A busy day in Borger Texas-Photo

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Model T Ford Forum: Forum 2014: A busy day in Borger Texas-Photo
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Herb Iffrig on Tuesday, September 30, 2014 - 10:38 pm:


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Garrett F. on Tuesday, September 30, 2014 - 10:52 pm:

I wonder what they mean by "60 days old." Any ideas?


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Michael R Beary on Tuesday, September 30, 2014 - 11:19 pm:

Boom town?


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Garrett F. on Tuesday, September 30, 2014 - 11:27 pm:

Michael, that is what I was thinking too. It almost seems impossible that a town would grow that busy in 60 days but it has actually happened before.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Bill in Adelaida Calif on Tuesday, September 30, 2014 - 11:33 pm:

1926 Oil Boom town. Population grew to 45000 within just a few months of finding oil.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Jay - In Northern California on Tuesday, September 30, 2014 - 11:53 pm:

Great old photo Herb!!


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Terry Woods, Richmond, Texas on Wednesday, October 01, 2014 - 12:11 am:

Now days, if you drive through Borger on a Sunday afternoon, you'll be lucky if you pass six cars. I've been there and done it.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Royce in Georgetown TX on Wednesday, October 01, 2014 - 07:33 am:

Ace Borger and his business partner John R. Miller purchased a 240-acre (0.97 km2) townsite near the Canadian River in March 1926 after the discovery of oil in the vicinity. Within a few months time, the boomtown had swelled to a population of 45,000, most lured by sensational advertising and "black gold". In October 1926, the city charter was adopted, and Miller was elected mayor. By this time the Panhandle & Santa Fe Railway had completed the spur line to Borger, a post office had opened, and a school district was established. The boomtown of Borger soon had steam-generated electricity, telephone service, a hotel, and a jail.

In the months that followed, oilmen, roughnecks, prospectors, panhandlers and fortune seekers were joined by cardsharks, prostitutes, bootleggers and drug dealers. The city became known as "Booger Town" as it attracted criminals and fugitives from the law. The town government soon fell under control of an organized crime syndicate led by Mayor Miller's shady associate, "Two-Gun Dick" Herwig. Dixon Street (now Tenth Street) was the "red-light" district, housing brothels, dance halls, speakeasies and gambling dens. Murder and robbery became an everyday occurrence, and illegal moonshining and home brewing flourished under the fatherly watch of Herwig and his henchmen, including W. J. (Shine) Popejoy, the king of the Texas bootleggers. Borger became so notorious that in the spring of 1927 Texas Governor Dan Moody sent a force of Texas Rangers to rein in the town. The Texas Rangers were led by Captains Frank Hamer and Thomas R. Hickman. (Hamer would go on to later fame and even infamy as the man who killed Bonnie and Clyde.)


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