The Kemp Cotton Gin Historic District encompasses the only

cotton gin A cotton gin—meaning "cotton engine"—is a machine that quickly and easily separates cotton fibers from their seeds, enabling much greater productivity than manual cotton separation.. Reprinted by McGraw-Hill, New York and London, 1926 (); a ...

extant in the Rohwer area of

Desha County, Arkansas Desha County ( ) is a county located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of Arkansas, with its eastern border the Mississippi River. At the 2010 census, the population was 13,008. It ranks 56th of Arkansas's 75 counties in terms of populati ...

. The gin was built in 1950 by O. O. Kemp, a few years after the closure of the

Rohwer War Relocation Center The Rohwer War Relocation Center was a World War II Japanese American concentration camp located in rural southeastern Arkansas, in Desha County. It was in operation from September 18, 1942, until November 30, 1945, and held as many as 8,475 Ja ...

, where as many as 10,000

Japanese-Americans are Americans of Japanese ancestry. Japanese Americans were among the three largest Asian American ethnic communities during the 20th century; but, according to the 2000 census, they have declined in number to constitute the sixth largest Asi ...

were interned during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. After the center's closure much of its land was returned to agricultural use, and Kemp built this gin near the Missouri Pacific Railroad line that ran through Rohwer. In addition to the gin, the complex Kemp built includes a pump house, scale house, and office. This entire complex was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 2005.

References

Buildings and structures completed in 1950 Buildings and structures in Desha County, Arkansas Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Arkansas National Register of Historic Places in Desha County, Arkansas Cotton industry in the United States Cotton gin {{DeshaCountyAR-NRHP-stub

See also

References