%b%crAmerican Cotton Museum / Audie Murphy and other Greenville, TX Things to Do Tips

This is a wonderful museum which introduces you to the cotton industry which was very big in this area. It is dedicated to the preservation of the history of that industry and takes you through the planting, growing, ginning, baling, spinning and weaving of cotton. You will also learn about the residents of the blackland prairie area and their contribution to the county.

The Museum was founded in 1987 as the Hunt County Museum. The idea of an American Cotton Museum began in a downtown storefront location and has now developed into a major tourist attraction and research centre. Many conferences, symposiums and festivals are held at the Museum which has become the forefront of local history and historical cotton research in Texas.

Hours: Tuesday-Saturday: 10-5, Sunday: 1-5.
Admission.$2.00
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Address: 600 Interstate 30 East, Greenville
Directions: (between Exits 95 and 94 B (business 69) on the north service road.)
Website: http://www.cottonmuseum.com/index.html

This house was built between 1857 and 1859 by Charles Frederick von Ende for his wife, Emilie Amelia Rinecker von Ende. It was later sold for $900 to his daughter (Louise) and son-in-law (Dr David Gaillard). It was originally sited at Stonewall Street but after Louise's death in 1945, the house became part of a lumberyard and was threatened with demolition. It was saved and moved to a city park in 1957 then to the American Cotton Museum in 1996. The house is the oldest standing structure in Greenville. It includes a parlour, bedroom, dining room and doctors office.

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Address: American Cotton Museum

This is a small working cotton patch set up on the grounds of the American Cotton Museum to give a idea of what the rural life looked like.
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Address: American Cotton Museum

The porch which is displayed in the museum is typical of a back porch of many houses in the south between 1900 and 1930. There are many tools on display that farmers would use and also the wife in the house. There are the old wash boards, cream separator, corn sheller, several irons, knee pads used for cotton picking and an egg carrier which would hold 144 eggs.
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Address: American Cotton Museum

The first plows were used prior to the Middle Ages, they would have been pushed or pulled by an animal. The wheeled plow was first developed during that time and was used for harder types of soil. Plows changed little until the 1830's when the North American Prairie prompted blacksmith John Deer to invent the steel plowshare. This was a two-wheeled sulky plow with a seat for a rider and was developed during the American Civil War. By 1890 larger farms were using steam-powered tractors. However, most cotton farmers frequently used animal powered equipment as shown at the museum

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Address: American Cotton Museum

During the period between 1890 and 1940, Cotton buyers and brokers were the ones responsible for the distribution of cotton world-wide. Cotton buyers would usually buy the cotton direct from the farmers by the bale and the price was dependant on the grade and market price at the time which tended to fluctuate with climatic conditions, trade embargoes and instability in the economy.

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Address: American Cotton Museum

In the gin stand, the seed cotton rotates in the seed roll and is agitated by a cylinder to ensure all lint is removed from the seed. Teeth of rotating saws grabs the lint and pulls it between narrowly spaced ribs which stops the passage of the seed. This process continues until the seeds are completely ginned. The lint stays on the teeth and gets 'doffed' by a doffing cylinder then the ginned seed is discharged from the machine and taken away.

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Address: American Cotton Museum

The first gin in Hunt County was built 3 years after the end of the Civil War in 1868 and was run by a team of 6 horses that pulled a lever. Later another gin was built in the county and it was run by a team of oxen treading all day long turning a tread mill. Farmers brought their cotton to the gin and leave it with their names on it waiting for their turn. Ginning was a slow process as the cotton had to be carried in baskets and fed by hand into the gin stand.

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Address: American Cotton Museum

An example of a cotton bale. Cotton fibre is packed into bales weighing about 500lbs each. This particular cotton was ginned at Fairlie Gin from a farm in Wolfe City.
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Address: American Cotton Museum

Low Hill was a prominent rise in the Smith Prairie area. Joseph Low built this 10 room house in 1915 to house his 12 children – 10 of his own by 3 wives and 2 of his third wife. The house was destroyed by fire. This model took 10 months to build with much of the furniture especially created to show the home in its original form. The model cost nearly as much to construct in 1987 as the original house.
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