Abilene, Texas map
32.45° N · 99.73° W · Taylor County · elev. ~1,720 ft · Central Time
Abilene is where the rolling country of Central Texas gives out and West Texas begins: the last city on I-20 before the run to Midland, and the seat of Taylor County. Three private universities and Dyess Air Force Base give a city of 125,000 an unusually large share of students and airmen.
I-20 runs along the north side, the Winters Freeway (US-83/84) down the west. Dyess AFB is the large clear area southwest of downtown.
Where Abilene is in Texas
Abilene lies 150 miles west of Fort Worth on I-20 and 155 miles east of Midland on the same road, which makes it the natural stopping point on the drive between the metroplex and the Permian Basin. San Angelo is 90 miles south, Wichita Falls 145 miles north, and Lubbock 165 miles northwest.
The city was laid out in 1881 by cattlemen and Texas and Pacific Railway promoters who named it for Abilene, Kansas, the end of the Chisholm Trail. Taylor County, created in 1878, is named for three brothers who died at the Alamo. Surrounding counties are thinly settled: Jones to the north, Callahan to the east, Nolan to the west.
Elevation is about 1,720 feet, and the ground rises to the south into the Callahan Divide, a low limestone ridge that separates the Brazos and Colorado river drainages. The hills around Buffalo Gap, 12 miles south, are the visible edge of it.
Highways
- I-20 – along the north side; east to Fort Worth and Dallas, west to Big Spring and Midland.
- Winters Freeway (US-83/US-84) – the in-town freeway; US-84 runs northwest to Snyder and Lubbock, US-83 south to Ballinger.
- US-277 – north to Anson, Stamford and Wichita Falls; south toward San Angelo and Del Rio.
- SH-36 – southeast to Comanche and, eventually, the Brazos Valley.
- SH-351 – northeast out of downtown toward Albany.
- Loop 322 – the eastern half-loop connecting I-20 to the zoo, the airport and SH-36.
- FM 600 – north from I-20 to Lake Fort Phantom Hill.
Dyess Air Force Base
Dyess occupies the southwest corner of the city off US-277 and the Winters Freeway, with a runway long enough for heavy bombers. It is the home station of B-1B Lancer bombers and C-130J transports, and its personnel and their families are a large part of Abilene's population and payroll. A row of retired aircraft stands along the base road as an outdoor display. The base and the universities together explain why the city's population barely moves with the oil price, unlike Midland and Odessa further west.
Lakes, forts and parks
Abilene has no river worth the name, so its water comes from reservoirs. Lake Fort Phantom Hill, about eight miles north on FM 600, is the closest and the one most people mean when they say "the lake"; the stone chimneys and ruins of Fort Phantom Hill, an army post established on the Clear Fork of the Brazos in 1851, stand just beyond its north end and are open to visitors. Kirby Lake sits on the south side beside Loop 322.
Southwest of the city, Abilene State Park was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s in the wooded hills near Buffalo Gap, with Lake Abilene alongside it on FM 89. Buffalo Gap itself, once the county seat before Abilene took the title in 1883, keeps a collection of 19th-century buildings as a historic village.
Areas and neighborhoods
| Area | What's there |
|---|---|
| Downtown | Cypress and Pine streets, the restored Paramount Theatre, Frontier Texas!, storybook sculptures and the children's illustrated literature center |
| ACU / north side | Abilene Christian University off Ambler Avenue and East North 16th |
| Hardin-Simmons | Campus on Hickory Street just north of downtown |
| McMurry | Campus near South 14th and Sayles Boulevard, south of downtown |
| Sayles / Elmwood | Older tree-lined residential streets along Sayles Boulevard |
| Southwest Abilene | The Mall of Abilene and Southwest Drive retail at the Winters Freeway |
| Nelson Park | Abilene Zoo, expo center and Lake Kirby on the southeast side near Loop 322 |
| Fort Phantom | Lake Fort Phantom Hill north of town, with the 1851 fort ruins nearby |
| Buffalo Gap | Historic village and Abilene State Park with Lake Abilene, southwest on FM 89 |
Distances from Abilene
| City | Road miles | Route |
|---|---|---|
| San Angelo | 90 | US-83/US-277 S |
| Big Spring | 105 | I-20 W |
| Wichita Falls | 145 | US-277 N |
| Fort Worth | 150 | I-20 E |
| Midland | 155 | I-20 W |
| Lubbock | 165 | US-84 NW |
| Dallas | 180 | I-20 E / I-30 E |