Gail is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

Borden County, Texas Borden County is a rural county located in the U.S. state of Texas. It is in West Texas and its county seat is Gail. As of the 2020 census, its population was 631, making it the fifth-least populous county in Texas. Borden is one of six prohi ...

, United States. Located at the junction of U.S. Highway 180 and

Farm to Market Road 669 A farm (also called an agricultural holding) is an area of land that is devoted primarily to agricultural processes with the primary objective of producing food and other crops; it is the basic facility in food production. The name is used fo ...

, it is the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...

of Borden County. As of the 2010 Census, the population was 231. The town and county are named for

Gail Borden Gail Borden Jr. (November 9, 1801 – January 11, 1874) was a native New Yorker who settled in Texas in 1829 (then still Mexico), where he worked as a land surveyor, newspaper publisher, and inventor. He created a process in 1853 to make sweet ...

, Jr., the inventor of

condensed milk Condensed milk is cow's milk from which water has been removed (roughly 60% of it). It is most often found with sugar added, in the form of ''sweetened condensed milk'' (SCM), to the extent that the terms "condensed milk" and "sweetened condens ...

. Gail Mountain is located on the southwest edge of town. The 20th annual

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...

lighting of the star atop Gail Mountain was held on November 29, 2013.

Mushaway Peak Mushaway Peak is a small but conspicuous butte located southeast of Gail in central Borden County, Texas. It is one of the region's most venerable landmarks. The summit of this peak rises to an altitude of above sea level, which is roughly the ...

, a small but conspicuous

butte __NOTOC__ In geomorphology, a butte () is an isolated hill with steep, often vertical sides and a small, relatively flat top; buttes are smaller landforms than mesas, plateaus, and tablelands. The word ''butte'' comes from a French word mea ...

, is located southeast.

History

Founded in 1891 to coincide with the organization of Borden County, Gail has served as county seat for the duration of its existence. Borden County had remained quite sparsely populated until 1903, when the locally famed "War of Ribbons", inspired by a state-sanctioned land grab, took place. The conflict took its name from the practice of established ranchers displaying their affiliation and identity by way of a blue ribbon on their sleeves, whereas new settlers to the area designated theirs with a similarly placed red ribbon. By 1910, Gail was home to more than 700 residents, and though this would fall to 600 by 1912, the community remained the economic and administrative hub of Borden County. Changes in agricultural practices and patterns, coupled with the impact of the Great Depression, hindered the town and county's prosperity. By 1936, Gail's population had dwindled to 250 residents, and by 1980, it had fallen to around 190. The census of 2010 counted 231 residents in Gail. The Borden County Jail opened in 1896. Built at a cost of $4,500 by the Diebold Safe and Lock Company, it had outside walls made of stone from Gail Mountain, and hardened steel plates in the cell walls and floor. In 1956, two prisoners objected to Sheriff Sid Reeder's attempt to place them into one of the jail's cells when they noticed a rattlesnake sleeping inside. A historic marker was placed outside the jail in 1967. John R. "Rich" Anderson, owner of the Muleshoe Ranch near Gail, won the 1992 National Cattleman's Association Environmental Stewardship Award. His achievement was also recognized by the

Texas House of Representatives The Texas House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Texas Legislature. It consists of 150 members who are elected from single-member districts for two-year terms. As of the 2010 United States census, each member represents abou ...

Geography

Gail is located near the center of Borden County.

U.S. Route 180 U.S. Route 180 is an east–west United States highway. Like many three-digit routes, US 180 no longer meets its "parent", US 80. US 80 was decommissioned west of Mesquite, Texas, and was replaced in Texas by Interstate 20 and Interstate 1 ...

runs through the town, leading east to Snyder and west 31 miles to Lamesa. Big Spring along FM 669 is to the south, and

Lubbock Lubbock ( ) is the 10th-most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and the seat of government of Lubbock County. With a population of 260,993 in 2021, the city is also the 85th-most populous in the United States. The city is in the northwe ...

is to the north. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Gail has an area of , of which , or 0.38%, is covered by water.

Climate

Climate type occurs primarily on the periphery of the true deserts in low-latitude semiarid steppe regions. The

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

subtype for this climate is ''BSk'' (tropical and subtropical steppe climate).

Demographics

2020 census

''Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos can be of any race.'' As of the

2020 United States census The United States census of 2020 was the twenty-fourth decennial United States census. Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2020. Other than a pilot study during the 2000 census, this was the first U.S. census to of ...

, there were 249 people, 38 households, and 24 families residing in the CDP.

Education

Gail is served by the Borden County Independent School District, and is home to the Borden County High School Coyotes. The school's Coyote Stadium is a

six-man football Six-man football is a variant of gridiron football played with six players per team, instead of the standard 11 or 12. It is generally played by high schools in rural areas of the United States and Canada. History Six-man football was developed ...

venue and can seat 350.

Places of interest

*Borden County Courthouse - a 1939 one-story brick building with cast concrete detail *Borden County Historical Museum

Gallery

Image:Borden County Museum in Gail, TX IMG_1792.JPG, The Borden County Museum is located across from the post office, behind the county courthouse. Image:Bi-Centennial Park, Gail, TX IMG 1794.JPG, Entrance to Bicentennial Park, located across from the Borden County School Image:U.S. Post Office, Gail, TX IMG_1805.JPG, Post office Image:Former Caprock Cafe, Gail, TX IMG_1789.JPG, Caprock Cafe lies deserted across from the Borden County Courthouse.

Notable people

* Clinton D. "Casey" Vincent, flying ace, second youngest general in U.S. Air Force history

Trivia

Gail, Texas, is also the name given to a

Census Designated Place A census-designated place (CDP) is a concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counterparts of incorporated places, such ...

which includes the town proper. The town is additionally the locus of the

United States Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the U ...

's Zip Code of 79738.

References

External links

{{Texas county seats County seats in Texas