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==Personal life==
Throughout their married life, Henry and Mary Ellison Baars enjoyed a unique "game". On gift giving occasions, he would ask her what she wanted, and she would respond: "Just buy me a piece of land." Baars did, and eventually Mary Ellison's holdings exceeded 6000 acres, all in the path of the city's growth. At one time, the Baars built [[CordovaTowers|a mansion]] on the city's perimeter. Mary Ellison intended to develop the surrounding area with vacation homes for wealthy northerners; however, the plan was scrapped when economic conditions soured, and the area was eventually developed as the [[Cordova Park]] neighborhood.
Baars was active in the community. He and Mary Ellison worked with others to fund construction of the new [[Christ Episcopal Church|Christ Church]] building erected in [[1903]]-[[1904|04]]. A member of the Chamber of Commerce, Baars strove to fund and build improvements in the downtown area. He and Mary Ellison were also patrons of the arts.