About

The Texas Cotton Gin Museum, Inc. (formerly Operation Restoration, Inc. and then Burton Cotton Gin & Museum, Inc.) was founded as a 501(c)(3) organization in 1986 to save the historic Burton Farmers Gin from demolition.  The fully documented Burton Farmers Gin has been widely recognized as the best operational example remaining in the nation of an early, fully automated systems gin still in its original historic setting.  Built in 1914, it stands as a monument to King Cotton.  Guided by the Smithsonian and the National Trust for Historic Preservation and other advisors, dedicated volunteers restored the 1925 Bessemer twin-type IV oil engine that still powers the gin.

The gin has been designated a National Historic Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (1994).  It is a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark (1988) and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places (1991).  Other historic buildings on the museum campus include the historic Wehring Shoe Shop and the Burton Farmers Gin Cotton Warehouse.  Many of the individuals that were an integral part of ORI, Inc. continued on with the newly formed Burton Cotton Gin & Museum, Inc. in 1999.

In 2009 the Burton Cotton Gin Museum was designated the Official Cotton Gin Museum of Texas by the 81st Texas State Legislature.  In February, 2011 the name was changed to the Texas Cotton Gin Museum to honor the new designation.  The Museum’s mission is to keep the legacy of cotton alive for all generations through the maintenance and preservation of the 1914 Burton Farmers Gin – the oldest operating cotton gin in America.