Civic & Local
"Miss Clara" Bussell
(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 did much to develop regional progress. Devoted life to making West Texas a better place to live. Outstanding Women of Texas series, 1967.
Military
12th Armored Division at Camp Barkeley
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 Division, activated at Camp Campbell, Kentucky, in September 1942, was assigned to Camp Barkeley in November 1943.
History
Abilene Christian University
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 Institute in honor of Colonel J. W. Childers, who deeded his homesite at North 1st and Victoria streets for use as a campus.
History
Abilene Negro High School
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 students and one teacher. In 1902 the school moved to a one-room structure built at North 7th and Magnolia, and had two teachers serving 84 students.
History
Abilene Reporter-News
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 Gilbert began publication, a fire destroyed several buildings in town, including his office.
History
Abilene State School
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 surrounding land used for raising crops and livestock. Significant research on epilepsy was conducted here by Dr. T. B. Bass, superintendent from 1909 to 1943.
Architecture
Abilene Woman's Club Building
Founded in 1928, the Abilene Woman's Club had several club homes before hiring noted architect David S. Castle to design a clubhouse at this site, then on the edge of town. Contractor Oscar Rose completed the structure in 1955, and the building's construction and subsequent use influenced further development of south Abilene.
History
Buffalo Gap Cemetery
Oldest public cemetery in Taylor County; used by residents of Buffalo Gap even before the earliest known headstones were erected, about 1877. In the older section of the ten-acre plot are 146 graves, many of Civil War veterans and pioneer citizens of Taylor County. Tract is still in use. (1968)
History
Buffalo Gap College
Founded 1885 by Presbyterian Church, institution previously operated as a high school. In peak year, over 300 pupils, many from distant places, attended. First president was W. H. White. College had greatest success under J. M. Wagstaff. Presidents later were J. W. Melton, R. W. Benge, E. W. Doran, J. N. Ellis, John Collier, J. B. Clay and (again) W. H. White.
History
Butterfield Mail and Stage Line
One of major horse-drawn transportation projects of history. Was authorized by Act of Congress on March 3, 1857. Contract for semi-weekly service overland to San Francisco, California, was awarded to company headed by John Butterfield; another stockholder in the $2,000,000 venture was express pioneer William G. Fargo.
Military
Camp Barkeley
(February 15, 1941 - March 21, 1945) Site of main entrance to Camp Barkeley, one of the nation's largest military camps of World War II. At peak, 60,000 men were in training here. Named for Private David B. Barkeley of the 89th Division, who died on a secret scouting expedition behind German lines during the Meuse-Argonne Battle of World War I.
History
Castle Peak
The Butterfield Overland Mail, the first public transportation facility spanning the area from the Mississippi to the Pacific with passenger and mail service, 1858-61, used the 2400-foot peak to the northeast as a beacon. The drivers and passengers viewed it for 30 to 40 miles. In that era it was called Abercrombie Peak, for Colonel J. J. Abercrombie of the U.S.
History
Claiborne Walker Merchant
(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 established his first ranch in 1874 in Callahan County and began acquiring land in neighboring Taylor County prior to the arrival of the railroad in 1881.
History
Dr. William and Beatrice Butler Home
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 education at Wiley College in Marshall (Harrison Co.). In 1910, Dr. Butler received his degree from Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee, one of the few institutions in the U.
History
Drummond Cemetery
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, she purchased 100 acres in Taylor County, including this site, from the Hammond family.
History
Dyess Elementary School
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 to send their children to the segregated Woodson School, which was located further from the base than Dyess Elementary. Although the U.S.
History
Eugenia Pickard
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 several properties and made them available for no rent to poor families with children. She also provided places to play to African American children who had no public parks.
History
Fletcher Ranch
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. Fletcher filed for a patent on this land because of the nearby spring-fed creek, large trees for wood, coved for animal protection and ample grass.
Architecture
Hattie and Henry Sayles, Sr., House
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 couple moved to Abilene in 1886. Sayles practiced law here in partnership with his father and oversaw real estate belonging to Galveston clients.
History
Hendrick Medical Center
In 1915, Millard A. Jenkens (1872-1962), the new pastor of Abilene's First Baptist Church, saw a need for a hospital that prioritized serving all people, whether or not they were able to pay for treatment. His congregation shared his vision and donated $35,000 to establish a Baptist hospital.
Architecture
Hotel Wooten
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 City, accomplishing the goal with the seventeen-story, 200-room Hotel Wooten. Designed by Abilene architect David S.
History
In Vicinity of Coronado's Camp
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 finding that his Indian guide, "The Turk", had taken him too far south, Coronado halted at a small canyon or barranca.
History
James Winford Hunt
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 Conference of the Methodist Church to build a college in the town. The school, McMurry College, opened in 1923 with Dr. Hunt as president.
History
Jim Ned Creek
Probably named for Jim Ned, Delaware Indian Chief. During Republic and early statehood of Texas (about 1840-1860), he was a scout for the Texas militia on several campaigns against wild Indians in this area. Dams near junction of two main forks of creek create Lake Brownwood. (1968)
History
Laughter Undertaking Company
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. M. Tandy. In 1908, at the flip of a coin, the firm came under the full ownership of Laughter.
Elsewhere in Texas
Hear it from the road
Whistlestop tells you this story automatically when you drive past. No searching, no tapping, nothing to ask.
