Goodlett Cotton Gin (1883)

Built in 1883, this cotton gin was owned and operated by David Goodlett near the town of Ozan, located 8 miles north of Washington. The cotton gin provided services to the area for almost 80 years. It was later donated by the family to Historic Washington State Park, who moved the building to this location in 1982. The building is available as a self-guided tour.

David Madison Goodlett, born in Tippah County, Mississippi, 1840, came to Hempstead County, Arkansas, in 1859 to work on a farm six miles (10km) northwest of Washington. During the Civil War, he joined an Arkansas company and served as captain for all four years. Upon returning home he married and purchased the very farm he worked on, which covered 1,400 acres.

Goodlett had this gin constructed in 1883. Originally using one hand-fed gin stand with a mule-driven screw press, which required tramping of the lint by foot, Goodlett averaged two bales of cotton a day. Goodlett also operated grist and sorghum mills out of this gin: corn was ground on weekends while sorghum was produced after the cotton harvest ended. After upgrades that included an Atlas steam engine in 1898 and two 70-saw gin stands during the 1930s, this gin in its best year produced 1,070 bales of cotton, 3,200 gallons (12,000L) of sorghum, and 700 gallons (2,700L) of ribbon cane sugar, plus what was called, “the best meal in Southwest Arkansas.”

Robert and Sloman Goodlett, grandsons of David, eventually took over the gin’s operations and managed it until it closed in 1966. In 1975, the Goodlett family donated the building to the state park, who relocated it piece-by-piece to Washington in the spring of 1982.

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