
The Industry City Hall is located on Main Street within Industry City Park. The land and building were donated to the city in 1996 by the Milton Huebner family. The land and the building both have a rich history...
- Ernst Knolle, who emigrated to Industry from Germany in 1844, prospered as a cotton planter and had a gin built on this location in 1857. Local German craftsmen, Andreas Buenger and Theodore Daum, helped construct the original wood frame gin with a shingle roof. It was one of the area's first of twelve gins built between 1857 and 1890. In the 1860s, Knolle sold the gin to Daum after suffering from financial difficulties. It was during this period that the gin was converted from mule powered to steam powered energy. Three generations of the Schramm family owned and operated the gin from 1876 to 1963. The Schramms made significant upgrades to the gin including converting it to diesel power, installing a ginning system from the Texas-based firm Murray Company, and constructing a galvanized iron structure next to the original wooden gin in 1929. The gin was sold to local businessman, Milton Lindemann in 1963 who was aided in its operation by Charles Fordtran. The gin ran for 10 years until Fordtran's health began to fail. The last bale of cotton in Austin County was ginned here in 1973. In 1976, Milton Huebner bought the property and the original 1857 gin was razed for safety concerns.