Cotton farming once made Ellis County a powerhouse in Texas agriculture

Before 1872, Ellis County was mostly cattle country. Then the Houston and Texas Central Railroad arrived and changed things fast. Settlers from cotton-growing states moved in. Within a decade, the county was producing nearly 19,000 bales of cotton a year. By 1900 that number had grown to over 91,000 bales.

Cotton ran the local economy for decades. Textile mills, cotton gins, and oil presses all followed. The county's population jumped from about 7,500 in 1870 to over 50,000 by 1900. Today the economy has shifted to manufacturing, distribution, and suburban growth. But the Blackland Prairie soils that made cotton possible are still here.