...of 158,063. It is the county seat of Taylor County. Dyess Air Force Base is located to the west of the city.
Abilene is located off Interstate 20, between exits 279 on its western edge and 292 on the east. Abilene is west of Fort Worth, Texas. The city is looped by I-20 to the north, US 83/84 on the west, and Loop 322 to the east. A railroad divides the city down the center into north and south. The historic downtown area is on the north side of the railroad.
The fastest-growing sections of the city are growing to the southwest, along Southwest Drive, the Winters Freeway, and the Buffalo Gap Road corridor; the southeast, along Loop 322, Oldham Lane, Industrial Drive, and Maple Street; and in the northeast near the intersection of SH 351 and I-20. Many developments have begun in these three areas within the last few years. There are three lakes in the city, Lytle Lake on the western edge of Abilene Regional Airport, Kirby Lake on the southeast corner of the US 83/84 & Loop 322 interchange, and Lake Fort Phantom in Jones County north of the city. "Frontiering," the city's branding campaign launched in November 2008, is designed to create a progressive identity from Abilene's history, culture, geography, commerce and the spirit of its people.
History
Established by cattlemen as a stock shipping point on the Texas and Pacific Railway in 1881, the city was named after Abilene, Kansas,
the original endpoint for the Chisholm Trail. The T&P had bypassed the town of Buffalo Gap, the county seat at the time. Eventually, a landowner north of Buffalo Gap, Clabe Merchant, known as the father of Abilene, chose the name for the new town. According to a Dallas newspaper, about eight hundred people had already begun camping at the townsite, before the lots were sold. The town was laid out by Colonel J. Stoddard Johnson and the auction of lots began early on March 15, 1881. By the end of the first day, 139 lots were sold for a total of $23,810, and an
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