 There is a post office currently functioning on FM 2503 in Ellinger, said by the Texas State Historical Association to have been founded in 1877, but no primary source documents this date, notably the USPS post office finder or Frank Lotto's 1902 book.Production of cotton carried the local economy in the early 1900s, and in previous eras Ellinger was a commercial center for farmers of cotton within the region.In 1900, the town had fourteen businesses and a thriving community, but it began to decline in the early part of the 20th century with the building of the Missouri-Kansas and Texas Railroad, a large railway which passed through nearby Fayetteville and missed Ellinger.