Historic Waxahachie Inc.

Home
United States
Waxahachie, TX
Historic Waxahachie Inc.

Historic Waxahachie Inc. is a 501c3 nonprofit committed to the preservation of historic areas which contribute to the unique identity of Waxahachie.

HWI is a nonprofit 501c3 organization supported by grants, community involvement and business support. One goal of HWI is to promote community pride and combat community deterioration. Since Historic Waxahachie Inc. was formed in 1978, it has accomplished many things that have helped Waxahachie both grow and retain its fantastic history. This is a list of some of those accomplishments:
• Saved, by

identifying, over 350 properties in Waxahachie as “worthy of preservation”
• Saved and moved the historic Wyatt Real Estate Office and the Calaboose. Purchased and painted the Caboose placed at the MKT train depot.
• Purchased eagles placed on the roof of the Ellis County Courthouse restoration.
• Created pamphlets and video about courthouse history which are used during tours conducted by HWI members during festivals.
• Developed both Walking Tour guides of downtown and historical Driving Tours of the town.
• Created a “How to Research Your Property” pamphlet and presented a “How To” program for proper restoration.
• Worked with the city in the creation of the Historic Zoning Ordinance and contributed to the cost of the Downtown Overlay Historic Guidelines.
• Conducted and will continue to collect oral histories of local citizens.
• Created signs within the downtown giving the history of buildings both current and lost.
• Purchased Chautauqua auditorium ceiling fans and provided electrical system for them.
• Provide members with quarterly newsletter giving historical and preservation information and letting members know about upcoming events.
• Created a Legends Baseball mural downtown depicting the history of baseball in Waxahachie
• Maintains website – historicwaxahachie.com
• Maintains page – Historic Waxahachie Inc. is fully committed to preservation of the rich historic fabric and unique identity of our historic city. All our preservation activities apply to the history of all people regardless of their race, neighborhoods, ethnicity, color, s*xual orientation, gender, native language or religious affiliation. is committed to not discriminating against any group or individual for any reason of color, s*x, physical or mental ability, ethnic background, language, social status or s*xual orientation.

06/19/2026

PETERS BLOCK (1893) - When building activity picked up in the area in the early 1890’s, Lemuel Peters was among the investors eager to profit on the bustling downtown area. He obtained several properties totaling a South Rogers frontage of 133 feet. However, as the 1893 financial panic was unfolding, peters had overextended himself with this and other projects, that he was forced to sell this development early on. Waxahachie capitalist. Richard Vickery assumed the debt and bought the commercial properties.

This corner segment of the Peters Block remains fairly typical of a two-story commercial building identified with the late 1880s/early 1890’s. The narrow windows, brick hood moldings, and simple corbeled parapet, give it a fairly conservative façade, especially when compared to buildings that were built a year later on the north side of the downtown Square.

Over the years, it has seen many commercial enterprises, including but not limited to a furniture store, dry goods store, feed and seed store, multiple department stores, and currently home to .

More information can be found in the Waxahachie Architecture Guidebook, or by visiting .

06/12/2026

T.B. SIMMS HOUSE (1922) - Thomas B. Simms arrived in Waxahachie not long before building this craftsman style home in 1922. Originally from Tennessee, Simms served as the superintendent of public schools in Oklahoma and Texas, and as president of a small college in Kentucky before arriving in Waxahachie to teach education at Trinity University. He taught at Trinity for 20 years, and had a keen interest in sports, chairing the Trinity Athletics Committee.

Very typical for the neighborhood, this bungalow with a front gable is placed asymmetrically against the façade with the roof pitch much lower than the main roof. The wraparound porch leads to a porte cochère extending from its side.

More information can be found in the Waxahachie Architecture Guidebook, or by visiting .

06/05/2026

D.C. CANTRELL HOUSE (1888,1905) - both born in Monroe County, Mississippi, David Crockett Cantrell and his wife Millie Grizzle Cantrell married in Waxahachie in 1886, and built what was originally a rectangular gable and two room house shortly thereafter. As their family grew over time, the need for more space arose, with the Daily Light reporting a “new room” had been constructed in 1905. The front facade resembles a typical L-plan home, a common build type at the turn of the century.

The Cantrells raised their four daughters and lived out their entire married lives in this home. When David died a widow at age 78 in 1934, he was working as a truck farmer. The local obituary noted that the “quiet and unassuming” Cantrell and his “estimable and cultured wife…raised their family of four girls who have become outstanding in culture, refinement, and in religious achievements.” The obituary concluded by stating that a large crowd was in attendance at his funeral service, “just as it should be, for Crockett Cantrell was a good man.”

More information can be found in the Waxahachie Architecture Guidebook, or by visiting .

05/29/2026

J.J. LARKIN HOUSE (1956) - unlike any other home built in Waxahachie at the time of its build or since, this home was “contemporary in design and, with a detached guest house and bathhouse, forms a U around a kidney shaped swimming pool,” according to the Daily Light. What we now consider a midcentury modern style home, this home stands out as a prime example of the style.

Jim Larkin Junior was Executive Vice President of the Larkin Packer Company, an oilfield equipment manufacturing company based in St. Louis. When a new plant opened in Waxahachie, the Larkins relocated from St. Louis to Waxahachie.

More information can be found in the Waxahachie Architecture Guidebook or by visiting .

05/15/2026

This Preservation Month, HWI is proud to start a new tradition: honoring the homes in our community that have hallmark anniversaries each year.

Throughout the remainder of the month of May, look out around town for signs celebrating homes that are 75, 100, and 125 years old.

(If you have a home built in 1901, 1926, or 1951, and would like to inquire about receiving a sign, please email [email protected].)

05/08/2026

A.A. BRADSHAW HOUSE (1893) - farmer and carpenter Albert Bradshaw and his wife Harriet, moved from farm to town and built this two story L plan home out of practicality - likely to be closer to town for the educational opportunities that Waxahachie offered for the Bradshaw‘s many children. The 1900 census lists six of the Bradshaw children living in the home “at school.”

At the time the home was built, most plan books would have labeled it as a farmhouse. The L plan was functional, adaptable, and familiar building style during the southeast from the 1880s to the 1910s.

More information can be found in the Waxahachie Architecture Guidebook, or by visiting .

05/01/2026

RANSOM-SHARP HOUSE (1901) - in November 1901, the enterprise reported that E.S. Boze was building a handsome cottage for his sisters, Mrs. Sammie Ransom Sharp, and Miss Annie Ransom.

The house was built on land that had been in the Ransom family for some time, and the household was made up of Sammie, who was a young widow, her two young children, and her sister Annie, a single woman working as a stenographer. The resourceful sisters supported their family by renting rooms, selling specialty women’s clothing, and investing in US bonds. When Sammie died in 1950, her son Ransom Sharp inherited her estate.

The home is a modified L plan residence, distinguished by two front facing gables on each side of the hipped roof dormer.

More information can be found in the Waxahachie Architecture Guidebook, or by visiting .

04/24/2026

G.F. SMITH HOUSE (1922) - After their previous home on this lot was destroyed, George and Henrietta Smith contracted Fort Worth builder H.H. Hardin to build a “new house to have wood shingle roof; fourteen rooms, and the necessary porches and windows.” The house is a straightforward Prairie style home, popular at the time, with other examples beginning to be built in Waxahachie.

The Smith family had been living in Waxahachie since 1905, with George first working as a cotton buyer and then a tax collector. George began selling real estate in the 1920s, which became a risky occupation when the Depression hit. In 1939, The Smiths moved to Wichita Falls.

More information can be found in the Waxahachie Architecture Guidebook, or by visiting .

04/17/2026

NORTH ROGERS SPECULATION HOMES - Construction on three identical spec houses began in 1911 and was complete completed in 1912 by Waxahachie cotton dealer and real estate investor Charles Penn. The homes are one story pyramidal houses, which were quite common, but include a projecting hipped roof, which was an unusual addition at the time. Penn and his wife Mayme sold the houses, and within a few short years Samuel Rudolph, furniture store proprietor, and his wife Eula owned all three - living in one home, and renting out the other two.

These small cottages represent an early example of real estate investing, affordable housing, and spec building.

More information can be found in the Waxahachie Architecture Guidebook or by visiting .

04/10/2026

This week, members of Historic Waxahachie’s board, City of Waxahachie - Official Municipal Page Historic Preservation Commission and Downtown Redevelopment and Historic Preservation Manager, and the Ellis County Museum, Inc. Administrator/Curator attended the Texas Historical Commission’s 10th annual Real Places conference in Austin.

Learning best practices, gleaning inspiration from success stories across Texas, meeting with other preservation professionals across the state, and gaining hands on preservation experience, we are excited to bring ideas back home!

Address

Waxahachie, TX
75165, 75167, 75168

Website

http://www.historicwaxahachie.com/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Historic Waxahachie Inc. posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Organization

Send a message to Historic Waxahachie Inc.:

Shortcuts

Want your organization to be the top-listed Non Profit Organization in Waxahachie?