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Songs written about the waterways and highways that run near Buffalo Gap.
In the 1980s, Buffalo Gap made history with its unique Volunteer Fire Department, composed almost entirely of women, with the exception of Fire Chief and Mayor Glenn Johnson. This all-female department exemplified the town's spirit, dedication, and community involvement.
Imagine being the most important town for a hundred miles, the official county seat, with a brand new courthouse to prove it. That was Buffalo Gap in 1880, when the limestone courthouse and jail built the year before opened for business. But thirteen miles to the northeast, the Texas and Pacific Railway was laying down track across the flat prairie. It created a town from scratch, Abilene, and with the railroad's power behind it, Abilene challenged Buffalo Gap for the title of county seat. In the election of 1883, Abilene won. Some in Buffalo Gap tried to overturn the result by force of arms, and that was quickly put down. Buffalo Gap had about twelve hundred people in 1880, and by 1884 it was down to six hundred, and its 1879 courthouse, which you can still see today at the Historic Village, became a monument to what was lost.
Buffalo Gap. It's more than just a blink-and-you'll-miss-it town south of Abilene, nestled right where the Callahan Divide starts to roll. Sure, it's quiet now, but this little spot's seen some things. You might not expect it, but it's been a crossroads for folks who left their mark.
When the United States went to war in 1941, what to do with enemy prisoners of war was among the last considerations of a country reeling from a Japanese attack and preparing for war in Europe. The nation had never held large numbers of foreign prisoners and was unprepared for the many tasks involved, which included registration, food, clothing, housing, entertainment, and even reeducation. But prepared or not, the country suddenly found itself on the receiving end of massive waves of German and Italian prisoners of war. More than 150,000 men arrived after the surrender of Gen. Erwin Rommel's Afrika Korps in April 1943, followed by an average of 20,000 new POWs a month. From the Normandy invasion in June 1944 through December 30,000 prisoners a month arrived; for the last few months of the war 60,000 were arriving each month. When the war was over, there were 425,000 enemy prisoners in 511 main and branch camps throughout the United States. Texas had approximately twice as many POW camps as any other state, first because of the available space, and second, curiously, because of the climate. The Geneva Convention of 1929 requires that prisoners of war be moved to a climate similar to that where they are captured; apparently it was thought that the climate of Texas is similar to that of North Africa. In August 1943 there were already twelve main camps in Texas, and by June 1, 1944, there were thirty-three. At the end of the war Texas held 78,982 enemy prisoners, mainly Germans, at fourteen military installations: Camp Barkeley (Taylor County), Camp Bowie (Brown County), Camp Fannin (Smith County), Camp Cavazos (Bell County), Camp Howze (Cooke County), Camp Hulen (Matagorda County), Camp Maxey (Lamar County), Camp Swift (Bastrop County), Camp Wolters (Palo Pinto County), Fort Bliss (El Paso County), Fort Brown (Cameron County), Fort Crockett (Galveston County), Fort D. A. Russell (Presidio County), and Fort Sam Houston (Bexar County). In addition, seven base camps were set up especially for POWs: Brady (McCulloch County), Hearne (Robertson County), Hereford (Deaf Smith County), Huntsville (Walker County), McLean (Gray County), Mexia (Limestone County), and Wallace (Galveston County). The Hereford camp alone contained Italian POWs (2,580 men), and a few Japanese POWs were kept in Hearne (323), Huntsville (182), and Kenedy (560). The main camps were generally built to standard specifications: they were military barracks covered by tar paper or corrugated sheet iron; inside were rows of cots and footlockers. A potbellied stove sat in the center aisle. Each camp held an average of 3,000 to 4,000 prisoners. In fact, the only real differences between these POW camps and any normal army training installation were the watchtowers located along a double barbed-wire fence, floodlights, and, at some camps, dog patrols. Guards were kept to a minimum number and were usually GIs who, for reasons of health, lack of training, or psychological makeup, were not needed overseas. The actual discipline among the prisoners was rigidly enforced by German officers and sergeants themselves. However uncomfortable, the POW camps were sometimes considered too good for the captive Germans, and many a Texas community called its local camp the "Fritz Ritz." Since the war had drawn most of the nation's young men overseas, the War Department authorized a major program to allow labor-starved farmers to utilize the POWs. Consequently, in addition to the base camps, Texas had twenty-two branch camps, some containing as few as thirty-five or forty prisoners, to provide labor to farms and factories located too far from the main POW camps. The branch camps, like the labor program, were temporary and often housed in school buildings, old Civilian Conservation Corps facilities, fairgrounds, even circus tents like those erected for the Navasota branch camp. Grateful farmers paid the government the prevailing wage of $1.50 per day, and the prisoner was paid eighty cents i
George Robertson was an early photographer who photographed the preparation of buffalo meat and hides for eastern markets, processes that contributed to the near extermination of the American bison. In 1868 he met Austin photographer William J. Oliphant while both men were working in Washington, D.C., in the gallery of noted Civil War photographer Alexander Gardner. They continued to correspond after Oliphant returned to Texas, and in 1872 Robertson moved to Austin, where he worked in Oliphant's Pecan Street gallery. In 1874 he accompanied a buffalo hunting expedition that traveled to Buffalo Gap in Taylor County. Although the cumbersome wet-plate process prevented Robertson from photographing live herds, he did capture shots of hunters skinning buffalos, preparing the meat and hides, and returning to civilization with loaded wagons. Robertson's photographs of the buffalo hunt were included in Oliphant's popular series of stereoscopic views, "Life on the Frontier." His pictures from a geological survey of Texas were also included in that series. Nothing else is known about Robertson or his activities, although it is possible that he may have operated a photography gallery in Brenham in the late 1870s. The glass negatives for his photographs of the buffalo hunt were discovered some fifty years later by Mabel Brooks, who was searching the home of Max Wolff for photographs of nineteenth-century Austin. Robertson's photographs are in the collections of the Texas State Library and Archives in Austin, Texas, and the DeGolyer Library at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas.
Probably named for the pass in Callahan Divide (mountains) crossed by thousands of buffalo that once inhabited this area. Besides providing the native Apache and Comanche Indians with food, buffaloes drew the first white hunters here, about 1874. First homes in present town were dugouts of buffalo hunters. The community began to grow in 1878 when it was named county seat and was located on the western cattle trail. In 1883, however, the new railroad town of Abilene became county seat and Buffalo Gap, like so many small Texas towns, lost prestige.
On August 29, 1863, Indian riders (probably Comanches) coming north from Mason County, with stolen horses, were caught a mile east of Buffalo Gap by Lt. T. C. Wright and eleven state troopers. The outnumbered soldiers were forced to attack up a steep hill and the Indians, determined to keep the herd, fought stubbornly. Wright and his men - two with severe arrow wounds - finally gave up the unequal fight and the Indians escaped with the horses. A lone rider was sent under cover of night to Camp Colorado (45 miles southeast) to bring an ambulance for the wounded. (1968)
Located in Taylor County's historic first courthouse and jail. Although Taylor County was organized in July 1878, the building was not completed until May 20, 1880, because of Indian scares and lack of funds. Scene of frequent jail breaks, lynchings. Note cannon balls (marked by arrows) keying limestone blocks. (1964)
194 stories, landmarks & places within ~20 miles — the same local lore RoadyGoat plays as you drive through.
In the 1980s, Buffalo Gap made history with its unique Volunteer Fire Department, composed almost entirely of women, with the exception of Fire Chief and Mayor Glenn Johnson. This all-female department exemplified the…
Imagine being the most important town for a hundred miles, the official county seat, with a brand new courthouse to prove it. That was Buffalo Gap in 1880, when the limestone courthouse and jail built the year before…
For most of the 20th century, Buffalo Gap was a town people drove through, not to. Tom Perini changed that. He started a chuckwagon catering outfit out of his family's ranch here in 1973, cooking cowboy-style meals and…
The fate of Buffalo Gap was settled first by a deal and then by a ballot. When the Texas and Pacific Railway pushed west, Buffalo Gap sat nestled among the hills and creeks of the Callahan Divide — grades to climb,…
As you explore Buffalo Gap, you might notice a special collection of old buildings. This is the Buffalo Gap Historic Village, and it’s not a replica. It's an assembly of real history. Starting in 1956, a local lawyer…
Since the name of this place comes from the buffalo, let me tell you what those animals actually did for the land you're looking at. Biologists call the American bison a keystone species, which means the whole grassland…
The buffalo that named this gap didn't just wander away. In the eighteen-seventies, right around when hunters were camping at this very passage, they were nearly wiped from the earth. Tens of millions of bison, some say…
The buffalo that named this gap have a Texas rescue story, and it happened just up the road in the Panhandle. In the late eighteen-seventies, rancher Charles Goodnight and his wife Mary Ann settled in Palo Duro Canyon…
Here's where you are. Buffalo Gap really is named for a gap, and really is named for buffalo. Just south of Abilene runs a low ridge called the Callahan Divide. It's the quiet dividing line between two great river…
The town's named for buffalo, so let's talk about the animal itself, because it will surprise you. The American bison is the largest land mammal in North America. A big bull can push past a ton, and yet, and this is the…
Here's something worth knowing as you roll along this road. Long before surveyors and asphalt, the buffalo were the first road engineers on this continent, and they were remarkably good at it. Early explorers and…
Since the buffalo brought a whole town to this gap, let me leave you with what that town became. Right here in Buffalo Gap sits the Historic Village, built around the old Taylor County courthouse and jail from eighteen…
George Robertson was an early photographer who photographed the preparation of buffalo meat and hides for eastern markets, processes that contributed to the near extermination of the American bison. In 1868 he met…
Probably named for the pass in Callahan Divide (mountains) crossed by thousands of buffalo that once inhabited this area. Besides providing the native Apache and Comanche Indians with food, buffaloes drew the first…
On August 29, 1863, Indian riders (probably Comanches) coming north from Mason County, with stolen horses, were caught a mile east of Buffalo Gap by Lt. T. C. Wright and eleven state troopers. The outnumbered soldiers…
You're driving through Buffalo Gap, a town that owes its existence to a natural landmark and a vital trail. Right here, the Callahan Divide creates a gap, a place where buffalo once gathered and hunters made camp. This…
You're cruising past Buffalo Gap, Texas, where in 1885, the Presbyterian Church founded Buffalo Gap College. This wasn't just a small-town school; at its peak, over 300 students, many from far away, packed its two-story…
Located in Taylor County's historic first courthouse and jail. Although Taylor County was organized in July 1878, the building was not completed until May 20, 1880, because of Indian scares and lack of funds. Scene of…
You're driving past Buffalo Gap Cemetery, the oldest public resting place in Taylor County. Long before the first headstones were set around 1877, this ten-acre plot was already serving the early residents of Buffalo…
In Texas, high school football is practically a religion, and here in Tuscola they had a legend walk their halls. This is where Colt McCoy went to school — one of the most celebrated quarterbacks in the history of…
As you drive near Tuscola, you're passing through a classic Texas drama — but not the one you'd guess. The town that moved was this one. Old Tuscola sat two or three miles west of here at a spot people called the Flat;…
You might hear people around here talk about being from the 'Jim Ned Valley.' They aren't just talking about Tuscola. They're talking about an identity that got welded together over nine years and two votes. In 1948 and…
Tuscola sits where it sits because of a railroad's balance sheet as much as its transit. In 1909 word got out in Abilene that the Santa Fe was finally resuming its long-delayed northwest extension, a line running from…
When the United States went to war in 1941, what to do with enemy prisoners of war was among the last considerations of a country reeling from a Japanese attack and preparing for war in Europe. The nation had never held…
You're driving through Taylor County, and right here, not far from Abilene, was Camp Barkeley. This massive World War II training facility, named for a Medal of Honor recipient, started construction in December 1940. By…
You're driving through what was once the heart of a massive cattle empire. Right here, around the site of Abilene Christian University in Taylor County, John Nicholas Simpson and James R. Couts started the Hashknife…
Shep is south of Lake Abilene and the Callahan Divide in the southwest corner of Taylor County. The first settler in the area was John Robert Crayton, who arrived in the 1870s and described it as an immense, beautiful…
Caps is near the intersection of U.S. Highway 277 and Farm Road 707 southwest of Abilene in Taylor County. The community began in 1882 when J. Stoddard Johnston of Abilene gave Ira and Anna Rollins Borders a wedding…
Ovalo is at the intersection of Farm Road 614 and U.S. Highway 83, on the Abilene and Southern Railway in southeastern Taylor County. The oval-shaped valley was an early camping place for buffalo hunters and a stop for…
Blair is a farming community on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe line and Farm Road 126, four miles southwest of Merkel in northwestern Taylor County. The area was settled in the 1890s, and in 1897 it became the center…
Bradshaw is on U.S. Highway 83 some 1½ miles from the Runnels county line in southern Taylor County. It was founded when the Santa Fe rail line was constructed through the area in 1909. After the railroad bypassed…
Elmdale was on the Missouri Pacific Railroad and Farm Road 18 in northeastern Taylor County. It began as a stop on the Texas and Pacific Railway in the early 1880s. According to some sources, early travelers saw a…
Guion was on what is now U.S. Highway 83 twenty-five miles southwest of Abilene in south central Taylor County. Settlers were at the site in 1879, and as early as 1882 the settlement served as a stagecoach station and…
Hamby, on State Highway 351 five miles east of Abilene in northeastern Taylor County, touches the corners of Taylor, Jones, Callahan, and Shackelford counties. The cotton and oil community was first named Corners, for…
Iberis was at the intersection of two country roads a mile west of U.S. Highway 83 and seven miles south of Abilene in eastern Taylor County. The site was first settled by the Kincaid family about 1889, and a school…
Nubia is on Farm Road 126 ten miles south of Merkel in western Taylor County. Sheep and cattle ranchers began to settle the area in 1874; they had to haul lumber for homes from Fort Worth since the railroad did not…
View is at the intersection of U.S. Highway 277 and Farm Road 1235, thirteen miles southwest of Abilene in Taylor County. Although a Baptist church was organized at the site earlier, the town was not established until…
You're driving through Taylor County, named for three brothers who made the ultimate sacrifice. Edward, James, and George Taylor, all in their late teens and early twenties, came to Texas in 1833. Just three years…
You're driving past Abilene State Park, a place built by the Civilian Conservation Corps. Back in 1933, President Roosevelt's New Deal program put young men and veterans to work on public lands. Here, Company 1823,…
You're driving past what used to be Cedar Gap, a community that started in the late 1800s. Originally called Coates, it grew with the arrival of families and later, the Abilene & Southern Railway in 1909. Though the…
Jim Ned High School in tiny Tuscola, Texas is where Colt McCoy went 34-2 as a starting quarterback, coached by his father Brad McCoy, and was twice named Class 2A State Player of the Year. He threw for 9,344 career…
Tuscola, in southern Taylor County, is nineteen miles south of Abilene on U.S. Highway 83. The original townsite, sometimes referred to as "the Flat" by area settlers, was two or three miles west of the present…
Tuscola, Texas. It's a small dot on the map, just south of Abilene in Taylor County, but it's a place that has quietly nurtured some remarkable talent. Maybe it's the wide-open spaces, the clear West Texas sky, or just…
You're driving through Taylor County, and right here was the main entrance to Camp Barkeley. This wasn't just any military camp; during World War II, it was one of the nation's largest, training up to 60,000 men at its…
Jim Ned High School (Tuscola, TX): Most recent: 29-28 (OT) over Hallettsville · 2020 3A Division 1 final.
Jim Ned (Tuscola, TX) placed on the 3A Texas high school baseball stat leaderboards for the 2026 season: Camden Lewis (0.500 avg, 2 HR); Gavin Brooks (0.457 avg, 2 HR); Jace Blair (0.448 avg, 1 HR).
You're driving past Jim Ned Creek, named for a Delaware Indian chief who was a scout for the Texas militia. Around the 1840s and 50s, Chief Jim Ned led campaigns against hostile tribes right here in this area. Today,…
You're driving past the Drummond Cemetery, a final resting place for some of the earliest settlers in Taylor County. The story here begins in 1891 when Helen Drummond bought 100 acres, including this land. By 1895,…
Wylie (Abilene, TX) placed on the 5A Texas high school baseball stat leaderboards for the 2026 season: Myles McCarty (0.451 avg, 1 HR).
Wylie High School in Abilene, Texas (4502 Antilley Road) is where Case Keenum led the Bulldogs to the 2004 Class 3A Division I state championship. He went on to the University of Houston and finished as the NCAA's…
You're driving through the site of the Fletcher Ranch, established in 1878 by James Robert Fletcher. He brought his family and a small herd of cattle to this spot, drawn by a spring-fed creek, ample grass, and trees.…
The interchange in Abilene where U.S. Highways Eighty Three and Eighty Four meet Loop Three Twenty Two has a name. It is the Sam Waldrop Highway Interchange, and it honors a man who once led the state's highway…
Out here southwest of Abilene, a nineteen sixty eight state marker says the Spanish explorer Francisco Vázquez de Coronado is thought to have passed this way in fifteen forty one. He was riding from New Mexico toward…
In the 1870s, the Pollard family became the first settlers in what is now Potosi, Texas. The town's name was chosen in 1893 by R.A. Pollard, inspired by the Mexican city of San Luis Potosí. By 1896, the community had…
You're driving past Abilene, Texas, home of a true World War II hero, Lt. Col. William E. Dyess. Born in Albany, Dyess commanded the 21st Pursuit Squadron in the Philippines. After Pearl Harbor, he led daring attacks…
You're driving past the site of Camp Barkeley, a massive World War II training ground that once dwarfed the city of Abilene itself. Established in 1940, this camp became one of the nation's largest military bases. By…
You're driving past the historic Abilene Woman's Club Building. Founded back in 1928, this club had a few homes before they hired architect David S. Castle to design this very clubhouse. Contractor Oscar Rose finished…
You're driving past the site of the Abilene State School, a place that started with a very specific mission back in 1899. The Texas Legislature created it as a center to treat epilepsy. It opened its doors in 1904,…
Look around at the neat, grid-like streets of Lawn. This layout is no accident — it's the direct result of a railroad, and of a town that got up and walked over to it. Old Lawn was settled in 1894, a couple of miles…
You're driving past the birthplace of McMurry College in Abilene! Back in 1920, the Methodist church was looking to build a new college in West Texas. Reverend James Winford Hunt, a former newspaper man and circuit…
You're driving through West Texas, and look to your northeast. See that prominent peak? It's Castle Peak, and it served as a vital landmark for one of America's most ambitious early transportation projects. From 1858 to…
You're driving through West Texas, near Merkel, on New Year's Day, 1871. Look to the heights west of Mountain Pass. This was the scene of a fierce, all-day battle. Eighteen Texas Rangers and cowboys, led by Captain…
Just south of Tye, hidden in plain sight on the flat prairie, lie the ghosts of a city that vanished. During World War II this was the site of Camp Barkeley, a U.S. Army training base of staggering size. From 1941 to…
Imagine the assignment: build a city on the West Texas prairie, from nothing, and have it ready for tens of thousands of soldiers before the country is even at war. That was Camp Barkeley, eleven miles southwest of…
West Texas has never needed much of an excuse to race something. Just up the road from Tye, on the Abilene side, sits the eighth-mile drag strip that generations of Big Country racers grew up on — these days it runs as…
For about seventy years, from its founding in 1881 until the middle of the 1950s, Tye was not officially a city. The Texas and Pacific Railway laid the townsite out and called it Tebo; later it went by Hinds, after an…
Tye is not a town known for famous names or celebrity residents. You won't find the birthplace of a movie star or a president here. Instead, it’s a place defined by the everyday people who have called it home. It was…
You're driving through Taylor County, and right here is a piece of Cold War history you might not have known about. This was the Lawn Atlas ICBM Launch Facility, one of the first subterranean missile silos in the United…
You're driving past the site of the West Texas Fair Grounds in Abilene, where Company I of the 7th Texas Infantry was mustered into service for World War I on July 16, 1917. This unit of 139 men trained here before…
You're driving west of Abilene, and right here is the community of Tye. It started in 1881 as a railroad stop called Tebo, but early settlers like the Hinds family left their mark, even naming the first school for them.…
Loop Three Twenty Two in Abilene, from US Highway Eighty Four to Interstate Twenty, is the Officer Rodney T. Holder Memorial Highway. Rodney Holder was an Abilene native. He served in the Army with the Eighty Second…
You're driving past the historic site of the Western Cattle Trail, the main highway for hundreds of thousands of Texas longhorns! Between 1876 and 1887, this route funneled cattle north to stock ranches and…
You're driving past the former home of Henry and Hattie Sayles, a striking example of late Victorian architecture right here in Abilene. Henry Sayles, a lawyer and son of a noted legal scholar, moved to Abilene in 1886.…
You're driving past Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Abilene, a building with a story that stretches back to the 1880s. It started as a mission, with priests traveling by train from Weatherford to hold services in homes…
You're driving past the Old Weather Bureau Building in Abilene, a structure completed way back in 1909. This wasn't just any office; it housed living quarters and an observatory for the administrator. The first official…
You're driving past the site of the American Legion's Parramore Post 57 in Abilene. Organized in 1919 for World War I veterans, this chapter was named for one of Abilene's founders and a Civil War veteran. The post…
You're driving past the site of Kingsolving Field in Abilene, where the legendary Charles Lindbergh landed in 1927. Just four months after his famous solo flight across the Atlantic, 'Lucky Lindy' touched down for about…
You're driving past the site of Camp Barkeley, where the famous 45th Infantry Division, the 'Thunderbirds,' trained during World War II. Comprised of National Guard units from four states, they were among the first…
You're driving past the original site of Abilene Christian University. It started in 1906 as the Childers Classical Institute, founded by educator Allen Booker Barret and five trustees who bought this land. The school…
You're driving through Tye, and you're passing right by the historic route of the Butterfield Mail and Stage Line! Authorized by Congress in 1857, this was a massive undertaking, a $2 million venture headed by John…
You're driving through Abilene, Texas, and right here is a marker dedicated to four brothers: Edward, James, and George Taylor, along with William Barret Travis. These four men all died together at the Alamo on March…
State Highway Thirty Six and U S Highway One Ninety both carry the name Thirty Sixth Division Memorial Highway. The Thirty Sixth Infantry Division was called the Texas Division, because when it entered federal service…
You're driving through Abilene, and you might see the spot where for 37 years, New Year's Eve meant a unique kind of fireworks. John J. Clinton, Abilene's police chief, would fire his entire revolver into the air at…
You're driving past the site of Thornton's Store, once called 'a city within itself' right here in Abilene. E. L. Thornton started with a simple fruit stand in 1919. But by 1937, his business had exploded, filling an…
Right about here, facing the railroad, stood the Guitar Mansion. John and Laura Hudson Guitar moved to Abilene from Missouri in eighteen ninety eight. John already owned cotton gins and cotton oil mills across Texas,…
In February of nineteen fifty five, Abilene was invited to come out to the Fair Park Auditorium and see Elvis Presley and His Bop Band, with shows at seven and at nine. Elvis was not a national star yet. That year he…
Winston Lee Moore came out of Erath County, studied journalism at Hardin-Simmons here in Abilene, and graduated in nineteen forty nine. He went to work playing country records on KRBC radio, and on the air he was Slim…
You're driving past the historic Texas & Pacific Railroad Depot! It started in 1881 with just a railroad car, but by 1882, a grand two-story building went up, even housing a hotel. The current brick beauty you see was…
Here's something strange about that number on the news. A tornado's EF rating almost never comes from a wind gauge. Nobody measured the wind. Out here in storm country, after the sky clears, National Weather Service…
Out here in storm country, a tornado is rarely just one smooth funnel. Inside the big spinning column, smaller whirls called suction vortices can break loose and orbit the center, two to five at a time, each one usually…
During World War Two, Camp Barkeley, eleven miles southwest of Abilene, was one of the largest military camps in the country, and on February first, nineteen forty four, the Army opened a prisoner of war camp inside it.…
Abilene, rising gently from the plains at just over 1,700 feet, feels like a crossroads. Its very name hints at its origins, borrowed from Abilene, Kansas, a town synonymous with the end of cattle drives and the…
You're at North First and Pine in downtown Abilene. By eighteen eighty four the young railroad town had made it a crime to fire a gun inside the city limits and had outlawed gambling outright. On the evening of January…
You're driving through Abilene, and you might be passing one of the city's earliest fine homes. Built in <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1903</say-as>, the McGee House was constructed in the Colonial Revival…
You're driving through Abilene, Texas, where back in the mid-1950s, the high school football team wasn't just a team – it was the heart of the community. The Abilene High Eagles, nicknamed the Warbirds, were on a…
You're driving through Abilene, the birthplace of Bill Maddox, a musician who found his way from the Texas music scene to the early days of Dell Computer Corporation, and back again. Born in 1953, Maddox was a gifted…
You're driving through Abilene, Texas, a town that owes its very name to the cattleman you see here, Claiborne Walker Merchant. In August of 1880, as railroads pushed west, Merchant bought a huge tract of land right…
You're driving through Abilene, the first town in West Texas to be connected by rail! Look around – this is where the Texas & Pacific Railway made history in <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1881</say-as>.…
You're driving past the site of the Hotel Wooten, which opened its doors on June 6, 1930. Entrepreneur H.O. Wooten dreamed of a hotel as grand as those in New York City, and he delivered with this seventeen-story,…
James Monroe Daugherty, cattleman, the son of James M. and Eleanor (McGehee) Daugherty, was born on February 27, 1850, in Texas County, Missouri. In 1851 he moved with his parents to Denton County, Texas. James M.…
You're driving through Abilene, Texas, where Dr. James Minor Alexander made quite a name for himself in medicine and building. In 1904, he opened the Alexander Sanitarium, a small, eighteen-bed hospital. But he didn't…
You're driving through Abilene, the birthplace of Royston Campbell Crane, Jr., a cartoonist who brought adventure to millions. While still in college, Crane moved to Cleveland and created "Wash Tubbs," one of the very…
You're driving through Taylor County, not far from Abilene, and right here is where the legendary Hashknife Ranch got its start. Back in 1875, partners J. R. Couts and John N. Simpson drove a herd of longhorns to Elm…
You're driving through Abilene, and right here is Hendrick Medical Center. It started life in 1924 as the West Texas Baptist Sanitarium, the dream of a local pastor. But the Great Depression nearly sank it. Facing…
You're driving through Abilene, Texas, a city that owes a lot to the ambition of Edward Smallwood Hughes. He arrived here in 1882, a Princeton grad with "western fever," ready to invest in sheep. His first attempt was a…
You're driving through Abilene, and right here is a place that owes a lot to Jessie Kenan Wilder Jones. Back in the early 1930s, she was driving her kids to Colorado and couldn't find a single shady spot for a picnic…
You're driving through Abilene, a city deeply shaped by the generosity of Ruth Legett Jones. Born here in 1892, she and her husband Percy became one of West Texas's wealthiest families, discovering oil and amassing real…
You're driving near Abilene, the city that owes its very existence to a bit of a bait-and-switch. Back in 1881, folks like Kirvin Kade Legett, a young lawyer fresh from Cleburne, moved to Buffalo Gap hoping it would…
You're driving through Abilene, Texas, a city that owes much of its development to Dallas Scarborough. He wasn't just a civic leader; he was a legendary defense attorney. Scarborough's career started with a tough loss…
You're driving through Abilene, and right here, a Baptist pastor named George W. Smith was instrumental in founding what is now Hardin-Simmons University. In 1890, he championed the idea of a new Baptist college, even…
You're driving near Abilene, the birthplace of Jesse Granderson "Grant" Turner, better known as the "Dean of the Opry Announcers." Born in 1912, Turner's lifelong love affair with radio and country music started right…
You're driving through Abilene, Texas, and right here, back in 1886, the new city attorney, Thomas M. Willis, was making some serious waves. He wasn't playing around with the town's reputation. Willis was cracking down…
You're driving through Texas, and right here, you might be passing by the legacy of Mary Motz Wills, a remarkable wildflower artist. Born in Virginia in 1875, she grew up in Waco and later settled in Abilene. After her…
Right here in Abilene, you're driving past the legacy of Slim Willet, a popular DJ and songwriter who penned the 1952 hit "Don't Let the Stars Get in Your Eyes." Willet didn't just sing and write; he built a music…
You're driving through Abilene, a city that saw its first female medical leader emerge during a time of great change. Dr. Virginia Hawkins Boyd Connally, originally from Temple, returned here after medical school and…
You're driving through Abilene, and right here, you're passing the site of a unique World War II effort: the Bluebonnet Brigade. Formed in 1941, this all-women's group was created to boost morale for soldiers stationed…
You're driving through North Texas, and right here in Abilene, Ann Wedgeworth was born. She wasn't just any actress; she was a Tony Award winner, known for her roles on Broadway and in hit TV shows like 'Evening Shade.'…
You're driving through a wild mountain area, a place that saw its very first Anglican service way back in 1878. Bishop Alexander Charles Garrett, a missionary who'd served across North America, was sent to Texas in…
You're driving past the Abilene Reporter-News, the oldest business institution in town. It started as the Reporter Publishing Company in 1881, just three months after Abilene itself was founded. The original owner, C.E.…
You're driving through Abilene, a city born from a handshake and a railroad line. Back in 1880, ranchers and land speculators met with a railroad locator, convincing him to bypass the existing county seat. They wanted…
Eight 8-foot steel buffalo each weighing over 1000 pounds rotate atop tall poles like giant weather vanes over the parade grounds of the Frontier Texas museum…
Velásquez v. City of Abilene , was one of a series of federal civil rights lawsuits that interpreted the 1982 amendments to the federal Voting Rights Act and clarified the evidentiary and procedural standards that…
You're driving through Abilene, and right here is Abilene Christian University. It started back in 1906 as the Childers Classical Institute, with just twenty-five students. The school faced serious trouble in the late…
You're driving through Abilene, and right here is the birthplace of a West Texas institution: the Abilene Reporter-News. It started as a weekly back in 1881, founded by Charles Edwin Gilbert. Over the years, it went…
You're driving past the Abilene State School, a place that began as a colony for epileptics back in 1901. The state legislature authorized its creation, and the city of Abilene donated a huge tract of land for the…
You're driving west of Abilene, and right here is Dyess Air Force Base. It started life as Tye Army Air Field back in December of 1942, a crucial part of the World War II effort. It was named for William Edwin Dyess, a…
You're driving through Abilene, a city that owes a lot to J. Frank Grimes. For over forty years, he was the editor of the Abilene Reporter-News, shaping public opinion with up to six editorials a day. His readership was…
You're driving through Abilene, and right here is the Hendrick Home for Children. It opened in June of 1939, funded by oilman Tom Hendrick. It wasn't an orphanage, but a home for kids aged two to twelve who couldn't…
You're driving through Jones County, a place that was once a crucial stop on the frontier. Back in 1851, Fort Phantom Hill was established right here, one of a line of forts meant to protect settlers and travelers. It…
You're driving through Abilene, a city built on railroads and oil. Right here, Percy Jones played a key role. He came from England in 1903, joining his uncle in building railroads like the Abilene and Northern. But his…
You're driving through Abilene, and right here is Lytle Lake. It was built back in 1897, not just for water, but to try and lure a state hospital for epileptics to town. The dam was nearly complete when, on June 14th, a…
You're driving through Abilene, and right here is a town shaped by the vision of William Gray Swenson. Born in Louisiana, his family came to Texas when his father acquired vast ranchland. Swenson grew up here, and by…
You're driving through Taylor County, a place named for Alamo defenders. This land was once Comanche territory, largely unsettled until the 1870s. Early settlers were mostly buffalo hunters, but ranching quickly…
You're driving past the site of Abilene's very first school. Back in the spring of 1881, before the schoolhouse was even built, classes were held right here in a tent! Imagine that – learning your ABCs under canvas.…
You're driving through Abilene, and right here is the site of the Laughter Undertaking Company. Dan T. Laughter started here in 1900, taking full ownership of the firm in 1908. For decades, they even operated an…
French M. Robertson, lawyer, oil producer, and Democratic party leader, son of John E. and Eulah Elizabeth (Hudson) Robertson, was born in Stonewall County, Texas, on July 4, 1901. He graduated from high school at…
Jewel Davis Scarborough, Abilene civic leader, was born in Pittsburg, Texas, on May 7, 1887, to Charles Gardner and Martha Alice (Lockett) Davis. She graduated from Jeff Davis College, probably an academy, at fifteen.…
You're driving through West Texas, and right here is the story of the Abilene and Northern Railway. Fostered by local promoters in 1906, this line was chartered to connect Hamlin to Brady, with a branch reaching…
You're driving through West Texas, and right here, the story of the Abilene and Southern Railway unfolds. Chartered in January of <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1909</say-as>, this railroad was built to connect…
You're driving through West Texas, and right here near Abilene, Walter Raleigh Ely made a big impact on the roads you're traveling on. Born in 1879, Ely was a lawyer and judge who eventually landed a crucial role on the…
You're driving through Abilene, the heart of West Texas. Right here, in <say-as interpret-as="date" format="m-d-y">4-19-1924</say-as>, a group of lawyers and academics met in the Taylor County Courthouse. Their mission?…
You're driving past the former site of a major cattle empire. James Harrison Parramore, a Confederate veteran and early settler here, partnered with others to form the San Simon Cattle and Canal Company in 1883. For…
Texas Leadership Charter Academy (Abilene, TX) placed on the 2A Texas high school baseball stat leaderboards for the 2026 season: Tyler Johnston (0.512 avg).
You're driving past the site of Mountain Pass Station, a crucial stop on a legendary route. From 1858 to 1861, this was a vital stagecoach stop on the Butterfield Overland Main Route. This wasn't just any road; it was…
You're driving past the site of a desperate fight near Merkel on February 15, 1870. Corporal Hilliard Morrow and just five men from the 24th U.S. Infantry were guarding a mail station when suddenly, 75 Comanche warriors…
You're driving past the former home of Dr. William H. Butler, Sr., the first African American physician in Abilene. After earning his medical degree in 1910, he began practicing medicine, pharmacy, and even dentistry…
You're driving past the site of Abilene's "Americanization" school, which opened in 1920. It moved to this location in 1936 and served Mexican American children until 1948. For decades, facilities for these students…
You're driving past the Abilene marker for Miss Clara Bussell, who lived from 1902 to 1966. She joined the West Texas Chamber of Commerce in 1920 and served as office manager for forty years, working unselfishly right…
You're driving past the site of Macedonia Baptist Church, organized in 1898 by Rev. J. H. Herron. The church's sanctuary hosted Abilene's first commencement exercises for African American students around 1923. Later,…
You're driving through Abilene, past a remarkable woman who made a huge difference. Eugenia Pickard, born in Georgia around 1877, moved to Abilene in the early 1900s. She owned properties and let poor families with kids…
You're driving past 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…
You're driving past the heart of early Abilene, Texas, where Thomas Middlebrook Willis made his mark. He first scouted this area in 1878, returning in 1883 after law school to set up his practice. Willis served as City…
You're driving past the Abilene home of Morgan Jones, a Welsh immigrant who became a railroad legend. By the time he moved to Abilene in 1908, Jones had laid over a thousand miles of track across Texas and the West. He…
You're driving past the site of Abilene's first public school for African Americans, established way back in 1890. It started as a single room on Plum Street with just 22 students and one teacher. Over the decades, this…
You're driving past the site of McMurry College in Abilene, a school that owes its existence to James Winford Hunt. Hunt started as a newspaper publisher before becoming a Methodist minister in 1903. While serving in…
You're driving past Abilene Municipal Cemetery, a burial ground that's actually five different cemeteries rolled into one. The oldest grave here dates back to 1881, Florence Phillips. You'll also find notables like Mary…
You're driving through Abilene, and right here is the site of Mount Zion Baptist Church, the oldest African American church in the city. It was organized in 1885 by Reverend James Curry. The congregation met in a small…
You're driving past the former home of William Gray and Shirley Swenson, a prominent Abilene couple whose influence stretched far beyond their beautiful prairie-style house. Designed by architect William P. Preston and…
You're driving through Callahan County, heading towards Abilene. Keep an eye out for the site of Tecumseh, a community that owes much to Dr. J.D. Windham. Born in Alabama in 1816, Windham arrived in Texas in 1839. After…
You're driving past 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…
As you pass the signs for Dyess Air Force Base, you're near a cornerstone of America's strategic air command. But the base is also a monument to incredible heroism. It's named for Lt. Col. Ed Dyess, an Albany native. A…
Abilene has a title no other city can claim: the 'Storybook Capital of America.' And you can see why right on its downtown streets. As you explore, you'll find a growing collection of bronze sculptures featuring…
As you drive across the plains toward Abilene, you can’t miss the new giants of the Texas landscape: hundreds of massive wind turbines, spinning in unison on the horizon. This is the heart of Texas's wind corridor. The…
In the heart of downtown Abilene stands the Paramount Theatre, a stunning 1930 movie palace. When it was built, it was the height of luxury, with its Spanish-Moorish design, intricate tilework, and a ceiling painted…
For a city of its size, Abilene has a remarkable concentration of higher education. It's home to not one but three private, faith-based universities: Abilene Christian University, Hardin-Simmons University, and McMurry…
If you were driving southwest of Abilene during World War II, you would have seen a staggering sight: Camp Barkeley, a city that appeared almost overnight eleven miles out of town. It covered better than seventy…
Merkel still calls itself 'The Windmill City,' and it was never just a catchy slogan; it was a statement of survival. When settlers arrived here in the early 1880s behind the Texas and Pacific Railway, the land was dry…
Merkel is home to a man who fundamentally changed a classic American sport. His name is Cody Lambert. Growing up here, Lambert was steeped in rodeo culture, becoming a champion bull rider and saddle bronc rider. But in…
The settlement of Merkel was made possible by a brilliant piece of 19th-century engineering: the self-regulating water-pumping windmill. The problem was simple: the water was hundreds of feet underground, and the wind…
You're driving east of Cedar Creek, approaching Abilene. It's December 1880, and a big decision is being made right here on this hill. H.C. Whithers of the Texas & Pacific Railroad is meeting with local cattlemen,…
You're driving past Abilene Christian University, but its story started way back in 1906. <break time="400ms"/> It was founded as the Childers Classical Institute by A. B. Barret, a preacher and educator. <break…
You're driving past Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene, a school with roots stretching back to 1891. It started as Abilene Baptist College, founded by cattlemen and preachers. It was named for James B. Simmons after…
You're driving near where Cornelia Fort, a pioneering woman pilot, met her tragic end. Born to privilege, she discovered a passion for flying, becoming an instructor and even flying under enemy fire during the Pearl…
You're driving through Mulberry Canyon, named for the trees that once grew along its creeks. This area was a crucial stop for the Military Road and the forty-niner mail route in 1849, later becoming part of the…
You're driving through Crews, Texas, and you might be passing the former home of Nancy Parker, known to locals as 'Grandma' Parker. She wasn't just any settler; she was the community's herb doctor. Imagine her here,…
You're driving through Runnels County, near Crews, where Texas Rangers once set up camp. In 1874, Governor Richard Coke established the Frontier Battalion to protect settlements, and Captain W. J. Maltby's Company E was…
You're driving through Drasco, a community that started life as County Line. In 1904, R. O. Kerr renamed it Drasco when he successfully applied for a post office. The town saw its first schoolhouse built in 1902, and by…
You're driving through Merkel, Texas, a town that owes its start to a man named Charles D. Mims. He moved here in 1909 and, just months later, in April of 1910, became the town's very first mayor. Mims had a varied…
You're driving through Merkel, Texas, the birthplace of Thomas Robert Havins, a man who dedicated his life to Texas history. Born in 1890, Havins' early life was marked by his mother's death and his father's work as a…
You're driving west of Abilene, and right here is Merkel, Texas. It all started in the early 1880s when the railroad came through, and the town was first called "Windmill Town." But in 1881, it was renamed for its very…
Founded around 1870 as Windmill Town, the city was renamed Merkel in 1881 to honor the first settler, S. M. Merkel, from Germany. The town's early growth was marked by the opening of its first mercantile store in 1882…
Farm to Market Road Six Oh Four, between Shackelford and Taylor counties, carries an unusual name: the Atlas ICBM Highway. The Convair Atlas was the first operational intercontinental ballistic missile system used by…
You're driving through Runnels County, not far from Winters. Back in 1874, this area was a frontier outpost. Look to your right – imagine about thirty Texas Rangers from Company E, led by Captain Jeff Maltby, setting up…
You're driving near Winters, Texas, and the name of the game today is vigilance. See that peak? It's Ranger Peak, named for Company E of the Texas Rangers. Back in 1874, these Rangers set up camp just a half-mile east,…
You're driving through Winters, Texas, where cotton is still a principal crop. But did you know it all started with an experiment? Back in 1884, when this area was mostly cattle country, R.F. Counts planted an…
You're driving through Runnels County, and right here was the town of Content. Founded in 1881 by Dan W. Hale, this little settlement was named for the contentment folks felt in the valley. A key early settler was…
You're driving past the resting place of Alec Simmons, a Civil War soldier. He fought for the Confederacy, hailing from Lemon Gap, just a few miles northwest of here. After the war, he returned home, but his final…
You're driving past Counts Cemetery, established in 1884 on land sold to community leaders for a public burial ground for the Content community. It was named for R. F. Counts, who bought the surrounding property in…
You're driving past Content Cemetery, opened in 1883 with the burial of a cowboy named James Hanna. Later, Confederate veteran John A. Hanna was laid to rest here in 1889. Their sister Amanda, her husband, two children,…
You’re likely driving near or on Interstate 20, the massive piece of engineering that redefined Clyde. This town was born from one transportation revolution—the railroad—and completely transformed by another. When I-20…
Clyde has been hit more than once, and the worst of it came on the tenth of June, 1938. A tornado came into town out of the north, killed fourteen people, destroyed twenty-one homes and a string of other buildings, and…
Clyde sits right on the edge of the West Texas plains, where the land starts to roll a bit. You get these beautiful long views, especially at sunset. While the oil boom early last century definitely left its mark, and…
You're driving through Taylor County, and just a couple miles northwest of here was a vital stop on the frontier. This was Valley Creek Station, a key point for the Butterfield Overland Mail starting in 1858. Imagine…
The World War Two Veterans Memorial Highway is a name with an odd history. On August first, nineteen forty four, a Texas highway minute order named U S Highway Eighty the Veterans of World War Two Highway, all the way…
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