Continental Gin Company

Cotton was a mainstay of the economy of Dallas and East Texas for much of the 19th and early 20th centuries, and the buildings of the Continental Gin Company are one of the most visible reminders of that pivotal industry to be found in the state. Continental Gin grew to be one of the largest and most innovative concerns of its type in the country. This development took place under the able leadership of Robert S. Munger and his brother, Stephen I., who is also known for their philanthropic enterprises and real estate ventures. The Continental Gin complex is also significant as an unusual and intact survival in Texas of turn-of-the-century heavy industrial architecture. There were relatively few such manufacturing sites in North Texas, and most of those have been abandoned, substantially altered, or removed altogether. The old buildings of the Continental Gin Company., however, remain substantially as completed in 1914.

Robert S. Munger was born in Rutersville, Texas, on July 24, 1854. Working with cotton as a boy in Mexia, Texas, he developed an improved type of cotton gin. After receiving patents on his innovations, Mr. Munger established at Dallas, in 1884, a small plant for the manufacture of the Munger Ginning System. Capital support to expand production was provided by the prominent Dallas banker, W. H. Gaston, and the Munger Improved Cotton Machine Manufacturing Co. was organized. Until 1899, Munger's sales were the largest of any single manufacturer in the West. With the increasing demand for his products east of the Mississippi, S. I. Munger took over the plant in Dallas during his absence. According to a descendant, Robert Munger's contributions to the family enterprise were primarily as an inventor, while his brother Stephen was known for his business acumen.

The Continental Gin Company was created in October of 1899 by a merger of the Munger companies in Dallas and Birmingham; the Daniel Pratt Gin Co. of Prattville, Alabama; the Winship Machine Co. of Atlanta, Georgia; and the Eagle Cotton Gin Company of Bridgewater, Massachusetts. The Continental Gin Company soon became the largest manufacturer of cotton gins in the United States with a large export business to South America, South Africa, and Russia.

The various structures which comprised the Dallas part of the company are situated in the block bounded by Trunk Avenue, Elm Street, and Pacific Street. The site is just east of the central business district. Located to the north of the plant is the Munger Place residential development which at one time attracted many of Dallas' moned citizens. This development is now listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The Dallas office of the company was responsible for accepting all the western sales orders and distributing them to the factories. The Dallas plant also housed one of the two demonstration facilities which the company used.

Not much is known about several of the original buildings which were razed and replaced long ago, because the relative city records dating before 1900 have been destroyed. It is known, however, that the 1912 foundry at 212 Trunk Avenue was built by D. L. Stevenson of Nettleson Contractors, Inc., and that the foundry cost some $16,000. In the fall of 1913, $250,000 were appropriated for the new buildings on Elm Street, which were put up the following year. They were constructed by Buchannon and Guessler of Dallas, but the architect's name is not preserved.

The Continental Gin Company was a booming industry in the early 1920s and received honorable recognition during the 1940s for its aid in the war effort. The company still exists today and is located in Prattville, Alabama. The foundry at 212 Trunk Avenue was sold in 1962 to Al-Mar Investments. The remaining parts of the gin company were bought by Coerver Properties in 1964 and 1966, who manufactured cabinets and elevator cars in the Elm Street buildings. A development company called Continental Gin Properties, Ltd. (not related to the original gin manufacturing company), now owns the old foundry, the warehouse, and some of the Elm Street structures. The office building and power plant on Elm are owned by Sockwell-Freeman Enterprises.

R. S. Munger not only innovated the cotton gin industry but also contributed to the development of the city of Dallas. While in Birmingham, Munger observed restricted residential districts and decided in 1900 to devise such a district for Dallas. Munger Place, located north of the Continental Gin Company, was opened in 1905 as Dallas' third subdivision, and first deed-restricted subdivision. R. S. Munger was likewise influential in the development of the Lakewood Country Club, an institution in Dallas since 1913. Also, because of the exclusiveness of the entire Munger Place Development (including the Swiss Avenue Historic District), R. S. Munger managed to attract many citizens of Dallas who were prominent in political, social, and money circles.

His brother, S. I. Munger, was also a prominent citizen of Dallas. He was a director of several banks in Dallas and served as president of the Continental Gin Company from 1903 till his death in 1921. After his brother's death, R. S. Munger served as president of the company till he died in 1923.