There used to be an arcade in the basement of the Rogers Hotel, and then the space sat empty. Now there's live music down there. Matthew and Jorden Kidwell opened Rhythm and Brew in that basement. It's a café they set up on purpose for conversation, music and talking face to face. In early October, the Waxahachie Sun wrote that within a month of opening, the underground café had already changed the feel of downtown.
Start there and walk north on College Street, and you'll pass most of what's new downtown this year. The Rogers Hotel sits at the corner of Main and College. A new bookstore opened a block up. The old police station a little farther north has been the city's biggest downtown project for more than a year. Keep going and you reach the lot behind Central Presbyterian Church, where Bethlehem Revisited sets up in December. Plenty happens around the rest of the square too. Still, if you only have an hour downtown this fall, College Street covers the most.
The Rogers Hotel, Upstairs and Down
On the first floor, The Emory Bar and Kitchen has had a busy year. The restaurant is at the northeast corner of Main and College. It's known for from-scratch comfort food, wine, craft beer and cocktails. Its previous owners announced the closing on December 22, 2025, and served their last dinners on December 26 and 27.
It didn't stay closed for long. Waxahachie 360 reported in an update dated February 3, 2026, that Heidi Dubose and Alexis West had reopened The Emory with the same food and the same menu. If you missed your usual order over the holidays and figured it was gone, it's back.
Downstairs, Rhythm and Brew has a different goal. Jorden Kidwell told the Sun the idea was inspired by family and that they wanted to create a space where newer generations could gather to socialize face-to-face, just like it was before COVID and before phones.
So in one historic building you can now have dinner upstairs and then head down to the basement for coffee and live music. A year ago you couldn't do either. The Emory was about to change hands, and the basement was still the empty former arcade.
A Block North: The Wyrd & Wand Archive
At 113 N. College St., The Wyrd & Wand Archive held its grand-opening ribbon cutting this spring. The Waxahachie Sun listed it on March 5, 2026. It's an independent bookstore that focuses on fantasy, science fiction and fiction.
The location matters as much as the store itself. A bookstore a short walk from the Rogers Hotel gives you an easy evening downtown: browse the shelves, eat at The Emory, then go down to Rhythm and Brew, all on one corner and the block next to it. These are three independent businesses, and none of them is a chain.
216 N. College: The Building Everyone Keeps Watching
The next stop up the street is the former police station at 216 N. College St. It shows how much effort the city is putting into this stretch.
In July 2025, The Dallas Morning News reported a plan called Waxahachie Social for the building. It was pitched as a food hall and market with at least nine food kiosks, a butcher shop, a bar, live music and markets, and it was aiming to open in early 2026.
That plan isn't the latest word anymore. On October 7, 2026, the Waxahachie Daily Light reported that the city council had voted to start negotiations to redevelop the building with the operators of a popular local restaurant. The goal is to bring more business to downtown. The public material available so far doesn't name the final concept, the schedule or the finished project. Negotiations are only the first step, so the building is still waiting.
Even so, the decision tells us something. The city has now taken a second public run at turning a former government building on College Street into a place to eat. Whatever opens there will sit within easy walking distance of The Emory, Rhythm and Brew and The Wyrd & Wand Archive. That gives this part of College Street four food, drink or shopping stops close together, which it hasn't had before.
The Fall and Holiday Calendar
The Waxahachie Convention & Visitors Bureau has posted downtown events through the end of the year. October's Night on the Town was on the second Thursday, October 8. Here's everything still ahead as of today, October 9:
| Date | Event | Time | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thursday, Oct. 29 | Trick-or-Treat on the Square | 3 to 5 p.m. | Downtown square |
| Saturday, Nov. 7 | Junk in the Trunk | See listing | Historic Waxahachie Courthouse |
| Thursday, Nov. 12 | Night on the Town | 5 to 8 p.m. | Downtown Waxahachie |
| Fri. to Sun., Dec. 4 to 6 | Bethlehem Revisited | 6 to 9 p.m. | 402 N. College St. |
| Thursday, Dec. 10 | Night on the Town | 5 to 8 p.m. | Downtown Waxahachie |
| Fri. to Sun., Dec. 11 to 13 | Bethlehem Revisited | 6 to 9 p.m. | 402 N. College St. |
| Fri. and Sat., Dec. 11 to 12 | Downtown Christmas Carriage Rides for CASA | See listing | Downtown Waxahachie |
| Fri. and Sat., Dec. 18 to 19 | Downtown Christmas Carriage Rides for CASA | See listing | Downtown Waxahachie |
Trick-or-Treat on the Square
The CVB listing promises costumes, candy, games and Halloween fun all around the historic downtown square, and it's free. It runs from 3 to 5 p.m., so it's done before dark and before neighborhood trick-or-treating gets going two days later. For questions, the listing gives [email protected] as the contact.
Junk in the Trunk
The Junk in the Trunk market comes to the Historic Waxahachie Courthouse on November 7. Vendors are told to contact Farmhouse Antiques for information.
Night on the Town
Night on the Town happens every second Thursday from 5 to 8 p.m. The two left this year are November 12 and December 10. With the evening hours, you can catch the event and still make dinner at The Emory or music at Rhythm and Brew.
Bethlehem Revisited
Bethlehem Revisited runs two weekends this year, December 4 to 6 and December 11 to 13, from 6 to 9 p.m. each night. It's at 402 N. College St., behind Central Presbyterian Church. That's the northern end of the same street where Rhythm and Brew sits in the Rogers Hotel basement. The CVB page shows a broader date range of December 4 to 13, but its detailed schedule lists only the Friday-through-Sunday nights. Plan around those.
Downtown Christmas Carriage Rides for CASA
Carriage rides run downtown on Friday and Saturday, December 11 and 12, and again December 18 and 19. The proceeds go to CASA of Ellis County.
The Busiest Stretch: December 10 to 13
Line up those dates and one stretch stands out. Night on the Town is Thursday, December 10. Bethlehem Revisited's second weekend opens the next night and runs through Sunday the 13th. The CASA carriage rides go on Friday and Saturday, December 11 and 12. That's four nights in a row with something on the downtown calendar, and Bethlehem Revisited is just up College Street from the Rogers Hotel.
If you only plan one downtown evening this season, Friday, December 11, packs in the most. You could ride a carriage, walk up to 402 N. College for Bethlehem Revisited, and finish with dinner at The Emory or coffee at Rhythm and Brew.
Two things are still unknown. The 2026 dates for the Christmas parade and community tree lighting weren't posted when this went up, so check back with the city before December. And the plan for 216 N. College is still being negotiated. Whatever comes of it will land on the same few blocks of College Street that have changed the most this year.
If you live near downtown and have wondered what all this change on College Street means for your own home, I'm always glad to talk it through, whether you're planning a move or just curious about your house. Over coffee at Rhythm and Brew works for me. Janna Seal is here when you're ready. Let's Connect.
