Cotton Gins

Cotton gins were a critical element of the economy of Fannin County when cotton was king, and there were many gins operating throughout the county.  The remains of very few are still standing.  The photo below, from Steve Coker, is of the Farmers Union Gin in Leonard, later known as the Davis Gin, which was the last to operate in Leonard.  The gin is gone (2015), but the scalehouse remains.

As Steve Coker relates:  "Cotton was the area economy for over one hundred years. Most of the photos of mansions can be directly attributed to cotton production. The gins were noisy, dangerous contraptions. Dad took me on a tour of the Davis Gin about '64 (8 years old). It was a cold night, the building was dimly lit by hanging incandescent light bulbs. Men in overalls were stationed throughout the building. No ear protection, they often used hand signals. The Davis Gin was powered by an inline six cylinder, natural gas fired Fairbanks Morse engine, which vibrated the ground and produced a tremendous amount of heat, not to mention sound. Outside, the gin could be heard from the far south end of town to the far north. Homes, cars, and trees were covered in lint during ginning season. Lots of one armed and one handed men around Leonard those days!"

This page contains photographs of historic cotton gins throughout the county.  Please let us know if you have additional photographs or information that we can add.