In the mid-twentieth century, frustrated by poor infrastructure, residents of an African American community in Italy called The Hill rallied to get a hearing with the city council. A group of African American men met in a small building on Poplar Street to discuss their impending meeting with the all-white city council, and that meeting led to the establishment of the Italy Colored City Council around 1950. Elections for both city councils were held at the same time, and all citizens could vote on both ballots. In the first election for the Colored City Council, voters chose John Henry Farrow as mayor, Nelton Tarrant as secretary, and James "Jim" Hardeman, Matthew Sweatt, Walter Smith, Edd Lee Lewis, and William Costonia Jennings as aldermen. A March 1951 issue of Ebony magazine featured the men in the article, "Texas' First Negro Mayor." Most, if not all, of the men elected to the council were descendants of enslaved people in Ellis County, illustrating the continued endurance of African Americans in Ellis County. The small wooden building with the sign "Colored City Hall" on the front was built in 1953 on Williams Street. It served as a meeting place for African American council members and represented hope and progress for Italy's African American community. Despite the history of racial violence and segregation in Ellis County, Italy Colored City Hall stands as a symbol of African American self-determination and political activism.