Ennis, Texas: Named for a Houston Railroad Man
Ennis, Texas, honors Cornelius Ennis, a Houston druggist who became a railroad man and, during the Civil War, ran cotton through the Union blockade. The town that carries his name grew up at what was then the northern end of his railroad.
The man on the sign
Cornelius Ennis was born in Belleville, New Jersey, in 1813. The Handbook of Texas says he moved to Houston and opened a drugstore in 1839, then branched out into general merchandise with a partner, George W. Kimball. Their firm sent the first shipment of cotton from Galveston to Boston in 1841. He was mayor of Houston from July 1856 to December 1857, and he died at his home there in 1899.
Railroads were the other half of his career. Ennis was an incorporator of the Houston and Texas Central Railway, which got its start in 1853, and the railroad’s general superintendent and comptroller. During the war, his Handbook biography says, he ran cotton through the Union blockade to Havana, and from there to England by way of Mexico. “Ennis, Texas, an early terminus of the road, was named in his honor,” it adds.
The Geological Survey’s 1905 place-name bulletin, by Henry Gannett, puts it more briefly: the town was “named for Cornelius Ennis, of Houston, a prominent railroad official.”
Land at the end of the line
The Houston and Texas Central reached the area in 1871, according to the Handbook’s entry on the town. The City of Ennis says the railroad bought 647 acres in Ellis County at $5 an acre for the line’s northern terminus. You’ll find two dates for that purchase, though. The city puts it in 1871, while in the Handbook’s version trustees of a land company bought the two tracts, the David Rose and W. H. Bundy surveys, in 1872.
Things moved quickly after that. In May 1872, Capt. W. G. Veale picked the townsite, and Theo Kosse mapped it in August and laid out the streets. The city dates the town’s founding to June 8, 1872. The post office opened that year with J. M. Dickson as postmaster and railroad agent, and Ennis incorporated in November 1873. In the street plan the Survey drew in 1956, you can still see how it was built: a long grid of streets lined up along the tracks.
Quick answers
Who was Cornelius Ennis?
A Houston merchant and former mayor who helped found the Houston and Texas Central Railway and served as its general superintendent. The town carries his name.
Did the railroad choose the site of Ennis?
Yes. The city says the Houston and Texas Central bought the land for its northern terminus there, and the Handbook of Texas calls Ennis “an early terminus of the road.”
When was Ennis, Texas, founded?
In 1872. The City of Ennis dates its founding to June 8, 1872, and the Handbook of Texas says the post office opened that same year.
Key dates
- 1839Cornelius Ennis moves to Houston and opens a drugstore.
- 1853The Houston and Texas Central Railway begins, with Ennis among its incorporators.
- 1872The site is established as the town of Ennis on June 8, and its post office opens.
- 1873Ennis incorporates in November.
Getting there
Open Ennis in Google Maps
Opens in a new tab. The pin is the center of Ennis in the USGS place-name record.
The closest airports, Amtrak stations and intercity bus stops, measured in a straight line from the center of Ennis.
Airports
- Dallas Love Field (DAL) 38 mi 61 km
- Dallas-Fort Worth International (DFW) 46 mi 74 km
Amtrak trains
- Dallas station (DAL) 33 mi 53 km
- Cleburne station (CBR) 44 mi 71 km
Intercity buses
- Greyhound Gun Barrel City W Main St 28 mi 45 km
- FlixBus Downtown Dallas / Deep Ellum 33 mi 53 km
Distances are as the crow flies, not by road. We don't list schedules or fares because they change; check with the airline, Amtrak or the bus company before you go. Official data (FAA commercial service airports (2025), FAA airport locations, Amtrak stations and Intercity Bus Atlas) from the FAA and the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics, checked Nov 6, 2026.
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Historical Sources & References
- Lisa C. Maxwell, “Ennis, TX,” Handbook of Texas Online (TSHA). The railroad’s arrival in 1871, the name “for an early railroad official, Col. Cornelius Ennis,” the 1872 land purchase, Veale and Kosse, the post office and the 1873 incorporation.
- Priscilla Myers Benham, “Ennis, Cornelius,” Handbook of Texas Online (TSHA). His life, from the 1839 drugstore to the railroad, the mayor’s office and the blockade; the town “named in his honor.”
- City of Ennis, “History of Ennis”. The 647 acres at $5 an acre for the northern terminus, the June 8, 1872, founding and Ennis as the town’s namesake.
- Henry Gannett, The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States (1905), p. 119. “Named for Cornelius Ennis, of Houston, a prominent railroad official.”
- GNIS feature 1335474 (U.S. Geological Survey). The USGS name record for Ennis, in Ellis County.
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