Ellis County TXGenweb
Historic Markers and Monuments
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Year marker was placed appears at end of each text.
Graves Cemetery
Established 1959
Robert Russell Graves (1814-1897) came from Alabama 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 from Thomas C. Marchbanks. The first marked grave on this
site is that of Joseph Hinkle, who was interred here in 1859. Robert and
Esther's son, C. R. Graves (1857-1938) and his wife, Maria Callie Graves
(1857-1927) deeded 1.06 acres including Joseph's grave for a family burial
ground in 1895. Many early pioneer families of the area near the Rockett
Community are represented here. Graves Cemetery continues as a chronicle
of the pioneer days of Ellis County. [2001] |
Presiding Elder's House
Location: 201 Oldham Avenue, Waxahachie
Built in 1901, this house served as the parsonage for the presiding elder
(district superintendent) of the Waxahachie district of the Northwest Texas
Conference of the Methodist Church for more than 40 years. Mrs. M. J. Cooke,
for whom the house was built, sold it to the Methodist Conference in 1902.
The Rev. O. F. Sansabaugh was the first of 13 church officials to reside
in the house, which features late Victorian-era detailing in its porch, windows
and gables. [1988] |
Bessie Coleman
Location: East Main and Clift Streets, Waxahachie
(1892-1926) 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 in this country that would teach
African American women, Coleman learned to fly in France and obtained her
international pilot;s license in 1921. Upon her return to the United States,
she was hailed as the first black woman pilot. Extremely popular, "Queen
Bess," as she was known, performed as a barnstormer for integrated audiences
at air shows and exhibitions around the country before her death in an air
accident in Jacksonville, Florida. [2001] |
Rutherford's Crossing Bridge
Location: On Rutherford Road, 8 miles south of Waxahachie
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 people to
cross the creek in this vicinity was by fording the waters, a task which
ofteh proved impossible due to bad weather and floods. A once-common bridge
tyupe, this structure is representative of early 20th century bridge building
technology. It stands as a reminder of early transportation patterns in Ellis
County. [1990] |
Waxahachie Chautauqua Building
Location: Getzendaner Park off Grand Avenue S., Waxahachie
Some 25 years after Chautauqa cultural programs originated in New York
State, annual Chautauqua assemblies in Waxahachie began in 1899. Large crowds
from North and East Texas and Oklahoma camped here, studying literature and
the arts, attending dramas, lectures, concerts, exhibitions. This 2500-seat
hall, convertible into an open-air auditorium, was built by Waxahachie Chautauqua
Park Association in 1902. [1972] |
N. P. Sims Library and Lyceum
Location: 515 West Main Street, Waxahachie
A pioneer among privately-endowed Texas libraries. Situated in Getzendaner
Park, which had been donated to the city on Dec. 31, 1895 by Capt. W. H.
Getzendaner (1834-1909), and attorney, Confederate veteran, banker, and president
of the Dallas & Waco Railroad. Nicholas P. Sims (1806-1902) a native
opf Virginia who settled in 1833 in Ellis County and prospered as a farmer
and investor, endowed the library and luceum in 1902, naming as trustees
his stepsons O. E. and S. W. Dunlap, along with George H. Cunningham. Architect
S. Wemyes Smith of Fort Worth designed the Neo-Classical building, using
Carrara marble and other fine structural materials. The library opened in
April 1905. Books and reading rooms were on the first floor, with the auditorium,
athenaeum, anterooms, and state for performing arts on the second floor.
Braden and Jones designed the wings. The west wing was financed (1958) by
an Ellis Countian, the talented inventor, J. Harry Phillips (1892-1962).
Industrialist W. H. Larkin and Mrs. Larkin financed (1865) the east wing.
Other major gifts were received from sale of the home bequeathed by 1938-52
city secretary Robert A. Watson and Mrs. Watson, and from sale of the farm
of Judge Oscar E. Dunlap.[1972] |
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