Ennis, Texas

Everything Ennis is known for

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Music in Ennis

Songs About Ennis

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Artists From Ennis

A
Aaron Blake
country
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The Jodie Mikula Orchestra
polka
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The Moravians
polka
E
Ennis Czech Boys
polka

Rivers & Roads in Song near Ennis

Songs written about the waterways and highways that run near Ennis.

Interstate 45 8 songs Trinity River 11 songs Interstate 20 13 songs Interstate 35 43 songs Chisholm Trail 8 songs

Musical Heritage

Ernest Tubb, Born Near Crisp RoadyGoat

A few miles north of Ennis is the little community of Crisp, and that's where Ernest Tubb was born, on a cotton farm, on the ninth of February, nineteen fourteen, into a sharecropper's family. He grew up idolizing Jimmie Rodgers and taught himself to sing and yodel like him. Then, in nineteen thirty nine, he had his tonsils taken out, and afterward he couldn't yodel anymore. So he sang the way he could, low and easy and conversational, and that became his trademark. In nineteen forty one he recorded Walking the Floor Over You, which sold four hundred thousand copies in its first year. He joined the Grand Ole Opry, and in nineteen forty seven he opened the Ernest Tubb Record Shop in Nashville. And Crisp itself was named for Charles Crisp, a Speaker of the United States House.

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The Ennis Drummer Behind a Blues Standard RoadyGoat

Rabon Tarrant was born in Ennis on Christmas Day, nineteen oh eight, and he grew up to be a drummer and singer in the jump blues scene in Los Angeles, with saxophonist Jack McVea's band. In nineteen forty six that band recorded Open the Door, Richard, a novelty song that became a national craze, with Tarrant on drums. In nineteen forty seven he wrote and recorded a song of his own called Blues With a Feeling. In nineteen fifty three the Chicago harmonica player Little Walter turned it into a hit, and it became a blues standard that musicians have been playing ever since.

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History of Ennis

Ennis, TX RoadyGoat

Ennis has a rich Czech and Slovak heritage, with many early settlers coming from war-torn European nations that later became Czechoslovakia. This influx of immigrants not only contributed to the city's population growth but also transformed its cultural landscape. Ennis became one of the largest Czech communities in Texas, and this ethnic heritage has been preserved and celebrated through traditions such as the annual National Polka Festival.

The Town the Railroad Drew on a Map RoadyGoat

Ennis exists because a railroad needed a place to stop. In 1871 the Houston and Texas Central Railway pushed north into Ellis County and bought roughly 647 acres of farmland at about five dollars an acre to anchor its line. Surveyors laid out the streets, the first train rolled through in 1872, and on June 8 that year the townsite was platted into being. The community took its name from Cornelius Ennis, a New Jersey-born Houston merchant who became an incorporator and director of the H&TC and even served a stretch as mayor of Houston in the 1850s. During the Civil War he ran cotton through the Union blockade, buying his own steamer in gold to do it. He never lived here, but the company honored him by stamping his name on its new northern terminus. The town incorporated in 1873, held its first election in 1874, and elected Charles Pannil its first mayor. From the very first survey stake, Ennis was a railroad town, conjured out of the prairie by a company that needed a division point where the cotton met the rails. (Source: Handbook of Texas.)

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The Day the Frost Tornado Came to Ennis RoadyGoat

On the afternoon of May 6, 1930, one of the deadliest tornadoes in Texas history tore a path straight toward Ennis. The storm touched down near Bynum in Hill County, crossed into Navarro County and flattened the little town of Frost, then drove northeast into Ellis County. By the time the day's violence was tallied, that single F4 tornado had killed 41 people and injured around 200, with deaths reported in Ennis and the nearby communities of Bardwell and Rankin. It still ranks among the top ten deadliest tornadoes the state has ever recorded. May 6, 1930, was a brutal day across Texas, with multiple tornadoes claiming 82 lives in all, but for this corner of Ellis County the Frost storm was the one that left families burying their neighbors. There were no sirens, no radar, and almost no warning in 1930, only a black wall of wind coming up out of the southwest faster than anyone could run. Standing here today, it is worth remembering the prairie sky can turn lethal in minutes. (Source: Handbook of Texas; Texas tornado records.)

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Lummus, Andrew Jackson, Jr. [Jack]

1945

Medal of Honor recipient, Andrew Jackson Lummus, Jr., referred to as Jack, was born on October 22, 1915, in Ennis, Texas, a cotton-farming town. He was the son of Andrew Jackson Lummus, Sr., a cotton farmer, and Laura Francis (Warren) Lummus. The Lummus family experienced hardship during the Great Depression . As a youngster, Jack Lummus enjoyed athletic success in both football and baseball at Ennis High School in the early 1930s. Lummus dropped out of high school after his second year due to the family's financial situation. Texas Military College at Terrell offered Lummus an athletic scholarship where he was able to finish his final two years of high school in 1937. In 1937 Lummus accepted an athletic scholarship to Baylor University where he played football and baseball for the next four years. In football, Lummus (standing at 6' 3" and weighing 195 pounds) played end, and his play and speed attracted the attention of the New York Giants of the National Football League. As a senior, he was selected to the All-Southwest Conference football team. Playing centerfield in baseball, Lummus earned spots on the All-Southwest Conference team in 1938, 1939, and 1940. Jack Lummus's career took a number of turns in 1941. With the nation moving closer to war, he mulled his military options as well as his options as a professional athlete. In May Lummus enlisted in the United States Army Air Corps to attend flight school and dropped out of Baylor before earning his degree. While waiting on orders for flight school, Lummus signed a contract to play outfield with the Wichita Falls Spudders, a semiprofessional baseball club in the West Texas-New Mexico League . He played in twenty-six games for the Spudders until July 6 when he received orders to report to flight training at Hicks Field northwest of Fort Worth. During flight training, he received numerous phone calls from the New York Giants inviting him to their training camp in Wisconsin. After successfully completing the preflight training, Lummus washed out of flight training on his solo flight when the wing of his P-19 Fairchild clipped a fence on landing. Given an honorable discharge, Lummus headed to Wisconsin where he won a spot on the New York Giants 1941 roster as a backup end. As a rookie, he saw considerable playing time as a defensive end. Lummus first became aware of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor during a game between the Giants and the Brooklyn Dodgers at the Polo Grounds on December 7, 1941. The Texan played his final game with the New York Giants in the NFL championship game against the Chicago Bears at Wrigley Field on December 21; which the Bears won, 37-9. A few days later, Lummus drove home to Texas. On January 30, 1942, Lummus went to Dallas and enlisted in the Marine Corps. After completing recruit training in San Diego, California, he was assigned to Mare Island, California, where he was promoted to private first class and then corporal. In October Lummus was selected for Officer Candidates School at Quantico, Virginia, from which he was commissioned a second lieutenant on December 30, 1942. In 1943 he served as an instructor in the Infantry School at Camp Elliot in San Diego. In June he was assigned as a student officer in the elite Raider Battalion at Camp Pendleton where he also served as an instructor. After the Raider Battalions were disbanded in early 1944, Lummus was reassigned to the Fifth Marine Division. In the Fifth Marine Division, Jack Lummus was among the first wave of marines that landed on Iwo Jima on February 19, 1945. As a rifle platoon leader, Lummus's actions on March 8 against stubborn Japanese defenders on the island's west coast, the Nishi Ridge, earned him the Medal of Honor. After a failed initial attempt to break through enemy lines, Lummus called for tank support to provide added firepower. After personally guiding the tanks into position in rugged terrain and ignoring hostile fire, he directed his men against the enemy. Moving forwa

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Jay Justin Clarke

1902

On June 15, 1902, at a baseball field in Ennis, Texas, Jay Justin Clarke set two single game professional Minor League Baseball records. The game was unusual because it was scheduled to be played in Corsicana, but was relocated to Ennis due to Corsicana’s “Blue Laws” which prohibited the playing of the game on a Sunday. The Corsicana Oil Citys beat the Texarkana Casketmakers 51-3 that day. Clarke, who played for the Oil Citys, hit eight home runs and tallied sixteen runs batted in, records that still stand as all-time Minor League records. The actual field has been lost to history, but played a major role in Clarke’s records as the fence was estimated to be less than 210 feet from home plate.

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Jack Lummus

1915

(October 22, 1915 - March 8, 1945) Born on an Ellis County farm, Jack Lummus attended school at Alma and Ennis, and Baylor University on an athletics scholarship. He played minor league baseball in Texas and football for the New York Giants. He joined the U. S. Marines in 1942 and on February 19, 1945, landed with the Fifth Marine Division in the first wave of assault troops on Iwo Jima. On March 8, after fighting without respite for two days and nights, Lummus and his rifle platoon slowly advanced toward a complex of pillboxes before being halted by Japanese forces. Despite injuries from two grenade explosions, Lummus single-handedly destroyed three enemy emplacements before stepping on a land mine, sustaining fatal wounds. His congressional Medal of Honor celebrates his "conspicuous gallantry and tenacious perseverance in the face of overwhelming odds." (1999) Supplemental plate: An exhibit with photos of Jack Lummus, a copy of the citation for his Medal of Honor and other records are available in the library on this site.

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National Polka Festival

1966

The National Polka Festival, an annual music festival held each May in Ennis, Texas, was first organized in 1966 by Raymond Zapletal, Len Gehrig, and Joe Liska, in conjunction with Jack McKay, head of the local Chamber of Commerce. As the largest Czech polka festival in the United States, in the 2010s it attracts approximately 50,000 people who join together in dancing, singing, and celebrating Czech cultural heritage every Memorial Day weekend. The tradition of Czech polka music spread throughout the Lone Star State soon after the first large groups of Czech immigrants began arriving in the 1850s. Three other major waves of immigration during the 1870s, 1880s, and early 1900s helped give Czech culture a strong presence throughout the Southwest. Most Czechs settled in Central and North Central Texas, where they set up farms, schools, social and cultural organizations, and newspapers to help maintain their language and ethnic identity. For these new Texas Czechs, music played a vital role in their day-to-day lives. Dancing was an important part of this musical culture, providing entertainment, exercise, and recreational time with the family. At first dances were held in private homes, but as the Texas-Czech population grew, several organizations began building dance halls which regularly hosted dances and other celebrations of Czech culture. Ennis, which is about forty miles south of Dallas, is one of the most northern Czech settlements in Texas. The town has four large Czech fraternal halls, three of which participate in the festival—the Knights of Columbus , the Sokol Activity Center, and Katolicka Jednota Texaska (Catholic Union of Texas) known as the KJT—which provide centrally-located venues for all the festival’s music and dancing. Because it has maintained a thriving Czech culture, Ennis is ideally suited for hosting the National Polka Festival. The festival kicks off on Friday with a dancing competition, followed by a King and Queen contest that evening. The parade starts on Saturday morning at 10:00 A.M. and includes clowns, cheerleaders, bands, floats, and horses. The festival also offers traditional food, dancing, costumes, music, arts and crafts, and a horseshoe tournament. On Sunday, Mass is held at 10:00 A.M. at the Knights of Columbus, followed by more dancing, food, and music at all three halls. Typically the festival features anywhere from eight to fourteen bands performing different styles of polka music , ranging from traditional to modern. Participants have included Grammy-award-winning groups as well as bands from across the United States and as far away as the Czech Republic. A few of the more popular groups include Grammy-award-winning Brave Combo, Czech and Then Some, the Jodie Mikula Orchestra, Dujka Brothers, Texas Dutchmen, the Czechaholics, and the Ennis Czech Boys. The National Polka Festival focuses on involving the entire family in the weekend’s events, thereby encouraging all generations to better understand and appreciate Czech history and culture. The influence of Czech musical traditions can be seen throughout the Southwest, as traditional Czech instruments and song styles, including the accordion and the polka, have been incorporated into Texas-Mexican conjunto , East Texas zydeco , and even western swing.

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Coronado, Sam Zaragosa, Jr.

1946

The son of Sam Zaragosa and Margarita Coronado, Sam Z. Coronado, Jr., artist, educator, and cultural activist, was born on July 12, 1946, in the small farm town of Ennis, Texas. His maternal grandparents were cotton pickers who taught him the value of a strong work ethic. He attended Crozier Tech High School in Dallas and voluntarily enlisted in the United States Army; he served from 1964 to 1967. As part of the Cold War effort, he served in Germany with an artillery company that included a nuclear weapons arsenal. After his stint in the army he attended El Centro College in Dallas and studied drafting and design. He secured his first drawing job as a technical illustrator for Texas Instruments in 1969 and earned an Associate of Applied Science degree from El Centro in 1970. Coronado eventually went to the University of Texas at Austin and attended college on the G.I. Bill. Along with his colleagues Vicki Plata, Rey Gaytan, and Sylvia Orozco, he cofounded the Chicano Art Students Association. In 1975 he graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a B.F.A. in painting and printmaking. Throughout his career, Coronado also worked in other occupations, either as a technical illustrator or as an educator, to financially support his artistic endeavors. Coronado is best known for his artistic contributions in the field of Chicana/o and U.S. Latino art. He began in oils and acrylics. His paintings are intimate portraits of the Mexican American experience. However, his most memorable and influential work was in the field of graphic arts. He was a painter turned printmaker following two residencies with Self Help Graphics in East Los Angeles in 1991. Drawing on Mexican Social Realism, American Pop Art, and the iconographic traditions of Chicano art, he produced groundbreaking series such as Guerrillera , World War II , and Hearts that spoke on the politics of identity, autobiography, and Tejano history. Coronado also illustrated for books and magazines, and he created company logos. His lifework has been the subject of numerous exhibitions and publications across the United States, Europe, Africa, and Latin America, including retrospectives at the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center , San Antonio (1987); Mexic-Arte Museum , Austin (2011); and the Latino Cultural Center, Dallas (2012). He mastered the art of serigraphy (also known as screen printing and silkscreening) with draughtsmanship and humor, and became one of its most ardent promoters by founding Coronado Studio, a collaborative print workshop dedicated to the production of fine art serigraphy, in the early 1990s. The workshop became a training ground for a number of accomplished master printers including Pepe Coronado, Brian Johnson, Paul Fucik, and Brian Rice. However, his greatest intervention for the field came in 1993 with the founding of Serie Project, a nonprofit printmaking residency program that awards competitive fellowships to artists wishing to explore the technique with the assistance of a master printer. Serie Project has hosted more than 300 artist residencies and has introduced a new generation of artists to a graphic tradition of historical importance to the Chicano art movement (1965–1985). The roster of resident artists includes Malaquias Montoya, Ester Hernández, César Martínez, Celia Alvarez Muñoz, Juan Sánchez, Diógenes Ballester, and Scherezade Garcia. Coronado’s cultural activism fostered community-building and exhibition opportunities for underrepresented artists. As someone who experienced first-hand the discriminatory practices against Mexican American artists in the Southwest, he was committed to promoting cultural democracy in the arts. Coronado was part of a generation of artists who came of age during the 1960s and believed that establishing alternative and culturally-specific institutions was the first step toward equality. In 1980 he founded Arcoiris , a statewide network for Mexican American artists based in Houston that promoted exhibition

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Burnam Square and Cemetery

1856

William R. and Edeline House bought the land on which Burnam Square and Cemetery were located in 1856 for the price of a slave named John. In 1861, after her husband died, Edeline House had the 25-block town laid out and donated one acre for a graveyard. The Houston and Texas Central Railroad bypassed Burnam Square in 1871 and founded Ennis. Residents and businesses moved here, causing Burnam Square to decline. The 40-grave burial site is all that remains of the once thriving community of Burnam Square.

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Things to Do in Ennis

food 18.9 mi away
Collin Street Bakery

August Weidmann arrived in Corsicana from Bavaria in 1896 and opened a little bakery on Collin Street. His DeLuxe Fruitcake packed with pecans cherries and…
food 18.8 mi away
Wolf Brand Chili Origin Corner

Lyman T. Davis parked his lunch wagon at this corner of Beaton Street and 5th Avenue in 1895, ladling out five-cent bowls of chili in front of the Blue Front…

Everything Near Ennis

570 stories, landmarks & places within ~20 miles — the nearest 200 are listed here — the same local lore RoadyGoat plays as you drive through.

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