Abilene

City in Jones County and Taylor County (of which it is the administrative headquarters), north-central Texas, USA; population (2000) 115,900. It is situated on the Osage Plains, near the Clear Fork of the Brazos River, 220 km/137 mi west-southwest of Fort Worth. It is the centre for a natural gas and oil-producing area. The manufacture of aerospace equipment and cotton and livestock farming are also important to the regional economy. Clothing, concrete, structural steel, electrical appliances, processed food, and musical instruments are among other local products.

Abilene was founded in 1881 as the terminus for the Texas and Pacific Railroad. The West Texas Fair and other cattle shows and rodeos are held here. The city is the home to Hardin-Simmons University (1891), Abilene Christian University (1906), and McMurry College (1923). Dyess Air Force Base is to the west of the city. Old Abilene Town is a reconstruction of a frontier community, and Buffalo Gap frontier village is nearby.

Abilene

Town and administrative headquarters of Dickinson County, east-central Kansas; population (1990) 6,200. It is situated on the Smoky Hill River, 35 km/22 mi northeast of Salina. Its industries include the manufacture of aircraft and missile components and oilfield equipment. The town is a leading shipping point for livestock, as well as for grain, melons, and dairy products; greyhounds are raised and raced in Abilene.

Settled in 1858, Abilene was the northern terminus of the Chisholm Trail cattle drive during the heyday of the early US cattle industry and the point from which the herds were shipped east by rail. The city was incorporated in 1869. ‘Wild Bill’ Hickok was a former Marshal of Abilene. It is the burial place of President Dwight D Eisenhower, who lived here as a boy; the Eisenhower Center, also in Abilene, includes a museum and library.