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The lady below is Kerry Jenkins, my sister. She turned away and wouldn't let
me take her
picture. I don't know if she was embarassed to have her picture taken by the
old rusty gin
or maybe just to hide a tear as she thought about the the by-gone days. The
pictures below were taken in 2003.
This is the south end of the cotton gin at Lake Creek. The platform (upper left) is
where the cotton bales were brought out. My daddy, Wes Tom Johnson, worked at this gin for many years, starting in the mid
1920's when he was still a teenager. The gin was powered by a steem engine at that time but was changed over to a diesel engine
in the mid 1040's. Wes Tom worked at this gin and other gins until he died in 1956.
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Cotton, once called, "King Cotton," was the main source of income for the Lake Creek farmers. The cotton gin
was a hustle and bustle of actitivity in the fall of every year. The cotton season lasted from late August through
December, and the gin ran day and night without stopping, except in emergencies.
The gin was in operation from the mid 1880's through the mid 1960's. With the coming of new manmade fabrics,
cotton became in less demand and many cotton gins closed their doors forever, bringing to a close the end of
and era. | | |
Kerry (Johnson) Jenkins
My brothers, sisters and I used tp play in this gin when we were kids, growing up in the
1940's and 1950's. Kids were not allowed in the gin, especially when it was running, but since our daddy, Wes Tom Johnson,
worked there...it was ok. Now the old gin stands empty and silent, a ghostly reminder of those years so long ago.
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This is the press, where cotton was pressed into a bale. It was upstairs in the back of the
gin. If you look close you can the press is on a turntable. This allowed the cotton to go into the press until it was full,
or a complete bale. Then the men pushed the press around, and the cotton for the next bale would begin to go in another section
of the press. This allowed the previous bale to be wrapped in a heavy burlap-like cover and bound with steel straps. Then
it was weighed and taged. By then the next bale was ready, and the same thing started again.
Go to: Mack & Mary Gordon
Homepage
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Inside the gin. Most of the equipment has been removed. About those holes in the walls; they
are not windows but openings for equipment, pipes, ducts etc. Down this right side was a row of machines called stands. The
cotton would fall through the stands to have the seeds removed. My daddy's job was to watch the flow of cotton and control
the density of the seed.
Wes Tom Johnson by gin stands
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