Ace Borger Home
Borger, Hutchinson County, Texas
Marker Inscription
The founder of Borger, Missouri-born Asa P. ("Ace") Borger (1888-1934), established other cities in Texas and Oklahoma before he platted this townsite in 1926 and helped transform a rowdy oil town into a stable community. In 1928-29 he and his wife Elizabeth (1888-1933) built this two-story home, the first brick residence in Borger. It was later occupied by the families of their daughter and son-in-law, Helen and Fritz Thompson, and of their grandson, David W. Thompson. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1976
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Asa P. "Ace" Borger, a Missouri-born townsite promoter, platted this Panhandle boomtown in 1926 and worked to tame a rowdy oil camp into a lasting community. In 1928–29 he and his wife Elizabeth built this two-story house—the first brick residence in Borger. It stayed in the family for three generations. Ace earned a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark designation in 1976.
Why it matters
The Borger home stands at the center of the Texas oil-boom story, when overnight cities rose on the Panhandle and their founders fought to convert raw speculation into permanent towns.
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Related people
- · Asa P. "Ace" Borger
- · Elizabeth Borger
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Drift Fence
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After Charles Goodnight founded the JA Ranch in 1876 and Thomas S. Bugbee established Hutchinson County's first ranch soon after, soaring beef prices sent cattle streaming into the Texas Panhandle's open grasslands. To keep migrating herds from drifting into their winter range, members of the Panhandle Stock Association strung a 200-mile barbed-wire "drift fence" in 1882-85. It worked too well: in the fierce winters of 1886 and 1887 thousands of cattle piling against the wire froze or were trampled, and the staggering losses spurred laws limiting fences on public land.
Site of Historic Drift Fence
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Drift Fence
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After Charles Goodnight founded the JA Ranch in 1876 and Thomas Bugbee opened Hutchinson County's first spread the same year, soaring beef prices sent cattle pouring across the Panhandle's open grasslands. To keep herds drifting down from the north out of their winter range, members of the Panhandle Stock Association strung barbed wire along a 200-mile "drift fence" in 1882–85. It worked too well: in the brutal winters of 1886 and 1887, cattle fleeing the storms piled against the wire and froze or were trampled by the thousands, and the staggering losses helped spur laws limiting fences on public land.
City of Dumas
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In 1891 Louis Dumas and J.R. Wheat organized a townsite company on the high, dry plains of the Texas Panhandle and named the new community for Dumas himself. A post office arrived that year, county-seat status the next, and a bank by 1908—yet the arid land drew few settlers and the town stayed small. Everything changed when oil was discovered in 1927, transforming Dumas's fortunes almost overnight.