The story · 1882 to today
Before there was a downtown, there was the gin.
The Cotton Gin was one of the first businesses in Rowlett. It belonged to J.E. Coyle, who was born in Rowlett in 1882 and went on to serve on the board of the town's first bank and on its City Council.
In 1927, Mr. Coyle converted his gin from steam to electric power. The lines that came in to run his gin brought electricity to Rowlett. He put an electric oven in his own home, at a time when most rural Texas families were still cooking over wood and lighting their houses with kerosene.
He was proud of that choice. In November 1940, Texas Power & Light featured Coyle in The Cotton Ginners' Journal, with his signed letter on "Ginner and Cotton Buyer" letterhead vouching for the electric motor that had run his gin for years.
It was J.E. Coyle's wish to see his gin restored and running again. That's what this project is about.
“Just push a button.”
Look up at the gable. The Hardwicke-Etter sign bearing J.E. Coyle's name in the 1940 photograph is the same sign on the building today. Very few places in Rowlett can put you that close to the town's beginnings.
