The Hutchinson County Historical Museum, also known as Boom Town Revisited, is a museum

Museum

A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...

 in Borger

Borger, Texas

Borger is the largest city in Hutchinson County, Texas, United States. The population was 14,302 at the 2000 census. Borger is named for businessman Asa Philip "Ace" Borger, who also established the Hutchinson County seat of Stinnett and several other small towns in Texas and Oklahoma.- History...

, Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

, with more than sixty exhibits spanning the period from the 16th-century expedition of Francisco Vasquez de Coronado

Francisco Vásquez de Coronado

Francisco Vásquez de Coronado y Luján was a Spanish conquistador, who visited New Mexico and other parts of what are now the southwestern United States between 1540 and 1542...

 to the Texas Panhandle

Texas Panhandle

The Texas Panhandle is a region of the U.S. state of Texas consisting of the northernmost 26 counties in the state. The panhandle is a rectangular area bordered by New Mexico to the west and Oklahoma to the north and east...

 petroleum

Petroleum

Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights and other liquid organic compounds, that are found in geologic formations beneath the Earth's surface. Petroleum is recovered mostly through oil drilling...

 boom of the 1920s

1920s

File:1920s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: Third Tipperary Brigade Flying Column No. 2 under Sean Hogan during the Irish Civil War; Prohibition agents destroying barrels of alcohol in accordance to the 18th amendment, which made alcoholic beverages illegal throughout the entire decade; In...

. The museum, which opened in 1977, is housed in a two-story building constructed in 1927.

Borger was established in 1926 after the discovery of the Panhandle oil field. A boomtown

Boomtown

A boomtown is a community that experiences sudden and rapid population and economic growth. The growth is normally attributed to the nearby discovery of a precious resource such as gold, silver, or oil, although the term can also be applied to communities growing very rapidly for different reasons,...

 of tents and shacks quickly appeared, and the population reached some 40,000. In time, orderly growth prevailed, and Borger became a center for oil, chemicals, and cattle

Cattle

Cattle are the most common type of large domesticated ungulates. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae, are the most widespread species of the genus Bos, and are most commonly classified collectively as Bos primigenius...

. The skyline is dominated by oil towers and petroleum plants. Borger is the home of Frank Phillips College

Frank Phillips College

Frank Phillips College is a community college, located in Borger, TexasAs with many community colleges, the Phillips motto is "Start here, go anywhere."The college also offers the Allen Campus in Perryton in Ochiltree County....

.

Exhibits encompass history, culture, and art items. Annual events include African American

African American

African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...

 History in February, Oil Boom Heritage in March, Cinco de Mayo Heritage in May, the Beach Bash and Old West Heritage in June, the Quilt Show in July, Native American Awareness in November, and Christmas

Christmas

Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...

 in December.

Old West Heritage Month features community treks to sites near the county seat

County seat

A county seat is an administrative center, or seat of government, for a county or civil parish. The term is primarily used in the United States....

 of Stinnett

Stinnett, Texas

Stinnett is a small city in Hutchinson County, Texas, in the United States. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 1,936. Located in the northern Texas Panhandle, Stinnett is the county seat of Hutchinson County.-History:...

: the First Battle of Adobe Walls

First Battle of Adobe Walls

The First Battle of Adobe Walls, was a battle between the United States Army and native Americans. The Kiowa, Comanche and Plains Apache tribes drove from the battlefield a United States Expeditionary Force that was reacting to attacks on white settlers moving into the Southwest...

 in 1864 and the Second Battle of Adobe Walls

Second Battle of Adobe Walls

The Second Battle of Adobe Walls was fought on June 27, 1874 between Comanche forces and a group of twenty-eight U.S. bison hunters defending the settlement of Adobe Walls, Texas in what is now Hutchinson County, Texas.-Adobe Walls Settlement:...

 in 1874, in which Quanah Parker

Quanah Parker

Quanah Parker was a Comanche chief, a leader in the Native American Church, and the last leader of the powerful Quahadi band before they surrendered their battle of the Great Plains and went to a reservation in Indian Territory...

 surrendered Comanche

Comanche

The Comanche are a Native American ethnic group whose historic range consisted of present-day eastern New Mexico, southern Colorado, northeastern Arizona, southern Kansas, all of Oklahoma, and most of northwest Texas. Historically, the Comanches were hunter-gatherers, with a typical Plains Indian...

 resistance to white settlement. The battle ended with a 7/8 of a mile shot fired by buffalo

American Bison

The American bison , also commonly known as the American buffalo, is a North American species of bison that once roamed the grasslands of North America in massive herds...

 hunter Billy Dixon

Billy Dixon

William "Billy" Dixon scouted the Texas Panhandle for the Army, hunted buffalo for the train companies, defended the Adobe Walls settlement against Indian attack with his legendary buffalo rifle, and was one of eight civilians in the history of the U.S...

. The museum observes the birthday of Stinnett each September.

In 1980, the Hutchinson County Historical Commission published The History of Hutchinson County, used as a reference for the article on the history of Borger in The Handbook of Texas. The museum directs visitors to the historical markers available in Borger and throughout Hutchinson County.

"Boom Town Revisited" is operated by the Historical Commission, headed by chairman Randal Hatfield. The current museum director, Edward Benz (born ca. 1952), is an employee of the Hutchinson County Commissioners Court. Benz's management has come under public scrutiny, with complaints voiced by the Downtown Merchants Association. Among other issues, Benz has been reprimanded for accepting gifts to the museum without authorization of the commissioners court.

On September 19, 2009, an historical marker commemorating the Little House of the Girl Scouts

Girl Scouts of the USA

The Girl Scouts of the United States of America is a youth organization for girls in the United States and American girls living abroad. It describes itself as "the world's preeminent organization dedicated solely to girls". It was founded by Juliette Gordon Low in 1912 and was organized after Low...

, constructed after World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, was dedicated at the museum.

The museum is located downtown at 618 North Main Street. It is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Saturday. The facility is near the restored Morley Theater and Borger City Hall.

External links

• Hutchinson County Historical Museum - official site