Cotton was one of Union’s greatest early markets and a major part of its economy. History records that Union’s cotton receipts on Oct. 13, 1910, amounted 204 bales at 14 cents per pound, over $12,000 for cotton in a single day. The next Saturday was even greater. As the market continued to grow, the town responded with cotton gins and warehouses for storage.
In 1917, Union Cotton Ware House located at the west end of Horne St. near the railroad burned losing 105 bales, but it was quickly rebuilt. It burned again Oct. 24, 1918. In 1925, Wade and Stephens built a cotton ginnery on the lot near the Cotton Ware House. The gin took the cotton that had come from the field, removed the seed, and put it in a machine that baled it so it could be carried to the warehouse for storage. In 1926, this cotton gin powered by crude oil was enlarged to meet demand. In addition, L.A. Carter had a gin near where GM&N crossed Old Decatur Road in 1928. Then in 1929, G.N.
Staton built a gin across the railroad tracks north of Hwy. 492 where West Walnut St. enters the highway. Finally, in 1936, H.C. Staton and son had a sheet iron gin house near their old gin.
A major happening for the cotton industry occurred in 1927 when G.M. Brown announced that he was going to build a Compress north of Hwy. 492 W just across railroad tracks. Southern Planing Mill, which was near the Compress location, sold its site to them and moved its mill and yard to the front of H.C. Staton’s home. In that same year, Inland Utilities Co. announced that it would build a central power plant to provide power for the Compress.
Next, Moore and Haynes built an electric compress, one of only two in the state.
J.T. Service, contractor, built a storage building that covered nearly two acres. Because most of the cotton was moved by rail in the beginning, the loading docks were built right beside the tracks for easier loading. Then Lee Anthony (Leo) Wolf came to Union in 1928 as president of the Compress.
Union Compress continued to make additions. In 1932, they added a high-density press. Then in 1935, they added a sprinkler system and became bonded. Another big improvement came in 1938 when Union High Density Compress built a warehouse addition that covered ten acres. At this time, they added a night shift to accommodate all of the cotton coming in. The new warehouse was soon full.
Once this Compress got the bales from the gins, they compressed the large bales into smaller, tighter bales and stored them in the warehouse. Once the cotton was sold, they filled the orders, loaded the bales, and shipped them by rail or by truck.
Business became so great that in 1939 they added more warehouses again, enough area this time to cover 5,000 more bales. These warehouses were built on the east side of the railroad tracks toward Magnolia Street, and they built a second water tank near them in October 1939. This was the last recorded information in the newspaper. From this point, I have relied on reader input.
Mariner Cole began working at the Compress in 1937 while Wolf was president. Later, he moved into Wolf’s position, probably in the mid-1940s (Wolf died in 1947). At some point Murray James became office manager, and Merle Blalock was the secretary. Lynn Bishop followed Merle. Lucy Case worked about a year while Lynn was on leave; Lynn returned and worked part-time until the business closed. Some of their loyal employees were S.B. Reeves, Howard Loper, Robert Buntyn and Jack Addy. Spurgeon Lewis was the outside foreman. His father Fox C. Lewis was a night watchman, along with Leon Sansang.
The Compress was a shareholder business; some came from Union and some from other towns. They eventually had other warehouses in Philadelphia, Newton, and Meridian. Walker Jones, the last chairman of the board, managed the one in Philadelphia.
Time passes and things change. In the latter years of the Compress, Woodward Gin out of Louisville built a gin in Union. The Compress also received bales from gins in North Mississippi. However, farmers in this area slowly stopped growing cotton, and cotton gins closed one by one.
After 49 years and over one million bales, 900,000 in Union alone, Union Compress was dealt a final blow when the last cotton gin in the county closed. As a result, the Compress, just as Buckwalter Lumber Co. had only a few years before, was forced to end its company. On Sept. 15, 1976, they sent letters to the COTTON TRADE informing each customer that as of this date, the company would not receive any cotton for storage or compression. They also offered for sale the buildings and any equipment. They finally shipped out their last bales of cotton, and the once strong Compress of Union closed its doors.
Many thanks go to Jim Cole and Lynn Bishop for their contributions to this article.
Here are this week’s questions.
• Do you know of other cotton gins that operated in the Union area?
• Do you know other people who worked at the Compress?
• Do you have memories about the Compress that you could share?
If you have other information or memories, please contact me at teresablount26@yahoo.com or 601-774-5564 or 109 Woodhaven Dr., Union, MS 39365.
