Built on the site of an earlier grist mill, the Gruene Cotton Gin was constructed in 1878 by H. D. Gruene. Powered by the Guadalupe River, the gin was steam-operated and served to process the vast amounts of cotton grown in the area, the gin played an important part in the economic development of Gruene, a community dependent upon the cotton crop. The gin was destroyed in a 1922 fire, and only part of the boiler room remains. A new electric gin was built at another location and served the community until the cotton crop was lost to a boll weevil infestation in 1925. (1989)