Gatewood-Shelton Gin
304 E. Crawford, Palestine, TXThe Gatewood-Shelton Gin is nominated to the National Register of Historic Places for its contributions to Palestine's once important cotton-related industry and is associated with the historic context Community and Regional Development in Palestine: 1846-1945.
The Gatewood-Shelton Gin is nominated to the National Register at the local level of significance under Criterion A for its contributions to Palestine's once important cotton-related industry and is associated with the historic context Community and Regional Development in Palestine: 1846-1945. Although Palestine's historical development relied largely on die railroad, the processing of agricultural products, including cotton, played a supportive role in local history during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The Gatewood-Shelton Gin is representative of this aspect of Palestine's economy. Furthermore, the gin is the only extant historic property associated with Palestine's cotton trade and thus provides the only tangible link to this portion of local history. Despite the removal of the ginning equipment in 1960 and the building's subsequent conversion into an antiques store, the structure's original form, massing, and materials are intact, and the property retains sufficient integrity to convey its historically significant operation as a cotton gin.
Bibliography
Texas Agricultural Statistics Service. 1866-1989 Texas Historical Crops Statistics. Bulletin 248. Austin: Texas Agricultural Statistics Service, 1991.
United States Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Agricultural Economy. Vital Facts about the Cotton Industry of Texas. Austin: Bureau of Business Research, University of Texas, 1943.
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1998.
The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation’s historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources.