of American company Western Publishing, created for comic books distributed to newsstands. Also known as Whitman Comics, Gold Key operated from 1962 to 1984. History Gold Key Comics was created in 1962, when its ...

* Jacobs Crawley,

rodeo Rodeo () is a competitive equestrian sport that arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain and Mexico, expanding throughout the Americas and to other nations. It was originally based on the skills required of the working vaqu ...

cowboy, saddle bronc racer * James "Red" Duke, trauma surgeon, professor, first surgeon to receive President Kennedy at Parkland Medical in Dallas * Elliott with 2 Ts, drag queen * Jack Fields, Republican representative of Texas's 8th congressional district * Bob Finley,

MLB Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

catcher,

Southwest Conference The Southwest Conference (SWC) was an NCAA Division I college athletic conference in the United States that existed from 1914 to 1996. Composed primarily of schools from Texas, at various times the conference also included schools from Oklaho ...

and AFL * Walt Furnace, Republican representative of the

Alaska House of Representatives The Alaska House of Representatives is the lower house in the Alaska State Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Alaska. The House is composed of 40 members, each of whom represents a district of approximately 17,756 people pe ...

* Tanya Godsey, musician, vocalist, and pianist * Graham Harrell, NFL and college football player lived in Ennis * Hattie Leah Henenberg, lawyer, judge, appointed to the All-Woman Supreme Court * D. Van Holliday, theoretical and experimental physicist,

acoustician Acoustics is a branch of physics that deals with the study of mechanical waves in gases, liquids, and solids including topics such as vibration, sound, ultrasound and infrasound. A scientist who works in the field of acoustics is an acoustician ...

* Kirby Baxter Holmes, gospel musician and pastor. Instrumental in

Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister, civil and political rights, civil rights activist and political philosopher who was a leader of the civil rights move ...

's visit to Texas in 1959 * Charles Hudson,

starting pitcher * Jack Lummus,

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces, military decoration and is awarded to recognize American United States Army, soldiers, United States Navy, sailors, Un ...

recipient, 1st Lt. of the US Marine Corps * Vincent Marshall,

Canadian football Canadian football, or simply football, is a Sports in Canada, sport in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete on a field long and wide, attempting to advance a Ball (gridiron football), pointed oval-shaped ball into the opposi ...

player * Hix McCanless, architect, surveyor, civil engineer * Robert Randall Onstead, grocer and businessman, founder of Randall's Food Markets *

Ginger Rogers Ginger Rogers (born Virginia Katherine McMath; July 16, 1911 – April 25, 1995) was an American actress, dancer and singer during the Classical Hollywood cinema, Golden Age of Hollywood. She won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her starri ...

, actress, singer, dancer. Lived in Ennis during childhood. * Rabon Tarrant,

jump blues Jump blues is an uptempo style of blues, jazz, and boogie woogie usually played by small groups and featuring horn instruments. It was popular in the 1940s and was a precursor of rhythm and blues and rock and roll. Appreciation of jump blues wa ...

and

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

drummer, singer and songwriter. *

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), marked ...

, The "Texas Troubadour", country music singer and songwriter * Mary Walker, World

Barrel Racing Barrel racing is a rodeo event in which a horse and rider attempt to run a cloverleaf pattern around preset barrels in the fastest time. In collegiate and professional ranks, it is usually a women's event, though both sexes compete at amateur an ...

Champion, 2013 * Edward Whitacre Jr., former chairman and CEO of AT&T Inc.,

General Motors General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The company is most known for owning and manufacturing f ...

In popular culture

Scenes from the following movies were filmed in Ennis: '' Deadly Blessing'' (1981) starring

Sharon Stone Sharon Vonne Stone (born March 10, 1958) is an American actress and film producer. Known for primarily playing femmes fatales and women of mystery on film and television, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1990s. She is the ...

; ''On Valentine's Day'' (1986) starring Hallie Foote and Michael Higgins; and '' Walking Tall: The Payback'' (2007) with Kevin Sorbo and

Haley Ramm Haley Michelle Ramm (born March 26, 1992) is an American actress. She is known for her roles as Jen Long in the police procedural series ''Without a Trace'' (2007–2008), Brenna Carver in the Freeform (TV channel), ABC Family drama ''Chasing Li ...

. The Ennis Railroad and Cultural Museum was featured on the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

travel show, The Texas Bucket List.

Notes

References

External links

City of Ennis official website

Ennis Chamber of Commerce
{{authority control Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex Cities in Texas Czech-American culture in Texas Cities in Ellis County, Texas Populated places established in 1872 1872 establishments in Texas