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Mountains of
West Texas? Borden County,
Texas
Population: 648
Seat: Gail
Founded in 1876, Borden County is one of the most sparsely
populated counties in the U.S.. As of 2006, the U.S. Census
Bureau estimates that there were 648 people who lived in the
county making Borden County the 11th least populated county in
the United States.
Borden County is located at the edge of the Llano Estacado.
The rolling, broken land of the county drains to the Colorado
River and its tributaries and to Lake J. B. Thomas. The
Caprock, Gail Mountain, and Muchakooga Peak are notable
physical features.
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Gail Mountain - Borden County Texas |
Settlers were not attracted to the area that is now Borden
County until the end of the nineteenth century. It was too
distant from the United States Army's frontier outposts to be
safe from Comanche raiders even after the Civil War.
Gail Mountain, also known as Gail Peak, is just west
of Gail in central Borden The peak, with a height of about
2,900 feet above mean sea level, rises 342 feet above nearby
Gail and is probably named after Gail Borden. The west
Texas mountain was possibly at one time called Mount Jake,
after Jake Auger, a soldier who served with Ranald S.
Mackenzie in 1874.
The Great Depression of the 1930s put an
end to the burgeoning growth of the county. By 1940 only about
12,000 acres of county land was planted in cotton and only 233
farms remained in Borden; only 1,356 residents were counted
that year. The discovery of considerable oilfields in 1949 did
not arrest the decline of Borden County population, although
it did provide fortunate ranchers and farmers with another
source of income. Ironically, today there is no gas station in
the county. The nearest place to fill your car in in Post --
32 miles away in Garza County.
Today,
 tourists,
mostly hunters and fishermen contribute to the economy.
Gail, the county seat and only town of note, had an
estimated population of 202 in 1991.
There are no towns or cities except the county seat within 899
square miles that make up Borden County. In 2000 the census
bureau reported the total county population as 729 and by 2005
the estimate was 651.
Researchers, genealogists and journalists can reach Borden
County officials at (806) 856-4391.
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