Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Early Abilene
    Early Abilene
    Early Abilene
    Ebook149 pages40 minutes

    Early Abilene

    By Jack E. North

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    During the 1870s, there was wondrous change in West Texas. The area was ripe for settlement, and as the Texas and Pacific Railroad pushed west from Fort Worth, towns began springing up along the tracks. Ranchers coming to the area took advantage of the vast grasslands, and the new arrival of settlers was the beginning of a town named Abilene. Deriving its namesake from the town of Abilene, Kansas, the locals hoped the city would become a shipping point for cattle on their way to eastern markets. The town has since grown to be one of West Texas's most thriving metropolitan areas. The city--which is home to Dyess Air Force Base--is also well known for its numerous parks, schools, universities, and historic neighborhoods that are enjoyed by its 120,000 residents.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherArcadia Publishing
    Release dateSep 18, 2012
    ISBN9781439624791
    Early Abilene
    Author

    Jack E. North

    Author Jack E. North is a lifelong resident of Abilene. A graduate of Abilene High School and McMurry University, today he operates Abilene’s oldest funeral home. He is the author of two previous books: Pioneers of the Abilene Area and That’s My Coat. In Images of America: Early Abilene, North digs into his personal collection of over 4,000 images to showcase some of Abilene’s first businesses, ranch scenes, schools, colleges, and churches, taking readers on a photographic journey through the town’s historic past.

    Related to Early Abilene

    Related ebooks

    United States History For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Roundup

      Jul 6, 2021

      Roundup
      9 min read

    • Article

      Dauntless Son

      Dec 14, 2021

      Dauntless Son
      4 min read

    • Article

      Home Front Heroes Part 2

      Apr 18, 2023

      Home Front Heroes Part 2
      14 min read

    • Article

      Nothing Meek About Him

      Jul 28, 2020

      Nothing Meek About Him
      11 min read

    • Article

      Boomtowns

      Nov 1, 2022

      Boomtowns
      1 min read

    • Article

      Looking Back 200 Years

      Mar 16, 2020

      Looking Back 200 Years
      4 min read

    • Article

      Merge

      Jan 30, 2020

      Merge
      2 min read

    • Article

      Sir Ernest Lee-steere

      Aug 31, 2023

      Sir Ernest Lee-steere
      3 min read

    • Article

      A Town Within Famed Cody

      Jul 6, 2021

      A Town Within Famed Cody
      4 min read

    • Article

      Freedom Towns

      Nov 23, 2023

      Freedom Towns
      23 min read

    • Article

      Kaslo’s Not-so-Famous Six

      Jun 22, 2018

      Kaslo’s Not-so-Famous Six
      10 min read

    • Article

      The Kid’s Mom

      Aug 9, 2022

      I think of the morn when I sailed away from thee / I said, ‘Pray to God for me, pray to God for me’ Catherine McCarty sang along to the popular tune “La Paloma” and twirled around the wooden dance floor, her 12-year-old son’s hands in hers. Surely th

      13 min read

    • Article

      Earp Fellow Sophisticates

      Aug 31, 2021

      Earp Fellow Sophisticates
      12 min read

    • Article

      Did You KNOW ?

      Nov 1, 2022

      Did You KNOW ?
      1 min read

    • Article

      Kendleton

      Jan 27, 2022

      Veronica Harris lives not far from Willie Melton Boulevard, the Kendleton road named in honor of her late grandfather. Melton, a farmer born in 1900, led a legal effort in the early 1950s to end Fort Bend County Democrats’ informal whites-only primar

      2 min read

    • Article

      The Queen of Clubs

      Dec 4, 2021

      The Queen of Clubs
      2 min read

    • Article

      Following the Herd

      Nov 1, 2022

      Following the Herd
      3 min read

    • Article

      Pieces Of History: The Story Of Gee’s Bend

      Aug 4, 2021

      Quilts are what propelled the small community of Gee’s Bend into the headlines, so it is fitting their quilts tell the Gee’s Bend tale… Long before the quilts of Gee’s Bend hung in museums of Fine Art, the women of Boykin, Alabama were making quilt

      6 min read

    • Article

      Becknell Leads The Way

      Oct 1, 2021

      Becknell Leads The Way
      3 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Early Abilene

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      Early Abilene - Jack E. North

      library.

      INTRODUCTION

      This book shows readers, through pictures, the very early days of Abilene, Texas, from 1881 up to the 1930s. The Texas Legislature formed Taylor County in 1858. It was named for the Taylor brothers who were killed at the Alamo. Buffalo Gap, south of Abilene, was founded in 1878. The community grew from a handful of buffalo hunters who made their camp there because the buffaloes migrated through a natural gap in the Callahan Divide, which was a range of mesas south of Abilene.

      By the 1870s, soldiers and Texas Rangers had mainly driven the Native Americans out of this part of the state. The buffalo herds that once roamed the prairies had disappeared due to their slaughtering. These grasslands were a natural place for the ranchers that followed.

      The Texas and Pacific Railroad was making its way from Fort Worth, Texas, in 1881. Due to two different surveys of Taylor County, there was a legal cloud over the land titles around the Buffalo Gap community, which had been named the county seat in 1878. This was one of the main reasons the train line decided to extend their tracks through the northern part of Taylor County instead of through Buffalo Gap. At a meeting at the Hashknife ranch, interested parties decided to form a new town, which the train line referred to as The Future Great. Col. C. W. Merchant, a local rancher, was given the task of naming the new town. Abilene was chosen because they wanted it to become a major cattle-shipping point like Abilene, Kansas.

      The official town lot sale was on March 15, 1881. Business lots went for $100 to $250, and residential lots went for $100. It took two days to sell all of the lots, which were held in very muddy conditions. Soon, Abilene took on all the aspects of a Wild West town. People came from many states to settle it. In 1883, a county-wide vote, which was eventually settled by the county commissioners, moved the county seat to Abilene. In 1884, a new county courthouse was started, and Abilene was growing. Merchants, saloons, and churches were soon opened. In 1902, Abilene was voted dry, and the town settled down.

      All the pioneers cannot be included in this book, but they are given a strong representation. Churches, colleges, and early businesses are included. The military played a very important part of Abilene’s later history, but that is another story in itself. Camp Barkeley and Dyess Air Force Base have been major factors in Abilene’s economy since World War II.

      So pull up an easy chair and learn about Abilene, Texas, first called The Future Great.

      One

      ABILENE PIONEERS

      C. W. Merchant, a rancher, named the city of Abilene after Abilene, Kansas, because he wanted it to become a major shipping station for cattle. Born on August 31, 1836, Merchant came to the Abilene area in 1874 and built the first stone house there in 1881. He served as a bank president and was very active in the growth of the town. Abilene mourned the death of Merchant, its last founding father, in 1926. (Courtesy of the Merchant family.)

      James Harrison Parramore, a rancher and founding father of Abilene, was born on August 13, 1840, in Early County, Georgia. He served with Terry’s Texas Rangers in the Civil War and moved to Abilene in 1881. He became partners with C. W. Merchant in the cattle business. They operated several ranches including the San Simon, a large ranch in Arizona. He was one of the largest cattle raisers in the state for many years. Parramore had a belief in higher education and was a founding benefactor of the West Texas Baptist College, which is now Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene. His family lived at 710 Orange Street in Abilene, which was a modern home in 1881. Abilene named a street in his honor. The entire block where the home was located is maintained today, even though the home is not there. Abilene lost this founding father in 1917. (Courtesy of the Parramore family.)

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1