Historical Markers in Abilene, Texas

Taylor County · 1936

Old Bankhead Road, west city limits, Highway 20 Business -Abilene

Taylor, Edward, James, & George · 1955

Inscriptions on the monument are: across top - "I shall never surrender or retreat." Travis, Edward, James, George sons of Anson Taylor, died at the Alamo March 6, 1836. Taylor County was named for these gallant men.…

Taylor County · 1964

Created 1858. Named for Edward, James and George Taylor, 18, 20, and 22, Tennesseans who came to Texas in 1833 and died at the Alamo, March 6, 1836. Organized 1878, with county seat at Buffalo Gap, through which went…

"Miss Clara" Bussell · 1967

(Sept. 6, 1902 - July 5, 1966) Joined staff, West Texas Chamber of Commerce Feb. 26, 1920; was office manager 40 years. Worked unselfishly through day of death. Her love for West Texas and dedication to W.T.C.C. ideals…

Hardin-Simmons University · 1967

Organized as Abilene Baptist College by cattlemen, preachers, and Sweetwater Baptist Association in 1891. Named for New York pastor, James B. Simmons, after he donated funds for completing the first building, which…

Site of Curfew by John J. Clinton · 1967

(1848-1922) Here each New Year's Eve at midnight for thirty-seven years John J. Clinton, Abilene chief of police, emptied his revolver. He began in 1885, decreeing that saloons close at midnight, and that trigger-happy…

Company I, 7th Texas Infantry · 1968

Mustered into service during World War I, July 16, 1917, at Abilene with officers, Captain R. M. Wagstaff; 1st Lt. A. J. McDavid; 2nd Lt. E. B. Sayles; and 1st Sgt. Elmer C. Stearns. Company had 139 enlisted men from…

In Vicinity of Coronado's Camp · 1968

In 1541, the Spanish explorer Coronado is thought to have passed this way en route from New Mexico to the fabled Indian villages of "Quivira", though his path across vast Texas plains is now difficult to determine. Upon…

Site of Western Cattle Trail · 1968

The main route -1876 to 1887- for several hundred thousand longhorns driven north to stock ranches and Indian reservations and to supply beef market. Was also called Dodge City Trail, for its main terminus; or Fort…

The Texas & Pacific Railway: First Railroad Across West Texas · 1968

Chartered March 3, 1871, by act of U.S. Congress, to build a railroad to the Pacific coast, the Texas & Pacific Railway Company, under leadership of Colonel Thomas A. Scott, president, began construction across West…

Magee House · 1971

One of earliest fine houses in Abilene. Built 1903 in colonial revival style by Dr. Jefferson Davis Magee (1861-1935) and wife, Anna (Wilbanks). A native of Pike County, Mississippi, educated in East Texas and at the…

Fletcher Ranch · 1979

In 1878 James Robert Fletcher, his wife, and son Lorenzo Thomas (1868-1939) came here from Granbury. Their caravan included a small herd of cattle and work animals. A carpenter came to construct a two-story ranch house.…

Abilene Christian University · 1981

This school, formed to provide a Christian education for all grade levels, was founded in 1906 by A. B. Barret, an early educator and preacher for Texas Churches of Christ. It was first called Childers Classical…

Abilene Reporter-News · 1981

The oldest existing business institution in Abilene is the Reporter Publishing Company, started by C. E. Gilbert. The first newspaper was printed on June 17, 1881, three months after the town was founded. Soon after…

Abilene State School · 1981

The Texas Legislature provided for the establishment of this institution in 1899 as a center for the treatment of epilepsy. Opened in 1904 under the direction of Dr. John Preton, it was largely self-sufficient, with…

Old Weather Bureau Building · 1981

This structure was completed for the Abilene Office of the United States Weather Bureau in 1909. The interior contained living quarters and an observatory for the administrator. The first official in charge here was W.…

Laughter Undertaking Company · 1985

Dan T. Laughter (1871-1952) first worked as an undertaker while employed in a northeast Texas furniture store. In 1900, he came to Abilene, and five years later he founded this undertaking company with his partner, C.…

James Winford Hunt · 1986

Born in present Oklahoma, James Winford Hunt grew up on the Texas High Plains. A newspaper publisher for several years, he became a Methodist minister in 1903. While a pastor in Abilene, he convinced the Northwest Texas…

Lindbergh in West Texas · 1986

Four months after his record-setting trans-Atlantic solo flight, Charles Augustus Lindbergh (1902-1974) landed here for one hour and thirty-six minutes during a nationwide publicity tour. Touching down at Kingsolving…

McMurry College · 1986

Between the years 1840 and 1920, the Methodist church founded nearly eighty colleges in Texas. Four colleges in the Northwest Texas Conference had closed for various reasons by 1920, when the Reverend James Winford Hunt…

Site of Abilene's First School · 1986

This site was set aside for use as a school by Stoddard Johnston, a newspaperman who platted the town of Abilene in the early 1880s. While the first schoolhouse was under construction in the spring of 1881, classes were…

Sacred Heart Catholic Church · 1990

This church began as a mission in the 1880s to serve Catholics in the Abilene area. Early members included Abilene pioneer Theodore Heyck and City Marshal J. J. Clinton. Priests came by train from Weatherford to conduct…

12th Armored Division at Camp Barkeley · 1992

Established as a U.S. Army training camp in 1940, Camp Barkeley (whose main entrance was about seven miles south of this site) became one of the nation's largest World War II military training bases. The 12th Armored…

Hattie and Henry Sayles, Sr., House · 1994

Henry Sayles (1852-1916), born and reared near Brenham, Texas, studied law under his father, noted legal scholar John Sayles (1825-1897). Henry practiced law in Galveston where he met and married Hattie McAlpine. The…

Mount Zion Baptist Church · 1994

The Reverend James Curry, a missionary from Sherman, Texas, organized this congregation in 1885. It is the oldest African American church in the city. The Reverend James Lewis served as first pastor of the congregation,…

Site of Thornton's Store · 1994

Known throughout West Texas as "A city within itself," Thornton's Store was one of Abilene's leading businesses for nearly seven decades. E. L. Thornton (1896-1964) moved to Abilene from Arkansas in 1919, after service…

Abilene Negro High School · 1996

The first public school for African Americans in Abilene was established in 1890. Located in the 200 block of Plum Street, the one-room school was named the Abilene Colored School. Its first class consisted of 22…

45th Infantry Division at Camp Barkeley · 1998

The 45th Infantry Division, comprised of National Guard units from Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Oklahoma, was one of the first four divisions ordered into federal service by Congress' joint resolution in 1940.…

Abilene Municipal Cemetery · 1998

Abilene Municipal Cemetery is composed of five different burial grounds. The oldest documented grave is that of Florence Phillips, who was buried in the Masonic section in 1881 shortly before the establishment of the…

James Harrison Parramore · 1998

(August 13, 1840 - July 4, 1917) Born in Georgia to Rebecca (Norwood) and William W. Parramore, James Harrison Parramore moved with his family to Gonzales County in 1849. James attended Gonzales College before joining…

Macedonia Baptist Church · 1998

The early community support system for citizens of color in Abilene included Mt. Zion Baptist Church, organized in 1885, and the first area school for black children, which opened in 1890 with 22 pupils. Because of…

Mexican-American / Americanization School · 1998

From its earliest days, education for Mexican Americans in Texas has varied from none at all to apparent equality. The Republic of Texas in 1839 and 1840 established laws governing a system of schools. As these…

Morgan Jones · 1998

Welsh-born Morgan Jones arrived in the U.S. in 1866. As a contractor for numerous railroad lines, he became a railroad legend by laying tracks spanning more than 1,000 miles across Texas and the West. He was president…

Parramore Post #57, American Legion · 1998

Founded in March 1919, the American Legion was established as a World War I veterans' organization. Abilene Post No. 57 was organized on July fourth and chartered in September of that year, one of one hundred such…

Site of Guitar Mansion · 1998

John and Laura Hudson Guitar of Missouri moved to Abilene in 1898. John was already a wealthy businessman who owned a number of cotton gins and cotton oil mills throughout Texas, most in towns served by the Texas &…

Claiborne Walker Merchant · 1999

(August 31, 1836 - March 9, 1926) Claiborne W. Merchant and his twin, John, were born in Nacogdoches. "Clabe" married Frances Bell in 1856. He served in the Confederate army and later became a cattle rancher. Merchant…

Drummond Cemetery · 2004

In 1879, after her husband's death in Jamaica, Helen Fanny Harris Drummond returned with her children to England. She immigrated with them to the United States in 1885, settling in Brazos County, Texas. In October 1891,…

Lt. Col. William E. Dyess · 2004

Albany, Texas native William Edwin Dyess (b. 1916) graduated from John Tarleton Agricultural College and became an aviation cadet at Randolph Field, San Antonio. Dyess went to the Philippine Islands as commander of the…

Cedar Gap Community · 2007

Originally named Coates for early settler Kem Coates, Cedar Gap community formed in the late 19th century. Coates, on whose land the post office was later located, arrived in the 1870s, and by the early 1880s, a number…

Site of Old Headquarters of the Hashknife Ranch · 2007

(on hill east of Cedar Creek) In December 1880, H.C. Whithers of the Texas & Pacific Railroad met local men here to decide on a site for a cattle shipping center. Bypassing the county seat of Buffalo Gap, the railroad…

Dr. William and Beatrice Butler Home · 2008

Dr. William H. Butler, Sr., was the first African American physician to practice medicine in Abilene. He was born in Dec. 1875 in Palestine (Anderson co.), where he attended grade and high school. He continued his…

Eugenia Pickard · 2008

A philanthropic African American woman greatly improved Abilene’s minority neighborhoods. Eugenia Pickard was born in Georgia about 1877. She moved to Texas in the early 1900s and settled in Abilene. Here she owned…

Hotel Wooten · 2008

This landmark building opened its doors on June 6, 1930, with a celebration attended by more than two thousand guests. Entrepreneur H.O. Wooten envisioned a hotel with accommodations matching those available in New York…

Willis, Thomas Middlebrook · 2008

(June 27, 1859 - November 27, 1937) Born in Bainbridge, Georgia, Thomas Middlebrook Willis was an important early leader in Abilene. Willis moved to Waco, Texas with his parents, Dr. Thomas L. and Mrs. Letitia Willis,…

First Exploratory Oil Well in Taylor County · 2009

intersection of FM 1750 (Oldham Lane) and FM 707

Childers Classical Institute · 2010

Abilene Christian University began as an educational institution on this block known as the West End residential area. In 1906, Allen Booker Barret, a Tennessee educator and preacher, and five trustees purchased land…

Pine Street Shoot Out · 2010

WHEN THE YOUNG RAILROAD TOWN OF ABILENE INCORPORATED IN 1883, THE FIRST CITY OFFICIALS DESIRED TO PROJECT A MORE CIVILIZED IMAGE TO VISITORS AND NEW SETTLERS, AS THE NEW TOWN HAD ALREADY DEVELOPED A LAWLESS REPUTATION…

William G. and Shirley Swenson Home · 2010

This two-story brick home was designed by abilene architect William P. Preston for the family of William Gray and Shirley (McCollum) Swenson, and was completed ca. 1910. Swenson was a first generation Swedish-American,…

Dyess Elementary School · 2016

On January 21, 1963, Dyess Elementary was the first school in the Abilene Independent School District to integrate all students. African American military families living on Dyess Air Force Base were previously forced…

Texas & Pacific Railroad Depot · 2016

With the arrival of the railroad in Abilene in 1881, a railroad car was used as the first depot. In 1882, a two-story structure was built consisting of a passenger waiting room, office space, dining and a hotel on the…

Hardin-Simmons University Campus Triangle · 2019

2202 Hickory St. The gravesite known historically as the"Campus Triangle" is located between the Moody Student Center and the Sandefer Memorial Administration Building. This area is still the center of activity for the…

Phantom Hill Cemetery · 2019

J. G. Higginbotham House