How to Hachie: What the Cowboys Do

Written by Laurie Mosley

I’ve been told by the old-timers that a cowboy would ride all day to spend 1 night in Waxahachie, Texas because it was the go-to place for a good time!

Even though cowboys aren’t riding their horses to downtown, flash forward 125 years, it is still the heart of the city and center of activity with traces of cowboy history around every corner.

• Farmers and ranchers would gather around the courthouse square to buy and sell goods, but the real focal point of the transaction was the Ellis County Courthouse. Built in 1895 and standing nine stories tall, it is one of the 100 most photographed structures in Texas. Located at 101 W. Main St.

• We’ve upgraded the shopping experience from the 1800s to include 50+ boutiques, antiques, specialty shops, galleries and more. Giddy up for shopping rodeo!

• Cowboys won’t have to search hard for a good watering hole because downtown Waxahachie has plenty to choose from with the College Street Pub, Railport Brewery, Big Al’s Down the Hatch, Cork & Keg and Cork House Winery.

• There’s also 25 other restaurants to choose from offering all of your favorites – Mexican, American, Italian, desserts and everything in between. Local tip: The playlist at Farm Luck Soda Fountain is cowboy approved.

• Strolling thru our historic downtown district, you can see remnants of the famed Shawnee Trail, one of the main routes by which Texas longhorn cattle were taken afoot to railheads to the north. From this trail, the M-K-T Railroad was born.

• Stop in the restored M-K-T Depot and travel back in time with a fresh cup of coffee, tea or pastry at FRESH Market Coffee.

• If you’ve spent a lifetime “Looking for Love” like most urban cowboys, we have examples of love throughout the city with 21 painted hearts for you to snap a selfie with AND a love lock fence where you can hang your locket. For a map of the hearts, visit www.hachieheartstrail.com.

• For more cowboy fun, the Annual Ellis County Livestock Show & Rodeo will be on October 22-25, 2020 offering a PRCA Prorodeo sanctioned event with XTREME bulls, barrel racing, team roping and breakaway roping. Plus, Jake Hooker in concert on Friday and Sam Riggs on Saturday. A jackpot show for the lambs, goats, steers and heifers complete the event at the Ellis County Expo Center. Click here for tickets and more information.

We welcome all of the cowboys and cowgirls headed to the 2020 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo (NFR) at Globe Life Field in Arlington on December 3-12, 2020, which is only 37 miles from Waxahachie, to stop and enjoy the day or the weekend with us.

For lodging information and much more, visit our website.

Bonus Tips: Glenn’s Warehouse Carpets’ owner, David Smith, is a cowboy poet and a real expert on the history of the cowboy in Ellis County. He might even recite you one of his poems from the Annual Texas Cowboy Poetry Gathering.

When you ride out of town, see a life-size bronze statue of “The Bronco Buster” by Frederic Remington outside Interbank located at 300 N. Highway 77.