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The southeastern Texas oil field, Spindletop, erupted on January 10, 1901, launching an oil boom in the state. This prompted many corporations and individuals to begin drilling for oil in Texas. By the 1920s, the rush reached the Texas Panhandle. In May 1921, The Gulf Production Company discovered oil at Gulf Burnett #2 well in Carson County. A few months later, The Gulf Company began drilling on the Dial Ranch, named after the original owners, J.C. and C.L. Dial. The Gulf Dial #1 well utilized cable-tool drilling, a method used mostly for shallow wells. Equipped with the drilling mechanism and equipment, a wooden derrick stood approximately 80 feet high at each oil well.
In the spring of 1922, the well began filling up with hundreds of feet of oil after months of drilling. While the nearby Smith-Capers well was established first, the Gulf Dial # 1 became Hutchinson County's first successful oil well. By the summer of 1922, the well pumped around 500 barrels a day. Later, however, the well produced 135 barrels a day.
Because of the success of Gulf Dial #1, workers and other residents built a small camp within the oil field. Established in 1925, Dial, Texas, consisted of eighty to one hundred oil field workers and their families. The Gulf Dial # 1, produced oil for more than 50 years. The Dial lease faded into obscurity after production of its many wells declined, but the oil field was essential in Hutchinson County's early economic development. Because of its discovery, Gulf Dial #1 catalyzed the founding of Borger as one of the most successful oil towns in the United States. (2018) |
