{"nrhp_refnum":"83004494","name":"Farmers Union Gin Company","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"120 Grove St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"San Marcos","county":"Hays County","state":"TX","lat":29.876155227000027,"lon":-97.94066084399998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1983-08-26","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Industry","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A cotton gin complex at 120 Grove Street in San Marcos, Hays County, Texas, beside the MKT tracks. The main buff-brick ginning room was built in 1910-11 after a fire destroyed an earlier iron gin building.","why_significant":"The gin was central to the cotton industry that anchored the Hays County economy for about 50 years. Its brick building is notable for Victorian string courses, arched windows and polychrome decoration. The gin was the last in Hays County to close, in 1966.","narrative":"Beside the MKT railroad tracks in San Marcos, the Farmers Union Gin Company complex centers on a buff-brick ginning room built in 1910-11 under a gabled corrugated-tin roof. Brown-brick segmental arches, string courses and a nine-pane roundel decorate the south facade. Later additions include a red-brick building for a third battery of gins from the early 1920s and a coal room from the late 1920s. Inside, iron trusses carry the roof and very hard concrete still supports the heavy equipment. Five area farmers bought the site in 1908, and Oscar Calvin Smith, Sr. organized the operation. A fire in 1910 destroyed the first iron building, and Smith rebuilt in brick at three times the size, allowing three bales to be ginned at once. The company also sold coal and built motorized cotton-transport chassis from Model T parts. Cotton was a mainstay of the county economy for about 50 years, and this was the last gin in Hays County to close, in 1966. The building is now being rehabilitated as a restaurant.","period_of_significance":"1900-","architect_builder":"Oscar Calvin Smith, Sr. (rebuilt the gin in 1910-1911)","architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Condition good but altered; rehabilitation under way for use as a restaurant (Farmers Union Company Restaurant).","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:18.667036-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/61/9695/40969561/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/83004494.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83004494/58d5693108-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83004494/58d5693108-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 4.0","author":"Larry D. Moore","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Farmers_union_cotton_gin_2012.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Larry D. Moore</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Farmers_union_cotton_gin_2012.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40969561","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farmers_Union_Gin_Company","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5435808"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/hays-county/farmers-union-gin-company-83004494/"}