LeRoi Motor-Generator Set

When oil was discovered here in 1922, the area had no electricity or roads, and Panhandle, nearly 30 miles away, was the closest town. Fuel, materials, and drilling equipment had to be shipped by rail to Amarillo, almost 50 miles away, or to the railhead in Panhandle and then trucked to Borger over dirt roads often made impassable by mud. Prospecting for oil was especially difficult because electrical power was also many miles away, so until the power grid reached the new oil fields, generators like the LeRoi motor-generator set supplied power for lighting and equipment that enabled around-the-clock drilling and made operations more efficient and profitable for wildcatters and workers.

Borger, Texas · United States