Film History

Waxahachie was a filming location for several 1980s Hollywood movies

In the 1980s, Waxahachie's preserved Victorian streets attracted four major Hollywood films that used the town as a period set.

Ellis County History & Culture

In the mid-1980s, Waxahachie's old Victorian streets were still intact. That made them a good stand-in for small-town Texas in the early 1900s. Four films were shot there: Tender Mercies, Places in the Heart, 1918, and The Trip to Bountiful. The movies put the town on the national map.

Several of those films won Academy Awards. That attention helped make Waxahachie known as a city that cares about its historic buildings. If you visit downtown today, the courthouse square still looks much like it did a hundred years ago.

Source to confirm: TSHA Handbook of Texas — Waxahachie, TX

More Ellis County notes

Property Tax Basics

Two different offices handle your property tax in Ellis County

The Ellis County Appraisal District sets your property value, but a separate Tax Assessor-Collector office sends the bill and collects the money.

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Homestead Exemption

File a homestead exemption to lower your property tax bill

Texas law lets homeowners who live in their home claim a homestead exemption that reduces the taxable value of the property.

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Ag Valuation

Farm and ranch land can be taxed on productivity, not market value

In Ellis County, qualifying farm or ranch land is taxed on what it can produce, not what it could sell for. That can cut the tax bill by a lot.

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Vehicle Registration

Ellis County vehicles need an emissions test every year

Ellis County is in the DFW area, so most gas-powered vehicles must pass an emissions test every year before the owner can renew registration.

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