Completed in 1897 to a design by James Riely Gordon, the Ellis County Courthouse is among the finest examples of Romanesque Revival architecture in Texas and the unmistakable centrepiece of Waxahachie. Built from red Pecos sandstone trimmed with Texas granite, its central clock tower rises to 134 feet above the surrounding square. Two million bricks and 260 carloads of stone went into the construction — extravagant proof of the wealth that cotton brought to Ellis County in the late nineteenth century.
The decorative carvings around the entrances and arches are the building's real curiosity. Faces of people and animals stare down from corbels and capitals — some serene, some peculiar, some openly grotesque. The variation is what gave rise to Waxahachie's most enduring piece of folklore, the story of a carver and a doomed romance. The building still functions as the county courthouse, and the ground-floor corridors are open during weekday business hours.