Kiker's Gin

A gin's story is a county's cotton story. The Handbook of Texas says cotton was Erath County's major crop from 1875 through 1915, with the largest harvest in 1906. Growers were warned as early as 1890 about soil damage from a lack of diversification, yet investment in ginning equipment held change off until about 1910. Erosion, the boll weevil and shrinking profits then pushed farmers toward dairies, orchards, nurseries, peanuts, feed crops and poultry, an industry that lasted until about 1950. The plaque says Kiker's steam gin kept running until 1947, so it worked through that turn.

What the plaque says

Kiker's Gin In 1873, several families, including the Cannons, Howells, Kikers, Mayfields, Strongs and Whitfields, came to the Green's Creek Community. John M. Kiker arrived from Alabama with his wife, Serena Rhonda (Howell), and their eight children. They first lived near Waco before moving here. In 1878, Kiker and his brother-in-law, John Holcomb, built a steam-powered cotton gin fueled by timber cleared from farmers' cotton fields and used as credit for their ginning bills. Later the gin engine was coal- and then oil-burning. Kiker's gin was the main commercial enterprise in the community and served as an election precinct and community meeting place. The Kikers donated land for a church, and the gin remained in operation until 1947. Descendants of early families still live in the area. (2016)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Dublin Bottling Works — 5.8 mi
  The Erath County plant that bottled Dr Pepper with cane sugar from 1891 until a 2012 settlement ended its Dr Pepper license, and that still makes its own sodas the same way.

More markers nearby

• Trinity Episcopal Church — 5.2 mi
• Dublin Rodeo — 5.7 mi
• Davis, Lt. Col. George A., Jr. — 5.7 mi
• Early Commercial Building — 5.7 mi