Following the end of the American Civil War, veterans from both Union and Confederate forces formed the G.A.R., or Grand Army of the Republic. On 28 March 1883, George Ellis Post 171 was established in Ellis, with its first formal meetings held in the basement of the old stone schoolhouse south of Washington Street. Later, its meetings moved to a building along Jefferson Street that was then the largest meeting hall in town. Besides serving as a gathering place for veterans, the wood-frame building with an elevated stage hosted church services, social events, July 4th gatherings, sporting events, graduations, and election headquarters. The G.A.R. band and color guard led many local parades, and the first motion pictures shown in Ellis were shown there by “Doodle” McDonald. Local tinsmith Andrew Kastner eventually purchased the building, and the proceeds were used to place a veterans’ memorial at Mount Hope Cemetery. In the mid-1920’s, Kastner and Herman Erbert demolished the hall and replaced it with the building that stands today. That building has served as Kastner’s tin shop, an auto dealership operated by Erbert, then Loflin, and finally Fondoble Motors, and now houses the VFW Hall, Ellis city offices, and the fire department. The last remaining member of the Ellis G.A.R. Post, G.G. Jackson, died 26 April 1934, 51 years after the post’s establishment.