Federal Compress and Warehouse Co. – Quitman County, Mississippi

One of the oldest and most expanding business enterprises in Quitman County is the Federal Compress and Warehouse Co. located just east of Highway 3 about half way between Lambert and Marks. This business venture was first organized in 1930 by L. A. Graeber, Sr. of Marks, Mississippi and Edgar Brown and J. C. Russell both of Cleveland, Mississippi. This was a stock company owned by its organizers and several large planters here in the county. It was known as Quitman Compress and Warehouse Co. During the fall of 1930, it housed 16,192 bales of cotton.

In the summer of 1931, the Quitman Compress and Warehouse Co. was sold to the Federal Compress and Warehouse Co. and much larger building expansion got under way. As of this date, May 1, 1958, the storage facilities of the Federal Compress and Warehouse Co. of Marks, Mississippi covers upward of eight acres of space. It is equipped to store 75,000 bales of cotton. The two peak business years to date for this sprawling concern were 75,577 bales stored in 1947 and 74,480 bales in 1955. Mr. George L. Cunningham is manager.

¹L.A. Graeber, Sr., and George L. Cunningham

Works Progress Administration for Mississippi, Source Material for Mississippi History, Quitman County, Vol. LX, Compiled by State-Wide Historical Research Project, Susie V. Powell, State Supervisor, Illustrated 1936-1938, Addenda

Photo Provided By Calsidyrose (Flickr: West Texas Cotton) [CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons