Last updated: May 8, 2022
Place
Magnolia Cotton Gin Barn
NPS/Poole
Quick Facts
Location:
Derry, Louisiana
Amenities
4 listed
Accessible Rooms, Benches/Seating, Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits, Wheelchair Accessible
The Gin Barn houses cotton ginning and pressing equipment. One side of the Gin Barn contains an 1830s wood screw cotton press used to press cotton into bales for market. One of only six wood screw presses remaining in the United States, this rare artifact predates the days of steam ginning and pressing. Enslaved laborers hand-picked the cotton. The cotton was cleaned and placed into the top box. As the press rotated around the stationary wood screw, the cotton lint compressed and formed a bale. The power source for the Magnolia press is unknown. Other presses used draft animals, so it is likely the Magnolia press operated the same way. A cotton bale weighed almost 500 pounds and used approximately one acre of cotton.
The other side of the Gin Barn contains steam gins and a double-box steam press, which dates to the late 1800s. In front of the Gin Barn the large circular brick cistern collected rainwater from the roof to power the steam engine. This mechanization allowed for more efficient cotton production. Laborers no longer had to painstakingly clean, or gin, the cotton because the ginning equipment did this. Working the machinery was dangerous. If workers were not careful, they could lose limbs or even their lives. One person would call the press by singing a song with a beat that matched the timing of the machinery. This beat helped workers to know when to avoid putting their hands and arms inside of the machinery to avoid injury.
The other side of the Gin Barn contains steam gins and a double-box steam press, which dates to the late 1800s. In front of the Gin Barn the large circular brick cistern collected rainwater from the roof to power the steam engine. This mechanization allowed for more efficient cotton production. Laborers no longer had to painstakingly clean, or gin, the cotton because the ginning equipment did this. Working the machinery was dangerous. If workers were not careful, they could lose limbs or even their lives. One person would call the press by singing a song with a beat that matched the timing of the machinery. This beat helped workers to know when to avoid putting their hands and arms inside of the machinery to avoid injury.