Seed House

During ginning operations about 800 pounds of cottonseed were collected for every 500-pound bale of cotton produced. Many local farmers who brought their cotton crops to the Ethridge gin paid for the service by leaving a portion of their seed. Cottonseed was stored in this seed house, from which most of it was sold to local mills producing oil for use in cooking oils, soaps, cosmetics, and insecticides. In the gin house, a system of conveyor belts took seed removed from the gin stands either to the drive-under seed box on the east side of the gin or out the back of the building and across to the seed house. The hole where this duct entered the seed house can be seen above the door on the north side of the building. The house is a wooden structure with a raised floor and plank siding, and its large shuttered ventilators reflect how dusty it was. Behind the seed house there was a sawmill whose equipment was later sold, though its foundations are still visible.

Georgia · United States