About Abilene

A&SV RR

Abilene & Smoky Valley Railroad

Abilene & Smoky Valley Railroad Depot, 200 SE 5th Street, Abilene, KS, 67410 Depot phone # 785-263-0118 or 888-426-6689 Office phone # 785-263-1077 or 888-426-6687

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About Abilene

Abilene, KS was founded in 1857 when Timothy and Elizabeth Hersey settled in a dugout on the west bank of Mud Creek. Mrs. Hersey named the new town “Abilene” after a bible verse, Luke 3:1, which described a region in Galilea.

The Kansas Pacific Railroad arrived in Abilene in 1867. Joseph G. McCoy established a hotel and stockyard in Abilene shortly thereafter and the Chisholm Trail was established that same year bringing thousands of longhorn cattle to Abilene between 1867 and 1872 to be loaded on railcars and shipped to Eastern markets. The Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad and the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad both arrived in Abilene in 1887. All three rail lines remain, although under different ownership, and depots for each railroad still exist. Famous lawmen Tom Smith and Wild Bill Hickok once served the city of Abilene.

Charles Wallace Parker operated an amusement company in south Abilene manufacturing hand-carved carousels and carnival equipment. Parker built his first carousel in 1892, and started the Parker Carnival Supply Company two years later. In 1896, the company became the C. W. Parker Amusement Company. Over the years Parker’s company produced all sorts of amusement devices including shooting galleries, Ferris wheels, and other carnival equipment. Parker’s business lasted in Abilene until 1911 when it was moved to Leavenworth, KS.

Dr. Alfred Barns Seelye incorporated the A.B. Seelye Medical Company in 1897. Seelye developed over 100 products for the company. His patented medicines were sold from fancy wagons over a 14 state area.

Cleyson Leroy Brown, the son of a grist mill owner, first founded an electric utility and then, in 1899, the Brown Telephone Company, which eventually became known as United Telecommunications in 1972 and after the acquisition of Sprint/GTE became known as Sprint in 1992.

Abilene’s primary claim to fame, though, is as the “town that raised a president”. President Dwight David Eisenhower was raised in Abilene and attended Abilene schools. He and his wife, Mamie, are buried in the Place of Meditation at the Eisenhower Center in Abilene.

Explore the Chisholm Trail!

www.chisholmtrail150.org

Abilene Attractions

The Heritage Center Museums

(Dickinson County Historical Museum)

(Museum of Independent Telephony)

(C. W. Parker Carousel)

412 S. Campbell Street

www.heritagecenterdk.com

Old Abilene Town

100 SE Fifth Street

www.oldabilenecowtown.com