Gail Map
Gail is a Census Designated Place in Borden County, Texas, United States. Located at the junction of U.S. Highway 180 and Farm to Market Road 669, it is the county seat of Borden County. The town and county are named for Gail Borden, Jr., of Houston, the inventor of condensed milk. As of the 2010 Census, the population was 236.
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 governmental hub of Borden County.
Changes in agricultural practices and patterns coupled with the Great Depression brought any prosperity the town and county might have had to an abrupt halt, however, and by 1936 Gail's population had dwindled to 250 residents. By 1980 this had fallen to around 190 but the census of 2010 counted 236 residents in Gail.