Abilene Kansas
Former cowtown delights with its history and heroes

Abilene may have started out as just a small cowtown in central Kansas with a name borrowed from the Bible meaning “City of the Plains,” but it has been known by many famous titles over the years.

In the course of its history, Abilene has been called the “wickedest and wildest” town in the West; the Little Town of Mansions; the hometown of President Dwight D. Eisenhower; the end of the Chisholm Trail; and the Greyhound Capital of the World. Each title reflects the city’s influences and diverse heritage that fit together like a puzzle to create a rich and colorful day tour destination. In addition, nearby Junction City offers more insights into history and military life.

Begin at the Abilene Convention and Visitors Bureau to pick up maps and other information. From Interstate 70, head south on Highway 15, which becomes Buckeye Street. Turn right on Second Street to the center at 201 N.W. Second St. The bureau is housed in an old railroad depot built in 1928 that’s listed on the National Register of Historic Places. For details, call 1-800-569-5915 or (785) 263-2231, or visit www.abilenekansas.org.

Exploring Eisenhower

The man who commanded one of the most daring invasions in wartime history, as well as served two terms as president of the United States, had his beginnings in Abilene. Born in Texas, Dwight D. Eisenhower moved to Abilene with his family in 1892 when he was 2 and stayed until he entered the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1911.

Those formative years, as well as his celebrated military and political careers, are explored at the exceptional Eisenhower Center, a 22-acre complex containing five buildings: a Visitors Center, the Eisenhower Museum, Library, Place of Meditation and the family home. Located just south of the Abilene Visitors Bureau on Buckeye Street, it is open daily 9 a.m.–4:45 p.m.

Start in the Visitors Center where you can view a half-hour film on the life of Eisenhower, known to many as Ike. In Abilene, Eisenhower absorbed the virtues of small town America and gained many traits that led him to become the Supreme Commander of the Allied forces in World War II, a position that helped him win the U.S. presidency in 1952.

The museum displays more than 32,000 artifacts in five galleries that detail Eisenhower’s life, presidency and the war years. For example, the table where Ike helped plan the D-Day invasion is exhibited. Also, Ike was the last president allowed to keep gifts-of-state, and many are on display.

Visitors also can tour the Eisenhower home, a seven-room frame structure occupied by the family from 1898 until the death of Ida Elizabeth Stover Eisenhower, Ike’s mother, in 1946. The home was left just as it was when she died. Dwight once remarked that the simple clapboard home had less floor space than his office at the Pentagon.

The Place of Meditation is the final resting place of Eisenhower, his wife, Mamie Doud Eisenhower, and their first-born son, Doud Dwight Eisenhower. And the Eisenhower Library preserves 23 million pages of manuscripts, audiovisual materials and more. For more information, call (785) 263-6700 or 1-877-RING-IKE (746-4453), or visit www.eisenhower.utexas.edu.

Cattle and canines

While Eisenhower helped make the city famous in the 1900s, Abilene had been known in the 1800s as a raucous frontier town at the end of the Chisholm Trail. Between 1867–1872, more than 3 million Texas longhorn cattle were herded to Abilene to be shipped by rail to the East. During that time of rowdy saloons and gambling houses, marshals tried to keep the peace in town, the most famous of whom was James “Wild Bill” Hickok.

Learn about that intriguing history at the nearby Heritage Center of Dickinson County, which preserves the region’s past in two museums and a re-created pioneer village. The Historical Museum on the site depicts life on the plains through a collection of tools, household items and farm implements. And out the back door of the museum are a log cabin, blacksmith shop, barn and other pioneer-era buildings. Also there’s a C.W. Parker Carousel, crafted in Abilene in 1901 with 24 hand-carved horses.

At the same site is the Museum of Independent Telephony, which tells the story of C.L. Brown, whose independent Brown Telephone Company grew to become the Sprint telecommunications company. Artifacts on display, including antique phones, cover 140 years of telephone technology.

The site is open 9 a.m.–3 p.m. Monday–Friday, 10a.m.–5p.m. Saturday and 1–5 p.m. Sunday, with extended hours in the summer. Admission is $4 for adults, $3 for seniors and free for children under 16. Carousel rides are $2. For details, call (785) 263-2681, or visit www.heritagecenterdk.com.

To get a look at what Abilene looked like in its early years, stop by Old Abilene Town. Historic structures and re-created replicas include a log church, saloon, log cabin and hotel. During the week you can explore the buildings, and on weekends, you can watch re-enactments of gun fights or take a stagecoach ride, which are offered occasionally. For hours and information, call (785) 263-1868 or 1-800-569-5915.

For another trip into history, climb aboard the Abilene and Smoky Valley Railroad, which offers a 10-mile round-trip excursion to Enterprise, Kan. Ride in a restored 100-year-old coach/diner car or open-air observation car pulled by a 1945 locomotive. Purchase your tickets at the 1887 Rock Island Depot, located in Old Abilene Town. Excursion rides are offered May–October, with private charters and seasonal dinner trips offered throughout the year. Admission is $14 for adults and $7 for children 3–11. Call (785) 263-1077 or 1-888-426-6687, or visit www.asvrr.org.

In addition to its frontier history, Abilene is noted for its contribution to preserving the history of greyhounds. The Greyhound Hall of Fame, also near the Eisenhower Center, features exhibits on the history of greyhounds and greyhound racing. The Hall of Fame area honors great dogs and their owners. But one of the center’s highlights is petting two retired racing greyhounds. Daily hours are 9 a.m.–5 p.m. For more details, call (785) 263-3000 or 1-800-932-7881, or visit www.greyhoundhalloffame.com.

Abilene is also noted for its historic mansions. Two magnificent homes that offer tours include the C. H. Lebold Mansion, an imposing 23-room Italianate mansion that dates to 1880, and the 1905 Seelye Mansion and Museum, a 25-room Georgian mansion built by A.B. Seelye, a patent medicine entrepreneur. A museum in the home has cure-alls from the 1800s.

Other interesting sites in Abilene include: the Bow Studio and Gallery, which uses Kansas clay and wildflowers to create tiles, figurines and more (785-263-7166); the American Indian Art Center, which exhibits and sells art produced by 100 artisans from 30 American Indian tribes (785-263-0090); and the Russell Stover Factory Outlet store, which is a retail outlet that features a candy making demonstration kitchen (785-263-0463).

Charge of the Cavalry

To experience more history, head about 21 miles east of Abilene to Junction City, which was founded in 1859 at the junction of the Smoky Hill and Republican rivers. Apart from the Geary County Historical Society Museum in town, visit Heritage Park, which contains the Kansas Vietnam Veterans Memorial and the Civil War Memorial Arch. Also in town is the Buffalo Soldier Memorial dedicated to African-American cavalry soldiers in the 1800s. For details on Junction City, call the Geary County Convention and Visitors Bureau at 1-800-528-2489, or visit www.junctioncity.org.

Adjoining Junction City is Fort Riley, founded in 1853 to protect western-bound pioneers and trappers. Known today as America’s Warfighting Center, it was once the major horse cavalry training school in the country. The 100,000-acre reservation features a number of interesting sites and museums that explain the history of the military. The excellent U.S. Cavalry Museum and the 1st Infantry Division Museum both contain uniformed figures, weapons and dioramas. For details, call (785) 239-2737 or visit www.riley.army.mil. Visitors to the fort need to show a photo I.D., and drivers need to show vehicle registration and proof of insurance.

And don’t miss the Custer House at the fort, a double set of officer’s quarters that dates to 1855 and authentically depicts military life on the western frontier. Although Lt. Col. George Custer did not live in the house, it was named in his honor. For tour times, call (785) 239-2737.

Also on the fort’s grounds is the First Territorial Capitol State Historic Site. The building was the meeting place of the Kansas territory’s first legislature in 1855. The members were mostly pro-slave Missourians intent on swaying elections to their cause, so it was called the “Bogus Legislature.” Hours are 1–5 p.m. Friday–Sunday from March–October and by appointment November–February. Call (785) 784-5535 or visit www.kshs.org.

To get to Abilene from Kansas City, take Interstate 70 about 148 miles west to Highway 15. The approximate round-trip mileage is 296 miles.

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