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Waxahachie, Texas

Waxahachie, Texas
City
The uniquely designed Ellis County Courthouse in Waxahachie
The uniquely designed Ellis County Courthouse in Waxahachie
Nickname(s): "Crape Myrtle Capital", "The Gingerbread City", "Hachie"
Location of Waxahachie, Texas
Location of Waxahachie, Texas
Ellis County Waxahachie.svg
Coordinates: 32°23′59″N 96°50′50″W / 32.39972°N 96.84722°W / 32.39972; -96.84722Coordinates: 32°23′59″N 96°50′50″W / 32.39972°N 96.84722°W / 32.39972; -96.84722
Country United States
State Texas
County Ellis
Founded 1850
Government
 • Type Council-Manager
 • City Council Mayor Kevin Strength
Mayor Pro Tem Mark Singleton
Chuck Beatty
David Hill
Mary Lou Shipley
 • City Manager Paul Stevens
Area
 • Total 48.9 sq mi (126.6 km2)
 • Land 47.6 sq mi (123.4 km2)
 • Water 1.2 sq mi (3.2 km2)
Elevation 558 ft (170 m)
Population (2010)
 • Total 29,621
 • Estimate (2014) 32,344
 • Density 679/sq mi (262.1/km2)
Time zone Central (CST) (UTC-6)
 • Summer (DST) CDT (UTC-5)
ZIP codes 75165, 75167, 75168
Area code(s) 972
FIPS code 48-76816
GNIS feature ID 1349560
Website www.waxahachie.com

Waxahachie (/ˌwɒksəˈhæi/ WOK-sa-HATCH-ee, unlike the Waxahatchee Creek in Alabama) is the county seat of Ellis County, Texas, United States, and lies just beyond the southern suburbs of Dallas. The population was 29,621 at the 2010 census, with an estimated population of 32,344 in 2014.

Some sources state that the name means "cow" or "buffalo" in an unspecified Native American language. One possible Native American origin is the Alabama language, originally spoken in the area of Alabama around Waxahatchee Creek by the Alabama-Coushatta people, who had migrated by the 1850s to eastern Texas. In the Alabama language, waakasi hachi means "calf's tail" (the Alabama word waaka being a loan from Spanish vaca).

That there is a Waxahatchee Creek near present-day Shelby, Alabama, suggests that Waxahachie, Texas, shares the same name etymology. Many place names in Texas and Oklahoma have their origins in the Southeastern United States, largely due to migration and/or forced removal of various southeastern Indian tribes. The area in central Alabama that includes Waxahatchee Creek was for hundreds of years the home of the Upper Creek moiety of the Muscogee Creek Nation. Again, this would suggest a Muscogee Creek language origin of Waxahachie. "Waxahachie" therefore may be an anglicized pronunciation of the Muscogee compound word Wakvhvce from the Muscogee words Wakv (meaning "cow" derived from the Spanish vaca) and the Muscogee word Hvce (meaning "tail").


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