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IN THE LATE 19TH AND EARLY 20TH CENTURIES, COTTON BECAME AN INCREASINGLY VALUABLE CROP IN THE STATE’S ECONOMY. BY 1852, TEXAS RANKED EIGHTH IN THE NATION AMONG COTTON-PRODUCING STATES. IN ELLIS COUNTY, PRODUCTION TOTALED JUST 359 BALES IN 1860. THE ARRIVAL OF RAILROADS LOCALLY AND ACROSS THE STATE HELPED PROMOTE COTTON CULTURE, AS RAIL LINES OFTEN CONNECTED LARGER CITIES AND TOWNS WHILE RUNNING THROUGH SOME OF THE MOST PRODUCTIVE FARMLAND. ELLIS COUNTY IS PART OF THE BLACKLAND PRAIRIE, A GRASSLAND REGION FROM THE RED RIVER THROUGH NORTH AND CENTRAL TEXAS. THE TEXAS ALMANAC FOR 1858 DESCRIBED ELLIS COUNTY LAND AS “RICH BLACK, STIFF AND LOAMY, UNDULATING ROLLING PRAIRIE, FINELY ADAPTED TO THE CULTURE OF ALL KINDS OF SMALL GRAIN, AS WELL AS COTTON AND CORN.”
BY 1870, ELLIS COUNTY COTTON PRODUCTION HAD INCREASED TO 2,960 BALES, AND TO 18,956 BALES BY 1880, REFLECTED IN THE ARRIVAL OF THE HOUSTON & TEXAS CENTRAL (1871) AND GULF, COLORADO & SANTA FE (1882) RAILROADS TO THE AREA. BY THE 1890s, COUNTY ACREAGE PLANTED IN COTTON EXCEEDED THE LABOR SUPPLY, AND ADVERTISEMENTS ENTICED PEOPLE TO RELOCATE HERE. GINS WERE BUILT IN VIRTUALLY EVERY PART OF THE COUNTY, NOT JUST IN TOWNS BUT IN RURAL AREAS. ON PECAN SPRINGS RANCH NEAR CHAMBERS CREEK, WILSON DABNEY SIMS (1824-1892) OWNED 2,800 ACRES IN 1890, WITH 1,000 ACRES CULTIVATED BY TENANT FARMERS AND WITH A COTTON GIN HE OPENED FOR HIMSELF AND HIS TENANTS. EVENTUALLY, RELATED LOCAL BUSINESSES SUCH AS COTTON COMPRESSES, COTTONSEED OIL MILLS, AND TEXTILE MILLS HELPED COTTON’S IMPORTANCE TO THE AREA GROW EXPONENTIALLY. IN 1900, ELLIS COUNTY COTTON PRODUCTION TOTALED 91,298 BALES, TOPPING OUT AT A RECORD 187,449 BALES IN 1912. BETWEEN 1895 AND 1915, ELLIS COUNTY FREQUENTLY RANKED FIRST IN THE STATE AND THE NATION IN COTTON PRODUCTION, AND THE CROP REMAINED A CRITICAL PART OF THE LOCAL ECONOMY WELL INTO THE 20TH CENTURY.
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