In 1887 the City of Ennis was established at this site as the northern terminus of the Houston and Texas Central Railroad, later part of the Southern Pacific Railroad. The city was named after early railroad official Cornelius Ennis. Railroad expansion here in 1891 spurred decades of agricultural, commercial, and industrial growth. The completion of lakes for railroad use and the construction of shops, a roundhouse, and offices gave Ennis renown as the junction of railroads and cotton fields. The lakes and several railroad buildings remain.