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Cotton has been important to the local economy since the early 19th century. Two gins were built in the 1820s, one by John Sprowl about two miles east of town and another built by John A. Williams about four miles west. Multiple gins were in operation in the county through much of the 1800s, and William Henry Horn of San Augustine filed a U.S. patent in 1876 for "improvement in cotton-presses" with a duplicate master wheel for greater efficiency.
The Gulf, Beaumont & Great Northern Railway (part of the Santa Fe system) arrived here in 1901-02. The rail line was built just west of the commercial district, crossing Columbia Street between Ayish Bayou and Bolivar Street. A cotton gin was built on Lot 129 of the original town plat, between the bayou and the railroad, at about the same time as the tracks were being surveyed. The first deed to mention "property premises and improvements" is dated May 7, 1910, from T.W.M. Baggett to C.C. Goodwin and Eugene Buckner. The property had various owners throughout the years, and was known as Lummus Cotton Gin, W.A. Pool Gin, and Fussell Gin Company. The gin operated until 1962, as cotton production moved to other parts of the state. The city of San Augustine acquired the property in 2000.
The cotton gin building is a two-story, rectangular plan, side-gabled structure with wood framing clad in corrugated metal siding. Farmers delivered freshly picked cotton in wagons or trucks, and a suction pipe sent cotton to the second story, where the gin separated fiber to be baled from seeds which dropped through a trap door back into the wagons. Historically, the gin plant included a frame platform adjoining the gin building and a separate seed house. The cotton gin stands as the lone surviving example of a once-common agricultural facility in the area. |
