A Brief History of Borger
by Helen Sappington

A. P. Borger, a promoter from Carthage, Missouri, heard of oil wells being drilled in the Texas Panhandle in 1925, and decided it would be a good place for a town. He bought 240 acres of land from J. F. Weatherly for $6000.00, the seller reserving all mineral rights. Mr. Borger then formed a private corporation consisting of C. C. Horton, A. P. Borger and John R. Miller. This was called the Borger Townsite Corporation, which proceeded to lay out a town – a Main Street ten blocks long, with five streets on the east and five streets on the west. These streets were named for early county residents. The buildings on Main Street in blocks 36 and 37 were to be constructed of bricks and tile, and the first contract for a brick building was for a bank building on the corner of Sixth and Main. Though not the first brick building erected, it is now occupied by Heard & Jones Drug Company.

      Sale of lots opened on March 8, 1926, and on the first day of sale Borger and Miller netted $100,000. Within six months, Mr. Borger sold out completely, his gross sales aggregating over $1,000,000.

     People flocked from everywhere to “make it rich” in the new town, and in eight month’s time the population was 15,000. “Shotgun” buildings were built overnight from materials hauled by truck and wagon from Panhandle, the nearest rail outlet. Those unable to build lived in tents. Rooms rented for $50 to $100 a month, and many rooms in rooming houses were occupied by three shifts of men – the bed slept in twenty-four hours a day.

     While Mr. Borger was laying out Borger Townsite, Mr. Weatherly was forming a town directly to the south of Borger and adjacent to it. He called his town Isom. As the Santa Fe Railway laid tracks as fast as possible from Panhandle to the new town, Mr. Weatherly was able to have the railway station built in Isom so Borger’s first railway station was named Isom. However, Mr. Borger, pulling strings just as rapidly, was able to locate the Post Office in Borger. Eventually, the Santa Fe Railway changed its name to Borger also. For the first year, receipts from the Borger station were over $1,000,000 a month and several times exceeded any other station on the Santa Fe system.

     The problems of servicing a city with so large a population were enormous. Water, electricity and gas must be provided, police protection maintained, and schools built. The first water well was at the site of the water tower at Sixth and Weatherly. Householders and businesses bought their water by the barrel from water venders. This had to be used for drinking, cooking, laundry and bathing. No wonder water cost ten cents a glass in restaurants! Cesspools were dug in lieu of a sewer system. A private electric company was soon providing electricity, and gas was piped from nearby wells. The police were often private citizens who sold protection for a price.

     Hutchinson County Judge I. W. R. Goodwin, called an election to incorporate Borger on October 28, 1926, and John R. Miller was elected first mayor, with Dr. W. T. Malone and Mr. Fleig commissioners.

     With so many rough characters converging on the new town, naturally there was much vice. Dixon Street (now Tenth) was notorious for its dance halls and red light district, and as the oilwell supply houses were also built there, it was one of the busiest sections of the city. There were killings and all sorts of vice that the county fathers were unable to cope with. Borger’s earliest jail was a log to which chains were attached. The prisoners sat on the ground chained to this log. This was followed by a one-room shack, 14’ X 30’, built in 36 hours. As many as 80 prisoners, both men and women were booked at one time. A young District Attorney, John A. Holmes, determined to get rid of this lawlessness and vice. He began gathering evidence to indict some of the worst known criminals; but before he could bring them to trial, he was murdered at is own garage one night after bringing his wife home from the movies. This was on September 13, 1929. On September 21st, Frank Hamer of the Texas Rangers was sent to investigate, followed by Brig. Gen. Jacob F. Wolters. As a result of their investigations, Gov. Dan Moody sent 84 National Guardsmen with 14 officers on September 29th. Though this quieted things down, the murderer of District Attorney Holmes was never apprehended.

     By September 1926, there were over 1900 children needing schools. The first schools were set up in frame buildings, with apple-crate desks. Among the 19 teachers were Miss Mildred McGhee and her sister Louise – later Mrs. Henderson O’Neal. They came from Missouri after hearing of the urgent need for teachers. Borger High School, the brick building on West Sixth between Hedgecoke and Coble Streets, was completed March 6, 1927. By 1929, thee others had been built – East Ward at Ninth & Weatherly (Now the School Administration Building), Weatherly, at the west end of Grand Avenue, and West Ward, adjacent to the old High School. The city’s first hospital was the Malone Hospital at Fourth and Weatherly Streets, followed by one on East Sixth just off Weatherly, then a larger one at Sixth & Weatherly. This site is now the City Hall Parking Lot.

     By 1929, City Hall had been built, Main Street paved, and sewage and lighting systems installed. There were also several churches. The first churches which were started in Borger’s first year met in stores and tents, but it wasn’t long before buildings began to be erected to house them.

     The reason the town was holding up was the advent of several large companies connected with the oil business. The Phillips Petroleum Company built its first refinery – the Alamo – in December 1925, followed by others dotted about the county. At each of these, modern cottages were erected for employees, thus dotting the country with “camps.” Gulf Oil Company, Prairie Oil & Gas, Marland, United, Continental, and Huber built facilities assuring Borger’s growth and stability. Panhandle Power & Light (later bought by Southwestern Public Service Company) bought out the privately owned facility and built a power plant north of the city. The workers each of these companies attracted were young and vital and laid the groundwork for our present fine city.

     Considering the chaotic conditions existing in those early days, Borger should be very proud today of its many attainments, achieved in less than fifty years.