The Historical Buildings

Each building on the Cotton Fair Grounds has its own unique history. The Cotton Warehouse, which now houses the Antique Center, was built before 1910 as a farming and building supply center. The Basketmaker’s Cabin began life as part of a grist mill dam on the Flint River. The Hammermill, where you can find festival information and live entertainment, was originally built to store corn that was used for cattle feed. 

The Seed Cotton House and Seed House A stored and separated cotton and cotton seed. The seed would later go on to cottonseed oil mills in Macon, Rome, and Atlanta. Today, the building houses the Greenville Masonic Lodge BBQ. The Cotton Gin, which last ran in 1971, is where the cotton was dried, cleaned, and seeded. Just up the hill, the Gin Scale sees a new life as a rustic stage featuring the country music of The Honey Creek Boys. The Peach Packing Shed, built in the early 1900s, held workers packing fresh peaches into wood crates for delivery across the country. The rope drawn freight elevator still works to this day. 

Built to house J.R. Gay & Company, the 1911 Building is a 3-story, 8-room apartment and a small warehouse. J.R. Gay was an eligible bachelor, so he often used the warehouse as a ballroom to host social events in thriving Gay, Georgia. The main floor housed the farm office, general store, and post office; the basement housed the grocery department. The West Gate of The Cotton Pickin’ Fair is the former front door of this building. Just beside the 1911 Building sits the Blacksmith Shop, which originally held the Delco Battery Plant that provided 28-volt DC electricity to the town of Gay during the very early part of the 20th Century.

The W. F. Gay 1891 House was built by the town’s namesake, William Franklin Gay, in 1891. Judge W.F. Gay was appointed to serve as the town’s first postmaster in 1886 and was appointed as mayor when the Town of Gay incorporated in 1906. W.F. Gay also served as Chairman of the Meriwether County Board of Commissioners when the Meriwether County Courthouse was constructed in 1904.