Farmers Union Gin Company
San Marcos, Hays County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Local farmers Henry Kellerman, J. H. Barbee, A. H. Fleming, I. B. Rylander, and J. H. Williams purchased this site in 1908. Through their efforts the Farmers Union Gin Company was established here under the leadership of Oscar Calvin Smith. The first industrial plant of its size in San Marcos, the gin became vital to the area's cotton industry and remained in operation until 1966. This brick gin house, built in 1911, replaced an earlier structure which burned. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1981 Incise in base: Restored by Mr. and Mrs. W. H. Crook and Mr. and Mrs. Randall Morris - 1981
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
A group of local farmers bought this San Marcos site in 1908 and, under the leadership of Oscar Calvin Smith, established the Farmers Union Gin Company—the first industrial plant of its size in town. The surviving brick gin house dates to 1911, replacing an earlier structure lost to fire. For more than half a century the gin was a linchpin of the area's cotton economy, running until 1966.
Why it matters
The cooperative gin shows how farmers banded together to industrialize their own cotton trade, keeping the profits of processing in local hands rather than distant mills.
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Related people
- · Oscar Calvin Smith
Themes & tags
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