Ellis County Courthouse
Waxahachie, Ellis County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Ellis County's first courthouse was made of cedar logs and built here in 1850. A second courthouse was built on this square in 1853 and a third in 1874. In 1894 Virginia native and San Antonio architect James Riely Gordon was commissioned to design the fourth Ellis County courthouse to be built at this site. The cornerstone was laid on July 4, 1895, and the courthouse completed in 1897 with each of its main entrances purposely oriented toward true North, South, East and West compass points. Faces which adorn the courthouse were sculpted by European stonemasons. The "Richardsonian Romanesque" architectural style used by Gordon to design this building was created by Bostonian Henry Hobson Richardson in the 1870s and popularized in Texas by Gordon. For this structure Gordon deviated from previous Texas courthouses he had designed in the "Richardsonian Romanesque" style by displaying open, two-story arcaded and colonnaded porticos on the exterior of the building and placing entrances at inside angles. Red and gray granite from Central Texas and red sandstone from the Pecos River in West Texas were used to build this courthouse. Gordon's Ellis County courthouse design set a new standard for other public buildings erected in Texas.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Ellis County went through three modest courthouses — cedar logs in 1850, then buildings in 1853 and 1874 — before commissioning San Antonio architect James Riely Gordon to design this fourth one in 1894. Its cornerstone laid on July 4, 1895, the courthouse was built of Central Texas granite and Pecos River red sandstone, with entrances oriented to the true compass points and faces carved by European stonemasons. Gordon's Richardsonian Romanesque masterpiece set a new standard for public buildings across Texas.
Why it matters
One of the finest Gilded Age courthouses in America, it shows how ambitious civic architecture broadcast the wealth and permanence of a maturing Texas.
The story behind this marker
AI contextThe era
Ellis County sits on the rich Blackland Prairie south of Dallas, some of the most fertile farmland in Texas. In its early years the county government could only afford a building of cedar logs, put up in 1850. As settlers poured in and the land proved itself, the county replaced that courthouse again and again, in 1853 and 1874. Each building reflected a slightly wealthier, more settled place.
By the 1890s the prairie had become one of the great cotton regions of the South, and railroads carried its harvest to market. Waxahachie, the county seat, grew prosperous on that trade. A new courthouse was more than an office building. It was a public statement that Ellis County had become a place of wealth and permanence.
Across Texas, counties were in the middle of a courthouse building boom in the late nineteenth century. Many of them turned to the same small group of architects, and rivalry between county seats was real. A grand courthouse could help a town attract business, settlers, and pride.
People & events
The man chosen for the job in 1894 was James Riely Gordon, a Virginia native working out of San Antonio. Gordon became one of the most important courthouse architects in Texas history, and this building is often counted among his finest. He worked in the Richardsonian Romanesque style, named for Boston architect Henry Hobson Richardson, whose heavy stone arches and rugged masonry had transformed American architecture in the 1870s and 1880s.
Gordon did not simply copy his earlier work. Here he opened up the design with two-story arcaded and colonnaded porches and set the entrances into the inside angles of the building, so it looks different from almost every side. He also turned the main doors precisely toward north, south, east, and west. The cornerstone was laid on the Fourth of July, 1895, a fitting date for a building meant to embody civic pride. Work finished in 1897.
The materials came from all over Texas: red and gray granite from Central Texas and red sandstone hauled from the Pecos River country far to the west. European stonemasons carved the faces that peer out from the stonework. Those faces have inspired local legends over the years about who the models were, but the stories are best enjoyed as folklore, not settled fact.
Its place in the American story
Henry Hobson Richardson's style was one of the first American architectural movements to spread across the whole country. Libraries, train stations, and city halls from New England to the West took on its round arches and heavy stone. The Ellis County Courthouse shows how that national style was adapted to Texas and, in Gordon's hands, pushed in new directions.
The building also captures a turning point in the American West. In 1850 this county seat could only manage a log courthouse. Less than fifty years later it could build a granite and sandstone palace carved by European craftsmen. That leap, from frontier to prosperous farm country tied into the national economy by rail, happened across much of the West in the late 1800s.
Finally, courthouses like this one stand for an idea about democracy. Built on the town square, open to everyone, and designed to impress, they said that the law and local government deserved a noble home. According to the marker, Gordon's design here set a new standard for public buildings in Texas, and its influence carried well beyond Waxahachie.
If you visit
Walk all the way around the square. Because Gordon set the entrances into the building's inside angles and faced them toward the four compass points, the courthouse looks different from every approach. Watch how the red sandstone and the gray and red granite play against each other, especially in low morning or evening light.
Then get close and look for the carved faces. They are easy to miss from across the street and a delight to find up close. Take a moment with the arcaded porches too. Their open, two-story arches were Gordon's twist on the style, and they give the building a lightness that heavy Romanesque buildings often lack.
The courthouse anchors a downtown full of late nineteenth-century commercial buildings, and Waxahachie is known for its many Victorian homes. It is an easy trip south from Dallas, and it pairs well with a drive to see other historic Texas courthouses. Once you have seen one of Gordon's buildings, you start spotting his signature everywhere.
Written by AI to add context, grounded in the marker’s inscription and the historical record. The inscription above is the original, unaltered text.
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Related people
- · James Riely Gordon
- · Henry Hobson Richardson
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Ellis County Courthouse
Waxahachie, TX
Rising from Texas granite, limestone, and marble between 1895 and 1897, the Ellis County Courthouse is a soaring example of Romanesque Revival design by noted architect J. Riely Gordon. Local legend holds that a sculptor carved the face of a beautiful local woman he admired above the east door — a romantic flourish on one of the era's grandest civic buildings.
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