Old Long Mott Dryer – 1988
The old Long Mott dryer building stood along the old tracks in Long Mott, Texas for at least 67 years. It was built here in 1947, and continued in operation for at least the next 25 years or so, until it finally ceased operations in the early 1970s. The old dryer served area rice and maize farmers alike in its heyday. After the dryer shut down, the colossal old building that housed it remained standing in place, pretty much undisturbed, for another 40-something years on up until the beginning of its demise in 2014.
Then in 2014, someone began the process of tearing the old building down. This proved to be a long, drug-out process. It has been being torn down, a little bit at a time, ever since. Over a year later, at the end of 2015, all but the inner core of the building is gone. In December, it looks like the only thing left is part of the grain bins that were originally part of the old building. It almost appears as if the old relic just refuses to give it up!
In a way, for me personally, it’s kinda sad to see the old thing go. As a child I was raised on farms out around the Long Mott area, and as far back as I can remember, the outline of the old Long Mott dryer dominated the western horizon out there. Before Carbide, now Dow Chemical, or any of the other plants that are here today were built in this area, the old dryer was the tallest thing on the horizon. I’m guessing that when the old building is finally completely gone, it will dramatically change the appearance of Long Mott itself, and the surrounding area in general.
As a teenager, I remember us hauling loads of maize to this old grain dryer. I remember pulling off the highway (S.H. 185) in the old grain-hauling bob-tail truck, onto a small drive that accessed a set of scales in front of a small scale house. A short stop there allowed for the weight of the load to be taken, and then it was on around the drive and under a large portico that stretched out in front of the dryer building. Under this structure was the “dump.” Here you placed the front wheels of your truck in a lift, and it proceeded to lift the whole front end of the truck up, allowing the grain to be dumped out of some opened doors in the tailgate. The grain came out of the rear of the truck and fell through some openings between some pipes that were spaced out across the opening of a pit. In the bottom of the pit, there was an auger that moved the grain from the pit, where, via an elevator belt and other augers, it ended up in some huge grain storage bins built into the building. There, the grain was dried, stored, and later loaded into box cars on the tracks out back to be shipped.
In the summer of 1966, I worked a summer job here for a while. Grain Inc. out of Corpus had just leased the old dryer from Southern Warehouse, and they needed workers to operate the facility through the grain season. It was hot, hard work, and the maize dust was atrocious, but it was a way to pick up a little cash before returning to school in September.
Dryer History
According to an article in a 1947 edition of the Calhoun County News, this grain dryer was originally built here in 1947 by two brothers, W.C. and B.M. Jenkins. However, the Jenkins brothers didn’t keep the dryer long (maybe one grain season), because in October of that same year (47), they sold the dryer and property to Southern Warehouse. Southern Warehouse then owned and operated the dryer for the next 19 years or so until they leased the facility to Grain Inc. out of Corpus Christi, in the summer of 1966. Then in May of 1967, Southern Warehouse sold the dryer to Grain Inc. i
Grain Inc. then owned and operated the facility for the next 5 years or so until they defaulted on the loan in April of 1973, and Corpus Christi Bank & Trust ended up with the property.
As far as I can tell, 1972 was about the end of this old dryer as an operating grain dryer. All indications are that the old building has sat empty since then (some 42 years).
Property History
The tract of land the old dryer building is sitting on today is a .74 acre tract lying alongside the old railroad tracts that run through here, the tract being approximately 320’ long by 95’ wide. In 2014, the tract belongs to Dallas Cady(since 2011). This property came out of what was originally railroad ROW.
The St. Louis, Brownsville & Mexican Railway Co. purchased a 6.89-acre tract along here from A.T. Perkins in May of 1911ii . It was a tract 100’ wide, centered along the railroad bed, by 3000’ long. It was described as the “Station Grounds At Long Mott” (there was actually an old depot along here at one time). In 2014, this is a 100’ wide stretch of land along the tracks (50’ on either side) from a point just south of Walter Pilgrim Jr.’s place, extending all the way south to Falksen Rd.
So, in March of 1947, the St. Louis, Brownsville & Mexican Railway Co. sold W.C. and B.M. Jenkins this existing .74 acre tract iii , and they built the dryer on it. In October of that same year, the Jenkins sold the dryer and property to Southern Warehouse iv . Then in May of 1967, Southern Warehouse sold to Grain Inc.v, and Grain Inc. defaulted to Corpus Christi Bank & Trust in April of 1973vi .
Then in June of 1973, Corpus Christi Bank & Trust sold the property to Green Lake Grain Co.vii, and in June of 2011, Green Lake Grain sold to Dallas Cady. The property is currently owned by Steve Williams, who purchased it in February, 2015.
Early Property History
This old dryer tract is out of the Jose Miguel Cortez Grant. Cortez was granted this league on April 6, 1835. By March of 1882 the property belonged to the Indianola & City Land Co. (F.S. Stockdale & D.C. Proctor, trustees). That year (1882) the Land Co. sold Henry J. Bierman the upper half of the J.M. Cortez Leagueviii. Then in June of 1902, H. Bierman deeded this upper half of the league, along with parts of the lower half to his wife, Fredricke C.F. Biermanix, and in September of 1909, Mrs. Fredricke C.F. Bierman sold Preston R. Austin about ¾ of this league (3,044.4 acres) containing land where the old dryer tract is today.x Then in November of that same year (1909), P.R. Austin sold Albert T. Perkins the 6.89-acre tract here that became the “Station Grounds At Long Mott” xi, and in May of 1911, Perkins sold the tract to the St. Louis, Brownsville & Mexican Railway Co.xii who, in turn, built the railroad through here.
Sources:
i Calhoun County Deed Records Volume 234, pg. 43
ii Calhoun County Deed Records Volume X, pg. 55
iii Calhoun County Deed Records Volume 58, pg. 212
iv Calhoun County Deed Records Volume 58, pg. 624
v Calhoun County Deed Records Volume 234, pg. 43
vi Calhoun County Deed Records Volume 280, pg. 333
vii Calhoun County Deed Records Volume 281, pg. 492
viii Calhoun County Deed Records Volume L, pg. 176
ix Calhoun County Deed Records Volume R, pg. 425
x Calhoun County Deed Records Volume W, pg. 252
xi Calhoun County Deed Records Volume W, pg. 536
xii Calhoun County Deed Records Volume X, pg. 55
Long Mott Dryer – November, 2015
Long Mott, Texas
Long Mott is a community just south of the junction of State Highway 185 and Farm Road 2235 (5.7 miles from Seadrift) in western Calhoun County.
The site was settled by German immigrants in 1853. The first settlements were on the shore of San Antonio Bay in the vicinity of two large motts, called the Upper and Lower motts.
The Upper Mott was the larger and longer of the two, and when a post office was established for the community in 1887, it was called Long Mott. Frederick W. Roemer was the first postmaster.
Other early settlers of Long Mott included Dr. John and Anna Mary (Braentegam) Roemer. Guy Mission was an early black resident.
A school was established in Long Mott as early as 1892, and the first teacher was Harriet (Reeves) Thayer. In 1904 one teacher taught eleven students at the community.
By 1914 Long Mott reported a telephone connection, a lumber company, two general stores, and 200 inhabitants; at that time it was served by the St. Louis, Brownsville and Mexico Railway.
In the early 1930s Long Mott reported seventy-five residents, and by 1939 its schools had six teachers instructing 133 white students, and one teacher instructing eighteen black students.
The community population was reported as seventy-five through the 1930s and 1940s and then rose to 100 in 1952.
By 1955 the Long Mott school district had been incorporated into the larger county school district, and Long Mott students were bused to Port Lavaca schools.
The population peaked in 1968 at 125, and then from 1970 to 2000 was reported as seventy-six.
-Texas State Historical Association
