Ellis County was formed December 20, 1849, from Robertson and Navarro counties. It was named for Richard Ellis, President of the March, 1836, Independence Convention at Washington-on-the-Brazos, which declared the independence of Texas from Mexico.

The community of Waxahachie (Indian word meaning "Cow" or "Buffalo" creek) had been founded two years earlier on Waxahachie Creek by Emory W. Rogers, who gave land for the courthouse site.

The first meeting of the Ellis County Commissioners Court was held on August 19, 1850. The court placed an order with Joseph Wittenberg to build a courthouse with the specifications that it was to be constructed of logs, 16 feet by 18 feet in size, and cost no more than $59. Wittenberg could not get logs and construct the building for that price, so he bought a log building in Dallas County and moved it to Waxahachie with two teams of oxen. By using volunteer labor, he was able to rebuild the structure in time for the first session of District Court on October 28, 1850.

The second courthouse was a two story frame building, 24 feet by 36 feet. David P. Ferris built it in 1854 at a cost of $1999. The Honorable John H. Reagan, Judge of the 9th District, declared the structure the most magnificent courthouse in the district.

The third courthouse was completed in 1873 at a cost of $40,000. It was also a two story structure being 60 feet square by 80 feet tall and was constructed of hard native yellow limestone from a quarry about two miles east of Waxahachie. In 1887, a detached two story records building, 25 feet by 45 feet, was added on the west/southwest side of the courthouse grounds to house records.

Construction of the Ellis County's present courthouse was steeped in controversy and litigation from planning to completion. The cost, need and site location were matter of heated debate. One county commissioner who refused to appear at meetings to raise the taxes necessary to fund the project was removed from office by the District Judge and replaced. After months of wrangling, the cornerstone was laid amongst much pomp and pageantry on July 4, 1895. Thousands attended the ceremony and the barbecue picnic which followed.

Apparently the taxpayers were outraged at the cost of the new courthouse because every incumbent county official was defeated in the election of 1894. The County Commissioner who opposed its construction and had been removed from office, was elected to return. When the courthouse neared completion in 1897 the names of the new county officials were to be engraved in polished granite at the west entrance. More dissension arose when some citizens felt the names of the officials who began the project should be included. A compromise was reached and the county placed the names of the officials on one side of the archway and the local Masonic Lodge paid for the installation of the names of the defeated officials on the other side where they face each other today in perpetual opposition.