Jayton, a pioneering town
on the new Stamford & Northwestern Railroad in the first decade of the 20th century, has a cotton gin just about that long. Within a month, it’ll be gone.
At a sheriff’s sale last Monday morning the gin property, which was seized on a warrant to satisfy an outstanding tax debt, was auctioned off as part of a list of 73 items of business personal property belonging to the defunct gin association.
Kent County chief tax appraiser Cindy Watson and clerk Tiffany Carter registered 29 prospective bidders, who gathered outside in the yard at 10 a.m. for instructions.
As Lubbock tax attorney Adam Walker, who served as auctioneer, explained, lot 1, the “Complete Cotton Gin Plant,” including more than 30 separate pieces of equipment itemized in the sale notice, would first be offered as a whole. Only if the entire lot did not sell as a whole would the listed components be auctioned separately.
Walker also reiterated that no real estate was included in the auction, so a successful bidder would have 30 days within which to dismantle and remove their purcases.
The parcel attracted bids starting at $5,000 and quickly escalated by thousands up to a winning bid of $9,000, from Hector Cueto of Littlefield, Texas, and Tony Dollar of Alabama.
Cueto, who said he is a longtime buyer and recycler of gin plants and equipment in Texas and beyond, estimated the age of the current Jayton gin as more than 50 years old. Compared to some gins he’s purchased, he said this one is very small. He would likely dismantle it and resell it to be put back into service in Mexico, he said, though he also keeps parts of plants on hand.
Bryan Thomas, owner and operator of the Farmers Cooperative Gin in neighboring Spur, who also operated the Jayton gin for a recent stint and who attended the auction, said the Spur and Jayton gins are similar in capacity. While the Spur gin has two 80-foot stands, he said, the Jayton facility has four 40-foot stands.
Numerous other participants and curiosity seekers also turned out on Monday, but few items were sold off before the outstanding tax figure of $15,882.69 was met.
An assortment of old metal and roofing tin on the yard (lot #7) went for $1,400 to bidder number 4; a rusted model 856 Farmall tractor (lot #6) went for $3,000 to Guy Galloway, and a Komatsu forklift (lot #3) sold for $7,200.
To the disappointment of some in the crowd, other items in the building and adjoining coop store did not come up in the auction, though other lookers determined there was little to attract enthusiastic bids.
Galloway, however, was happy to have the tractor for its sentimental value, he said, as his grandfather had owned a similar model. For Jayton and Kent County, the sale brings one chapter of its history and industry to a close, but may pave the way for new uses on the site in the future.
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