C.S.A. Cotton Cards Factory

Duane's take

Now, I'm gonna tell this one the way the marker tells it — so let's get into it together. Somewhere near this very spot, between 1862 and 1865, something was humming along that most folks have long forgotten about. A cotton cards factory.

And before you shrug and say, well, that doesn't sound like much of a story, let me set the scene for you. The Civil War has swallowed up ninety thousand Texas men under arms. Ninety thousand.

And somebody's got to guard a coastline-frontier stretching two thousand miles. Two thousand miles. So you can imagine the pressure bearing down on everything — every nail, every boot, every scrap of cloth.

The old ways of doing things? Gone. Trade bales of cotton for finished cloth from the outside world?

No longer practical. Textiles had to be made at home now, and that meant going back to basics in a hurry. Here's where it gets interesting.

Cotton cards — stiff brushes, the kind you used to take raw fluffy cotton and work it into firm, smooth batts, ready to be spun into yarn or thread, quilted, or stuffed into mattresses — those little tools suddenly mattered enormously. Texas was importing them through neutral Mexico, at costs running anywhere from four dollars to twenty dollars a pair. A pair of brushes.

Four to twenty dollars. In wartime money. Thousands upon thousands of pairs.

So the administration of Governor F. R. Lubbock — he served from 1861 to 1863 — looked at that situation and said, we can do better than this.

They acted to have cards made right here in Texas, in factories chartered by Confederate Texas itself, part of a deliberate re-tooling of the whole agricultural economy to meet the demands of the war years. One of those factories stood near this very site, owned by a man named Joseph Eubank, Jr., and it drew its power straight from the San Gabriel River. The river itself was put to work for the cause.

And it wasn't just cotton cards. The demands were fast and they were heavy, and private effort rose to meet them. Arms and munitions plants were built.

Land grants were handed out to encourage production. The Confederate quartermaster set up depots and shops for military goods. Salt production was hiked up.

King cotton itself was pushed harder, used to trade for the scarce items the Confederacy needed. What had been a place defined by its fields became something more — a place of industry, of improvisation, of sheer determination under pressure. By the time it was all said and done, the State of Texas had become a storehouse for the Confederacy.

A storehouse. Built not just by governments and charters and quartermaster depots, but by factory owners like Joseph Eubank, Jr., harnessing a river, running brushes through cotton, keeping things going when everything else was running low. That river's still out there.

And now you know what it once powered.

What the marker says

Near this site in 1862-65. Used power from the San Gabriel River. Chartered by Confederate Texas during re-tooling of agricultural economy to meet demands of the Civil War years. Because trade of bales of cotton for finished cloth was no longer practical, and textiles had to be made at home, Texas imported through neutral Mexico, at costs of $4 to $20 a pair, thousands of cotton cards -- stiff brushes that made fluffy cotton into firm, smooth "batts" to be spun into yarn or thread, quilted or made into mattresses. The administration of Governor F. R. Lubbock (1861-63) also acted to have cards made in Texas, in factories such as the one here, owned by Joseph Eubank, Jr. Heavy military demands (90,000 Texas men under arms; a 2,000 mile coastline-frontier to guard) plus reduced imports, caused fast expansion of industry. Arms and munitions plants were built, land grants were used to encourage production. Private effort met the need, and produced vital supplies for both the military and civilian populations. Confederate quartermaster set up depots and shops for military goods. Production of salt and "king cotton" was hiked to trade for scarce items. The State of Texas became a storehouse for the Confederacy.