Historical Marker

Gasoline Cotton Gin

Historical marker location:
FM 599, Quitaque, Texas
( From Quitaque take SH 86 east about 1.3 miles, then take FM 599 south about 2.5 miles to marker)
Marker installed: 1990

Cotton farmers began settling in this area in 1903. A water well was dug in 1906. Attracting more farmers and increasing crop production. Because the nearest cotton gin was ten miles away in Turkey, three partners (M.E. Tomson, J.H. Clack, and L.A. McCracken) bought a gasoline-powered engine and built a gin at this site. The first bale of cotton was ginned in April 1907. The presence of the gin led to the development of a town named Gasoline. The town declined after the railroad bypassed it in 1927 and the gin was destroyed in a 1938 fire. (1990).