As far as true American things go, an abandoned cotton gin is probably way up there in the 'stuff you'll only find in the south' stakes.
A cotton gin (short for 'cotton engine') is in it's simplest form a mechanical means of separating cotton fibres from the seeds. The fibres can then get processed into cotton goods like calico and textiles/clothing. The first 'modern' mechanical gin was invented by Eli Whitney in 1794 and revolutionised the industry, which increased it's profitability and lead to a vast increase of slavery in the American south as plantation owners expanded their cotton fields and needed more slaves to pick the crops. Over the decades and into the 1960s a huge number of improvements and advances had been made in the industry as things became bigger, better and more automated as technology came on leaps and bounds.
We passed this unassuming location on the way to another place way out in the sticks, from the outside it looked like just a couple of big barns and we would have written it off entirely were it not for the just-legible sign attached to a gable end which had the word 'gin' on it and knowing that it certainly wasn't distillery country. So on the way back we stopped off to have a look as our interest had been piqued, parked up, gathered our stuff and headed inside, not really expecting much at all. On stepping inside though it became apparent we'd stumbled across a little hidden gem. The whole place was wonderfully intact, every single piece of machinery was in situ sat there waiting to be photographed. The factory was kitted out with an entire array of machinery manufactured by the Continental Gin Company which looks to be 1940s or 1950s in era - the machinery company closed down in 1962 so it's no newer than that. There was also a large Bespress industrial press from the same era, presumably for pressing the cleaned cotton into bales.
From doing a little bit of research it appears the company closed down in the early 2000s after merging with a larger gin company in the area, which opened a brand new facility a couple of miles down the road.
Thanks for looking (I'll stop the spam soon I promise!)
A cotton gin (short for 'cotton engine') is in it's simplest form a mechanical means of separating cotton fibres from the seeds. The fibres can then get processed into cotton goods like calico and textiles/clothing. The first 'modern' mechanical gin was invented by Eli Whitney in 1794 and revolutionised the industry, which increased it's profitability and lead to a vast increase of slavery in the American south as plantation owners expanded their cotton fields and needed more slaves to pick the crops. Over the decades and into the 1960s a huge number of improvements and advances had been made in the industry as things became bigger, better and more automated as technology came on leaps and bounds.
We passed this unassuming location on the way to another place way out in the sticks, from the outside it looked like just a couple of big barns and we would have written it off entirely were it not for the just-legible sign attached to a gable end which had the word 'gin' on it and knowing that it certainly wasn't distillery country. So on the way back we stopped off to have a look as our interest had been piqued, parked up, gathered our stuff and headed inside, not really expecting much at all. On stepping inside though it became apparent we'd stumbled across a little hidden gem. The whole place was wonderfully intact, every single piece of machinery was in situ sat there waiting to be photographed. The factory was kitted out with an entire array of machinery manufactured by the Continental Gin Company which looks to be 1940s or 1950s in era - the machinery company closed down in 1962 so it's no newer than that. There was also a large Bespress industrial press from the same era, presumably for pressing the cleaned cotton into bales.
From doing a little bit of research it appears the company closed down in the early 2000s after merging with a larger gin company in the area, which opened a brand new facility a couple of miles down the road.
Thanks for looking (I'll stop the spam soon I promise!)
