In 1900, nine Bonham businessmen formed a corporation to construct and operate a cotton mill near this site. The town's presence on the northern edge of the blackland prairie made it an idea location for textile manufacturing, since cotton was one of the area's principal crops. The Bonham Cotton Mill, which opened in 1901, was the town's first significant industrial plant. The corporation constructed a series of company homes and provided free day care for children of employees. In 1920, the company merged with Consolidated Textile Corporation, which was based on the east coast. Management of the mill remained in the hands of John C. Saunders until his death in 1934. The Bonham Cotton Mill closed in 1930 with the onset of the Great Depression. In 1931, Bonham businessmen rechartered it as a Texas corporation. After reaching its peak of production during the 1940s, the cotton mill declined in the pst-World War II years. The plant merged with the Brenham Cotton Mill in 1958 but closed eventually in the 1970s. As Bonham's principal employer for many years of the 20th century, the cotton mill had a major impact on the city's social and economic history. Texas Sesquicentennial 1836-1986