Taylor County was organized in 1878, with centrally located Buffalo Gap as the county seat. As the Texas and Pacific (T&P) Railway approached from the east, a group of ranchers and businessmen enticed it to pass through their land, where a town site named Abilene was established in 1881. After arriving at the new town, the T&P heavily promoted it as the “Future Great City of West Texas.” Town lots were auctioned in March 1881, the town was incorporated in January 1883, and an election in October 1883 made it the Taylor County seat, displacing Buffalo Gap. The Abilene and Northern and the Abilene and Southern railroads provided north–south connections in the early twentieth century, making Abilene the transportation and commercial hub for several counties. The former Abilene and Northern Railway Passenger Station (c. 1929), a modest California Mission–influenced building at 189 Locust Street, was once part of a larger complex of buildings.
The importance of education to Abilene’s founders is reflected in the Evangelical colleges established early in the town’s development: Simmons College (1891, now Hardin-Simmons University; SB33); Childers Classical Institute (1906, now Abilene Christian University; SB34); and McMurray College (1923, now McMurray University). The colleges’ patronage of cultural activities has continued to the present.
The U.S. Army post, Camp Barkeley, established in 1940, provided vital economic support to Abilene during the war years, and local leaders secured a continuing federal presence with the authorization of Dyess Air Force Base in 1952. The oil industry, ranching, and farming, along with an urban service industry, provide a diversified economy for Abilene and its region. As in other North Central Texan cities, businesses abandoned downtown Abilene in the 1960s, but from the late 1970s that has reversed, despite ongoing suburban sprawl. Downtown Abilene’s historic buildings are remarkably intact, and the architectural resources of Abilene are considerable. The examples included here give a sense of the general character and development of the city.
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