The Story of Small Family Farms of Ellis County

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Ellis County comprises 952 square miles of the Texas Blackland Prairie.

Tonkawa Indians were the earliest inhabitants of the future county. American settlers began to move into the region in the middle of the nineteenth century.

Drawn from Navarro County, Ellis County was officially established on December 20, 1849.

Ellis County was primarily an agricultural county, with cotton the main crop from the 1870s until the 1950s. Agriculture and cotton in particular, was the mainstay of the Ellis County economy with cotton producing great wealth in the early years.

The early settlers of Ellis County came predominantly from the southern part of the United States, bringing their farming methods. A number of Czechs, Hungarians, and Germans settled in the county during the 1850s. The most profitable business was cattle raising because of the mild climate and the native grasses covering the fertile prairies. The first settlers generally took land along the streams and raised some small grains to use at home or to trade for lumber in East Texas. Small amounts of cotton were raised and transported to Houston or Shreveport by ox teams.

By 1860, local farmers began to realize that the region’s fertile soil was well-suited for the cultivation of cotton.

The Civil War disrupted the county’s development and altered agricultural practices.

The area began the change from a cattle range to an agricultural region in 1871 with the coming of the Houston and Texas Central Railroad. Ellis County had a long history of small family farms, particularly being in the Blackland Prairie region known for its rich, dark soil. These farms were initially focused on small-scale grain production like corn and wheat. Over time, the arrival of the railroad and the increasing profitability of cotton led to a shift more towards cotton cultivation. The population almost tripled. Cotton production increased sixfold by 1880.

By 1900 the average farm included 87.5 acres. Small family-run farms were commonplace. While there was some subsistence farming that contributed to the region’s diverse agricultural landscape, cotton became the leading money crop as land was fenced with barbed wire. This was true not only in Ellis County but also in other counties in the Blackland Prairie. In the early twentieth century Ellis County was recognized as one of the leading cotton-growing areas in Texas and the nation, and often referred to as the “greatest cotton county in the world”.

Profits from the cultivation and processing of cotton resulted in a construction boom that transformed the physical character of the county. A brief look at the courthouse and the fine homes built in most Ellis County communities, reflects the economic prosperity of Ellis County. Cotton was an extremely labor intensive crop. However, it provided a sound economic base for the county, real wealth for those near the top of the economic ladder, and employment for large numbers of people.

When cotton prices and demands dropped dramatically in the 1930s, the local economy declined correspondingly. It spelled the end of Ellis County’s most prosperous agricultural era.

Most of the gins, compresses, and cottonseed oil mills were abandoned, and the textile mill in Waxahachie was forced to cut production until the company’s closure in 1934.

A rich architectural legacy was left that is evidenced by the many buildings and structures from the cotton boom. These structures are tangible links to this vitally important segment of the local history, and reveal much about the way people lived and the way Ellis County developed over time.

The 1930s and 1940s marked the beginning of vast changes in Ellis County. Farmers began to replace their farm animals with tractors, and the average farm size increased. The cotton crop was reduced by soil erosion and acreage controls. Increasing acreage was used for other crops, particularly small grains.

And while the cotton boom was over it was the cornerstone foundation for the future North Central Texas economy and development: a foundation laid in a major way by the small family farms that dotted the rural landscape.