History · Abilene

Abilene’s post office opened in 1881, and 59 of its places are on the National Register

More historic than 60% of U.S. towns · #97 of 642 in Texas. What drives it

Most of Abilene was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1975. 59 places in town are on the National Register, among them four historic districts with 139 buildings between them. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1885 on, and the census since 1890.

1881first post office

59on the National Register

7%homes built before 1940

6old photos & papers

57famous people

Add an old photo Share a memory

From Abilene’s archive · credits on each photo

Quick answers

How Abilene began

When was Abilene founded?

1881

The Abilene post office opened in 1881, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Elmdale (1905), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 3,194 in 18902020 census: 125,182145 years

How historic is Abilene?

More historic than 60% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓

Founding year: the first Abilene post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

History grade

What drives Abilene’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Abilene is more historic than 60% of U.S. towns, #97 of 642 in Texas. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Abilene’s overall grade.

Founding era1881, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC⁺Homes built before 19407.2% of homes (±0.9) · typical TX town 1.6% · U.S. 8.4%C⁺National Register59 listings, 231 historic buildings, 18.0 per 10,000 residents · typical TX town 0.0 · U.S. 2.4A

All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 60%

NewerOlder

Texas towns of 2,500+ (642)Ahead of 85%

Among the 400 U.S. cities of 100,000 or more, Abilene ranks #211 on History.

Few Texas towns list much on the Register (a typical Texas town has 0.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Abilene’s 18.0 sits above most of its state (90% of Texas towns have fewer) while its 231 historic buildings outnumber those of 94% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B+. The pre-1940 share (±0.9 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.

Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Abilene’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

Landmarks on the Register59 places on the National Register.A historic districtThe Sayles Boulevard Historic District takes in 73 historic buildings.Mapped building by building9 fire insurance maps, 1885 to 1929, drew every building in Abilene.Famous sons and daughtersJessica Simpson, Ryan Guzman and 55 more were born here.

★ What stands out · On the National Register

59 listings protect 231 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. Boundary changes and added documentation are counted with their listing.

places listed

National Historic Landmarks

none yet

historic buildings protected

231

each building in a district counts

first listed

1976

Henry Sayles House

BuildingsDistricts

Architectural styles listings

Classical Revival15

Prairie School15

Bungalow9

Spanish Colonial Revival4

Late 19th and Early 20th Century Revivals3

Tudor Revival3

Henry Sayles HouseVictorian

U.S. Weather Bureau BuildingClassical Revival

Paramount TheaterSpanish Colonial Revival

William and Shirley Swenson HousePrairie School

1915 Taylor County CourthouseClassical Revival

A. T. Jones HouseBungalow

Abilene Christian College Administration BuildingClassical Revival

Abilene Fire Station No. 2Late 19th and Early 20th Century Revivals

All 59 listings

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Every building

Abilene, building by building, 1885–1929

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.

Abilene fire insurance map, 1885, sheet 1

1885Sheet 1 of 4

Edition

Sheets

+3 more at the Library of Congress

BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

The story

How Abilene came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Abilene.

Read it all →

Established by cattlemen as a stock shipping point on the Texas and Pacific Railway in 1881, the city was named after Abilene, Kansas, the original endpoint for the Chisholm Trail. The T&P had bypassed the town of Buffalo Gap, the county seat at the time. Eventually, a landowner north of Buffalo Gap, Clabe Merchant, known as the father of Abilene, chose the name for the new town. According to a Dallas newspaper, about 800 people had already begun camping at the townsite before the lots were sold. The town was laid out by Colonel J. Stoddard Johnson, and the auction of lots began early on March 15, 1881. By the end of the first day, 139 lots were sold for a total of $23,810, and another 178 lots were sold the next day for $27,550.

ChaptersTimeline

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Abilene, 1881 to 1995

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

19th century
1881Post officeThe Abilene post office opens
20th century
1905Post officeThe Elmdale post office opens
1926Born hereBill Sharman is born here
1927Post officeThe Elmdale post office closes
1942In the archiveLTC Montgomery Meigs 1942
1957On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
1964Born hereVinnie Paul is born here
1969In the archiveUntitled photo
1979In the archiveLefevre barber pole, 9th and Butternut
1980Born hereJessica Simpson is born here
1987Born hereRyan Guzman is born here
1995In the archiveB-1B Star of Abilene Nose Art

By decade

Abilene, decade by decade

4 decades in the archive, from the 1940s to the 1990s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1940s–1970s5 items

1942LTC Montgomery Meigs 1942

1969Untitled photo

1979Lefevre barber pole, 9th and Butternut

1990s1 item

1995B-1B Star of Abilene Nose Art

On the map

Abilene on the map, 1957 to 1987

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Abilene. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

1957Abilene East sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Abilene.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Retake this viewLTC Montgomery Meigs 1942, 1942

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Abilene’s page.

Retake this view · +15

People over time

Abilene, census by census

Grew from 3,194 people in 1890 to 125,182 in 2020, more than tenfold.

14 censuses, 1890–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Abilene’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

57 famous people were born in Abilene

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →

Jessica SimpsonAmerican singer and actress · b. 1980

Ryan GuzmanAmerican actor · b. 1987

Vinnie PaulAmerican drummer · b. 1964

Bill SharmanAmerican basketball player and coach · b. 1926

David BoudiaAmerican diver · b. 1989

Jim HallAmerican racecar driver and constructor · b. 1935

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Abilene’s post office has been open since 1881. Another post office, Elmdale, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Abilene

1881–today

Elmdale

1905–1927

18801950today

Hamlets and corners on the map

ElmdaleWylie

Gone or out of use

Box Oil FieldoilfieldFlying W AirportairportSaint Anns Hospitalhospital

8cemeteries and burying grounds inside Abilene

Abilene MunicipalAbilene State SchoolElliott - Hamil Garden of MemoriesElmwood Memorial ParkHardin - Simmons UniversityLittle ElmOld ColonyTexas State Veterans Cemetery at Abilene

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Help out

Finish Abilene’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos

00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s

4 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.

Retake an old viewLTC Montgomery Meigs 1942: stand where they stood+15 Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

TyeIts storyC⁻PotosiIts storyC⁻

Questions about Abilene’s history

What year was Abilene founded?

The Abilene post office opened in 1881, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Abilene rank for history?

Abilene is more historic than 60% of U.S. towns, #97 of 642 in Texas. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

What is on the National Register in Abilene?

59 listings: 55 buildings, among them the Henry Sayles House (listed 1976, the first), and 4 historic districts with 139 contributing buildings. 231 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in Abilene?

7% of Abilene’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 1.6% for a Texas town; the median home was built in 1975.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →

Start a conversation

Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

From Wikimedia Commons (6), the National Register of Historic Places (59), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.

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