08/26/2026
Hamlet Gin & Supply was established in 1919 by B. Stark and W.H. Sanders. The cotton gin was on the corner of Spring and Bridges Streets. A year or so later, the store building at 17 East Hamlet Avenue was erected by Dr. H.F. Kinsman and sold to Hamlet Gin & Supply. Early in 1922, C.E. Coggin bought stock in the company from Thad Bethea. At about the same time, Z.V. Pate and his son Edwin Pate bought out Stark and Sanders, the founders. Coggin, who had previously been manager of Z.V. Pate’s store in Osborne, took charge of Hamlet Gin & Supply in March of 1922. The company grew from a simple cotton gin into a very diversified business over the years selling groceries, meats, produce, to***co, notions, feed, fertilizer and some hardware. In 1957 the company’s gross income was in excess of a quarter of a million dollars. Company officers in 1958, at the time of this article, were C.E. Coggin, president and treasurer; Edwin Pate, vice president; and Nathan Gibson, secretary. I don’t have a date when the business eventually closed, but part of the gin that sat near the underpass on Spring Street, that had been taken over by weeds and vines, burned down a few years ago….
(Photos and article from 1958 and courtesy of ourhamlet)
