At the junction of US-83 and I-20, Abilene (pop. 115,930) sits approximately in the geographic center of Texas. Abilene’s fundamentalist Christian seminaries and the tame (for Texas) demeanor of its citizens have earned it the much-used nickname, “Buckle of the Bible Belt.” Abilene, Texas, originally named after the raucous cowboy town of Abilene, Kansas, grew from nothing once the Texas and Pacific Railway came through in the 1870s. Then as now, cattle played a predominant economic role, though Abilene’s economy has diversified into less-classically Texas endeavors, such as the unavoidable military air base and petroleum refinery. Abilene supports big-city amenities, including a symphony, though its indigenous fundamentalism precludes more libertine nocturnal notions; in 1925, the town fathers made it a misdemeanor, in the eyes of the law, to “flirt in a public place.”
Abilene’s downtown area, marked by a pair of 10-story towers, is not quite gentrified, but obviously galvanized for the attempt. The grand old Grace Hotel, now refurbished and known as the Museums of Abilene (closed Sun.; $5, free on Thursday; 325/673-4587), at 102 Cypress Street, houses an art museum, an engaging historical museum, and a children’s museum. It’s air-conditioned and well worth a look.
If you choose to spend some time in Abilene, you won’t want for excursions. The Abilene Zoo (daily; $3) yields the Discovery Center, which features a great exhibit on southwest habitats, comparing veldts and plains of places as diverse as Africa and the United States. West of town is the Dyess Air Force Base and its Linear Air Park, a collection of aircraft from World War II to Desert Storm; it’s free and you paid for it, so you may as well check it out. Dyess AFB also served as command center for 1960s Atlas Missile silos, 5 of which line the “Atlas ICBM Highway” (Hwy-604), east of Abilene and south of I-20 exit 301.
