Abilene, city and seat of Dickinson County, in east central Kansas, on the Smoky Hill River. Situated in the heart of a grain-farming and livestock-raising region, the city is a trade and distribution center with some light industry. Among the points of interest in the city are the Eisenhower Center, which includes the boyhood home of President Dwight D. Eisenhower; Old Abilene Town, a re-creation of the community as it was in the 19th century; the Museum of Independent Telephony, displaying antique telephone industry equipment; and the Greyhound Hall of Fame, which includes a museum of greyhound racing. Settled in the late 1850s, Abilene prospered in the late 1860s and early 1870s as the northern terminus of the Chisholm Trail, a major cattle-driving route. At Abilene the cattle were loaded and shipped by railroad to Eastern markets. The city was incorporated in 1869. The name Abilene, taken from the Bible, means either “beautiful homeland” or “city of the plains.” Population 6,572 (1980); 6,242 (1990); 6,519 (1998 estimate).
