Waxahachie /ˌwɒksəˈhætʃi/ is the county seat of Ellis County, Texas, United States, and a southern suburb of Dallas. The population was 29,621 at the 2010 census. Waxahachie was the birthplace of Tom Blasingame, considered the oldest cowboy in the history of the American West, Rhythm and Blues singer Tevin Campbell, Bill Ham, Byron Nelson, a professional golf legend and Academy Award winning director Robert Benton, who made his 1984 film "Places in the Heart" in his hometown. Bessie Coleman, the first female African-American pilot, moved to Waxahachie at age two, and was reared there; she was born in Atlanta in east Texas. It was often said that Edward (Chief Wahoo) McDaniel was from Waxahachie, but he was born in Bernice, Oklahoma. In 1988, the area around Waxahachie was chosen as the site for the Superconducting Super Collider, which was to be the world's largest and most energetic particle accelerator, with a planned ring circumference of 87.1 kilometers . Seventeen shafts were sunk and 23.5 km of tunnel were bored before the project was cancelled by Congress in 1993. The town is also the namesake of the former United States Naval Ship USS Waxahachie (YTB-814).
Government type
Council–manager government
Leader title
City Council
City Manager
Population total
29621
Time zone
Central Time Zone (North America)
Type
City
Comment
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