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HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
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WHEREAS, The State of Texas has customarily recognized a |
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variety of official state symbols as tangible representations of |
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the state's historical and cultural heritage; and |
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WHEREAS, The Burton Cotton Gin & Museum, in Burton, |
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Washington County, is home to what is believed to be the only |
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restored gin of its time period in the United States that remains in |
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its original building, on its original site, and that operates with |
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equipment that was in the facility when the gin closed; beyond its |
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uniqueness, this plant represents a significant chapter in Texas |
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agricultural and economic history; and |
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WHEREAS, First grown in Texas by Spanish missionaries, cotton |
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became an important source of income in the state in the 19th |
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century and has remained a significant part of the state's economy; |
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Texas has led the nation in cotton production in almost every year |
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since 1880, and the state's annual cotton harvest today constitutes |
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approximately a quarter of all the cotton raised in the United |
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States; the largest cash crop in Texas, cotton has been designated |
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the official State Fiber and Fabric; and |
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WHEREAS, Beginning in the 1870s, cotton culture in Texas |
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expanded dramatically: between 1869 and 1879, the number of bales |
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produced in the state rose from approximately 350,000 to more than |
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800,000, and by 1900 the number of bales reached more than 3.5 |
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million; this soaring volume placed a heavy strain on the existing |
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gins and their mode of operation; even if steam engines were used |
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instead of animals to power the gin machinery, manual labor was |
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still needed to shift the cotton from one operation to another, and |
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as cotton harvests increased, impatient farmers were forced to wait |
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in ever longer lines at the gin; and |
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WHEREAS, To cope with the upsurge in production, Robert S. |
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Munger, of Mexia, devised a radically new process that became known |
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as system ginning; over the period from 1883 to 1892, he created |
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pneumatic technology that would move the cotton in a continuous |
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manner, directly from the wagon to the gin stand and then to the |
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baling press; modern-day cotton gins still use the process that he |
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pioneered; and |
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WHEREAS, Though highly successful, Mr. Munger's technology |
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was too expensive for a single individual to install, and so local |
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farmers would establish associations to build system gins; in 1913, |
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a group of Burton agriculturists, most of them German Texans, |
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incorporated to construct and operate the Burton Farmers Gin; |
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designed by the Lummus Cotton Gin Company, the gin relied on Mr. |
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Munger's pneumatic system, together with special air-blast |
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equipment to doff lint from the gin saws; and |
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WHEREAS, During the 1920s, the mechanization of cotton |
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harvesting necessitated the addition of still further machinery at |
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the Burton gin, in order to remove the increased volume of trash |
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from the seed cotton; the total power requirement then exceeded the |
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capacity of the gin's original steam engine, and the latter was thus |
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supplanted in 1925 by a Bessemer Type IV diesel engine with 125 |
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horsepower; after that engine failed in 1963, it was replaced by an |
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electric motor, though the diesel engine was repaired and kept as a |
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standby power source; and |
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WHEREAS, The Burton Farmers Gin operated from 1914 to 1974, |
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by which time cotton production in the area had almost wholly given |
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way to the raising of livestock; efforts by local citizens to |
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preserve the gin and return it to its 1930s condition began in 1986; |
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as part of the initial phase, the complete gin records, which |
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chronicle cotton production and sales by area farmers as well as the |
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history of the physical plant, were indexed and archived; later, |
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staff from the Smithsonian Institution assisted with the |
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restoration of the gin's Bessemer engine, the "Lady B," which is |
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considered to be "the largest operating internal combustion engine |
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of [its] vintage in the southern United States," and one of the |
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"few, if [indeed there are] any, engines of this age and horsepower |
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in operation outside of a museum"; and |
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WHEREAS, Today, the Burton Farmers Gin constitutes the main |
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structure in the nine-acre complex known as the Burton Cotton Gin & |
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Museum; the gin itself is open for tours year-round and is activated |
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twice a year, during the Cotton Gin Festival in April and the First |
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Bale Celebration in October; listed on the National Register of |
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Historic Places, the Burton Farmers Gin has also been designated a |
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Texas Historic Landmark by the Texas Historical Commission and a |
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National Historic Engineering Landmark by the American Society of |
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Mechanical Engineers; and |
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WHEREAS, A key element of the cotton industry, gins were once |
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a fixture in countless rural Texas communities and a fundamental |
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part of their local economy; today, the Burton Cotton Gin & Museum |
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evokes that earlier time and offers a rare window into a critical |
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technological advance, one that continues to benefit the Lone Star |
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State; now, therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the 81st Legislature of the State of Texas |
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hereby designate the Burton Cotton Gin & Museum as the official |
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Cotton Gin Museum of Texas. |