Ennis Commercial Historic District

The Ennis Commercial Historic District contains a high concentration of commercial structures, most of which were built in the early twentieth century. These buildings document the city's physical appearance during a time when the area flourished in the wake of rail activity and increased cotton cultivation. Of the eighty-two structures within the district's boundary, fifty-three are classified as contributing, reflecting the historic character of the area. total of twenty-nine is presently categorized as noncontributing structures.

During the 1860s and 1870s, the Houston & Texas Central Railroad founded a number of cities, including Ennis, from Houston north to Denison where the line linked to other railroads connecting the state to midwestern and eastern destinations. For more than seventy years the railroad and cotton industries acted as catalysts for demographic growth and economic prosperity in Ennis. The city was established as a rail station in 1871, but it was the relocation of the Houston & Texas Central northern division headquarters to Ennis in 1891 that brought about an era of prosperity and growth that has not been repeated. By the late nineteenth-century large-scale cotton production also strengthened the local economy, and the city became a regional agricultural and commercial center. Attracted by the burgeoning market, entrepreneurs opened businesses to serve the local market. Joseph Baldridge founded the city's first banking house, the Ennis National Bank (N. R. Site No. 324), in 1883. The Matthews brothers from McKinney expanded their business interests to include an Ennis branch of their department store that operated from the 1905 Rowe Building. Fraternal organizations hired local architect Hix McCanless to design the Knights of Pythias Building and the Masonic Lodge. A dense concentration of handsome brick structures is clearly evident in turn-of-the-century photographs. This district remains the primary commercial center, as no competing concentrations of businesses or malls have been constructed.

The eastern boundary was drawn to include three rail-related structures. The remaining boundaries define the city's historic business center. Modern commercial development has been confined largely to the area west of the historic district. The areas north and south of the district are residential. Light industry, commercial development, and less significant historic structures are found beyond the eastern boundary.