Before moving to Dallas in 1885, farmer and inventor Robert Sylvester Munger (b. 1854) had received several patents for improvements on the cotton ginning procedure. In 1885, he and his brother, Stephen, began the Munger Improved Cotton Machine & Manufacturing Co. and used this building as their showroom. In 1900, they merged with the Continental Gin Co., which became a major Dallas business that supplied cotton gin equipment to all parts of the country. A reminder of Dallas' early commercial growth, this building continued to serve Continental Gin until the company closed in 1962. 1984