Ovilla, Texas

Everything Ovilla is known for

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Music in Ovilla

Songs About Ovilla

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Artists From Ovilla

B
Boxcar Willie
country

Rivers & Roads in Song near Ovilla

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

Interstate 20 13 songs Interstate 45 8 songs Trinity River 11 songs Chisholm Trail 8 songs Texas State Highway 199 8 songs Interstate 35 43 songs

Musical Heritage

The Indie Songwriter Who Grew Up in Red Oak RoadyGoat

Before she became a fixture of the North Texas indie scene, singer-songwriter Sarah Jaffe was a kid in Red Oak. Born in Lufkin, she moved around the state as a child until her family settled in Red Oak, just south of Dallas, where she grew up. The pivotal moment was small and ordinary: her mother bought her a used acoustic guitar when she was around nine or ten years old. That secondhand guitar set her on a path through acoustic folk, indie pop, and even hip-hop collaborations, and her clear, aching voice would later draw national notice and a devoted following once she planted herself in nearby Denton's rich music community. It is a quietly powerful local note. The polished suburb rolling past your window is the place where one of the region's most distinctive songwriting voices first learned a few chords on a borrowed guitar. Not every Red Oak story is about cotton, railroads, or a bank robbery filmed downtown. Some of them are about a teenager and a guitar. (Source: Wikipedia.)

RoadyGoat → · 4.7 mi away

History of Ovilla

The Blessing and Curse of Blackland Soil RoadyGoat

The very ground you're driving on is Ovilla's greatest STEM story. This is the Texas Blackland Prairie, and its soil is a marvel of geology and a challenge for engineering. The soil contains a high concentration of montmorillonite clay. Its agricultural benefit is legendary: the clay particles are great at holding water and nutrients, which is why cotton grew so well here. But this same property creates a modern engineering nightmare. When the clay gets wet, it absorbs huge amounts of water and swells up, expanding in volume. During a drought, it dries out and shrinks, leaving behind deep cracks in the ground. This constant cycle of swelling and shrinking—what engineers call 'soil plasticity'—wreaks havoc on anything built on top of it. It cracks roads, breaks pipes, and is the primary cause of the foundation problems that plague homes throughout North Texas. It's a reminder that the same natural feature that made a place rich can also make it very expensive to maintain.

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The Old Brick Church RoadyGoat

As you pass through Ovilla, know that you're in the oldest town in Ellis County - a fortified settlement thrown up on Red Oak Creek back in 1844. And the building that made it a town was a church. Shiloh Cumberland Presbyterian was chartered with twenty members on the twenty-fifth of July, 1847, the first organized church in Ellis County, and it beat the county itself into existence by two years. Rev. Finis E. King led it from the founding until his death in 1859. The congregation started under a brush arbor, moved into a cedar log tabernacle that doubled as the schoolhouse, and in 1872 a builder named J. P. Laughlin raised the frame sanctuary that still stands, out of lumber hauled all the way from Cherokee County in East Texas. That building outlived the fires that took Ovilla's downtown in 1918 and again in 1926, and it outlived the railroads and highways that passed the town by. It's a plain white frame church, and it is the tangible link back to the people who settled this creek.

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The Highway That Built a City RoadyGoat

Interstate 35E runs right past Oak Leaf, and it's fair to say the highway is why anybody wanted to live out here in the first place. The Eisenhower interstate system was designed to link big cities for commerce and defense, but one side effect was suburban: a high-speed link to Dallas shrank the distance between city paychecks and country land. What the highway did not do is found this town. Oak Leaf was made by its neighbors. In August 1983 about a hundred members of the Red Oak Creek Homeowners Association voted to incorporate, west of I-35E and some ten miles north of Waxahachie. Then they kept adding on — Little Creek and Lark Lane in 1987, Willow Creek Farms in 1998, Chapman Ranch Estates in 2000. So the interstate supplied the reason to be here. The residents supplied the city. Right now you're driving past both.

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Ovilla, TX

1844

Ovilla, on upper Red Oak Creek in northern Ellis County, is the oldest town in the county. It began in 1844 as a fortified settlement and grew as settlers arrived in the area to attend brush arbor meetings of the Shiloh Cumberland Presbyterian Church, which was started by Rev. Finis E. King in 1847. The church met in a brush arbor until 1853, when a log cabin, which served as both church and schoolhouse, was built. A frame church building was finished in 1872; in 1984 about 190 members still met in the structure, which had been enlarged and remodeled. The church was instrumental in moving Trinity University to Waxahachie in 1902 and in establishing a girls' school in the nearby town of Milford. Although Ovilla was a thriving farming community by the 1850s, it remained unnamed. Mrs. M. M. Molloy, wife of Rev. D. G. Molloy, formed the name from the Spanish word villa . Ovilla continued to grow and by the early 1900s had a post office, a bank, a cotton gin, a pharmacy, a blacksmith shop, and several dry-goods stores. Its post office closed in 1906. Fires in 1918 and 1926 destroyed most of the downtown buildings, and this destruction, together with the fact that Ovilla was bypassed by railroads and major highways, led to a decline in growth. As Dallas grew, however, and people started moving from the city to the suburbs, Ovilla once again began to grow. To escape annexation by DeSoto or any other neighboring city, the town of Ovilla was incorporated in 1963. In the first census after incorporation its population was 339; by 1980 it had risen to 1,067. Its 1984 population was estimated to be nearly 1,300. In 1990 it was 2,027 and the community had extended into Dallas County. The population reached 3,405 by 2000.

Tsha Handbook →

DeSoto - 2025 Texas 6A Division II state football champion

2025

DeSoto defeated Sheldon C.E. King 55-27 for the 2025 Texas 6A Division II state football championship.

Sports News → · 3.7 mi away

Parsons' Cavalry C.S.A.

1861

Originally comprised of men from Ellis and surrounding counties. Organized for Civil War service at Rockett's Spring (4 mi. E. of this site), Sept. 1861, unit was trained and commanded by Col. William H Parsons, Mexican War veteran, colorful duelist, editor, merchant, and lawyer. In a confederate brigade, this unit was joined with 12th, 19th, and 21st Texas Cavalry regiments, Morgan's Battalion and Pratt's Battery, to scout and fight in Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Indian Territory. It was famous for attacks on federal ironclad ships, Red River campaign, 1864.

Historical Marker → · 4.5 mi away

Ovilla

1844

One of the oldest communities in Ellis County, Ovilla began as a fortified settlement built in 1844 on upper Red Oak Creek. Shiloh Cumberland Presbyterian Church was founded in 1847 and the town's first schoolhouse was erected in 1849. By the turn of the century, Ovilla had a post office, banks, several stores, and a cotton gin. A marketing center for area farmers, Ovilla was bypassed by railroads and major highways. The town suffered destructive fires in 1918 and in 1926. Proximity to urban areas has stimulated new growth in recent years.

Historical Marker →

Ovilla Cemetery

1884

The Ovilla community was founded by members of the Peters Colony in 1844. Benjamin and Erixna Caroline McFarlin were among the early members of the thriving farm community. On November 17, 1886, they deeded four acres to the new Ovilla Methodist Episcopal Church, South, for a church building and a burial ground. Though there may have been earlier burials, the earliest marked grave is that of Rebecca Summers McElroy, the wife of Tom C. McElroy, who died in 1884. Among the more than 440 people buried here are early settlers, at least seven veterans of the Civil War, and veterans of World War I, World War II, Korea and Vietnam. Ovilla Cemetery remains a chronicle of the pioneers of Ovilla community. (2000)

Historical Marker →

Nelson, John Byron, Jr.

1945

John Byron Nelson, Jr., professional golfer, was born on his parents' cotton farm in Long Branch, Texas, near Waxahachie, on February 4, 1912. He was the son of John Byron Nelson, Sr., and Madge (Allen) Nelson. Nelson is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest American golfers of all time. He grew up in Fort Worth since he was the age of eleven and, at the age of twelve, became a caddy at Glen Garden Country Club. He dropped out of school when he was in the tenth grade in 1928, briefly worked with the Fort Worth and Denver City Railway , and took up golfing full time in 1929. As a teenage caddy, Nelson worked alongside Ben Hogan , who also became a legendary golfer, lifelong friend, and professional rival. In 1927 Nelson beat Hogan by one shot after a nine-hole playoff in an annual caddy tournament. While he transitioned to a full-time tournament fixture, Nelson worked as a golf professional between 1932 and 1940 at courses in Arkansas, New Jersey, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. He joined the Professional Golfers' Association (PGA) in 1932. In 1934, while working as a golf pro in Texarkana, Arkansas, Nelson met Louise Shofner, who would be his wife for fifty years. The two were married on June 24, 1934, in Louise's parents' living room. Called "Lord Byron" for his gentlemanly qualities, Nelson won the Vardon Trophy in 1939. He played on two Ryder Cup teams, in 1937 and 1947, and was non-playing captain in 1965. Nelson was a two-time winner of the Professional Golfing Association championship in 1940 and 1945, the U.S. Open in 1939, and the Masters Golf Tournament in 1937 and 1942. Nelson was exempted from military service during World War II due to a blood clotting disorder. He spent much of the war giving exhibitions to raise funds for charities. During his professional career, golf clubs evolved from wooden to steel shafts, and Nelson was the first golfer to adjust his swing accordingly, modifying his stance and incorporating the use of his legs to add distance. This fortuitous timing helped Nelson become known as the father of the modern golf swing. In 1945 Byron Nelson accomplished an eleven-tournament winning streak that had not been broken as of 2021. That year, playing in thirty-five tournaments, Nelson finished with eighteen victories, including eleven straight; finished second another seven times; and established a record for the lowest scoring average (68.33 for eighteen holes), which remained untouched for fifty-five years until broken by Tiger Woods in 2000. His 1945 season is widely considered the greatest single year by a player on the PGA Tour and, as such, one of the greatest in the history of the sport. He was twice named the Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year, in 1944 and 1945. With his win at the 1946 Columbus Invitational, Nelson became the first player to reach fifty career PGA Tour wins. This feat has since been matched by Ben Hogan, Sam Snead, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Billy Casper, and Tiger Woods. His fifty-two career wins ranked sixth overall as of 2021. After 1946 he reduced his schedule but continued to make appearances at the Masters Tournament as a competitor, played occasional PGA events, and played several overseas tournaments. Nelson retired officially at the age of thirty-four-much earlier than his peers Hogan and Sneed, both of whom were born in the same year as Nelson-to become a rancher, buying a ranch at Roanoke, Texas. He also gave paid golf exhibitions, later became a television golf commentator during the 1960s and 1970s, and regularly made appearances at PGA events. Nelson appeared as himself in the 1953 Jerry Lewis-Dean Martin movie, The Caddy , along with fellow players Ben Hogan, Sam Snead, and Julius Boros. Nelson was a coach and mentor to Ken Venturi, Tom Watson, and Marty Fleckman. He was influential in the careers of such golfers as Tom Watson and Jack Nicklaus. In Jack Nicklaus's 1978 book On and Off the Fairway , Nicklaus wrote that Nelson was the "straightest" golfer h

Tsha Handbook → · 8.9 mi away

Things to Do in Ovilla

historical 18.0 mi away
Dealey Plaza

On November 22 1963 President John F Kennedy rode through Dealey Plaza in an open Lincoln convertible and was shot from the sixth floor window of the Texas…
historical 18.1 mi away
The Sixth Floor Museum

Where Lee Harvey Oswald fired from. The JFK assassination site at Dealey Plaza.
quirky 18.9 mi away
Big Tex at the State Fair

A fifty-five-foot cowboy named Big Tex has welcomed visitors to the State Fair of Texas in Fair Park Dallas every fall since 1952. He booms howdy folks over a…
food 18.7 mi away
Pecan Lodge

Dallas' best BBQ. The beef rib alone is worth the drive.
spooky 22.1 mi away
Lady of White Rock Lake

Since the 1930s drivers along White Rock Lake report picking up a soaking-wet woman in a white dress. She asks for a ride home then vanishes leaving the seat…

Everything Near Ovilla

1464 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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