ABILENE, THE RAILROADS, AND THE UNIVERSITIES

By Jason W. Dean

Hardin-Simmons University, Abilene, Texas

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Upon their arrival to Abilene, Texas, newcomers find a vibrant and bustling city

of over 100,000 people. However, to their surprise, there are no major natural bodies of

water, nor are there any great natural resources. Abilene supports three religious

universities, an Air Force base, a rural cattle industry, and a limited amount of petroleum

companies. These newcomers might ask, “Why is this town here? What are over one

hundred thousand people doing here? How did this city become so much larger than all

of the surrounding communities for roughly one hundred and twenty miles?” The key to

answering these questions lies in the layout of the city itself. The city is bisected by what

at one time was the Texas and Pacific Railroad line, and today is the Burlington

Northern-Santa Fe line. The city planners numbered the east-west streets according to

their location parallel to the railroad line. Abilene’s development clearly started at the

railroad tracks, indicated by the concentration of old industry around the depot. The

Texas and Pacific founded Abilene and brought in the settlers that established the three

universities, validating both the town’s existence and the railroad’s investment. The

campuses of Hardin-Simmons, McMurry, and Abilene Christian remind residents of the

important role those institutions played in establishing Abilene as one of the preeminent

cities in West Texas, set apart from other communities in the region. In addition, the

approximately seven thousand university students contribute to the vitality of the local

community. Abilene’s heritage began when six ambitious men met near the present day

site of Abilene Christian University over one hundred years ago.i

In the summer of 1880 at the Hashknife Ranch in Taylor County, six men created

the framework for the city that would become Abilene. The group consisted of five

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visionary ranchers and businessmen from the surrounding counties and H. C. Withers, a

track and town site locator for the Texas and Pacific Railroad (T & P). The railroad was

looking for a route through local counties, so discussion centered on possible right-of-

ways through the area. After much discussion, the participants finally decided that the

town site would be located between Cedar and Big Elm creeks, just east of Catclaw

Creek. The agreement, however, stipulated that the ranchers and businessmen were to

furnish the land needed to build the depot, sidings, and cattle loading pens. In exchange,

the T & P would pay the landowners $1.50 per acre, with future profits to be divided

between the landowners and the railroad. In addition, the railroad agreed to plot the town,

publish announcements and stage an auction for the sale of land in the new city. The men

named the town Abilene after the cattle town of the same name in Kansas.ii

In 1880, few residents populated Taylor County. The county possessed 1,736

inhabitants, with most of the population centered in Buffalo Gap. Within a year, the

arrival of the Texas and Pacific Railroad would dramatically increase the population. By

the date of the land auction on March 15, 1881, over three hundred additional people

inhabited the bustling tent city of Abilene, where previously only cattle had roamed.iii

The future looked promising for the new town. The T & P ran a special train to

Abilene from Fort Worth, with potential investors paying $6.45 for a one-way ticket.

During the land auction, 139 lots sold for a total of $23,810. The following day, an

additional 178 lots auctioned for $27,550. Private individuals quickly purchased the

remaining lots in sales away from the auction block. During the initial sale, an estimated

one thousand people crowded around the auctioneer as he called out the various bids,

with a large map of the future town behind him.iv

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Despite such early interest, initial sales proved disappointing. The 317 lots sold

did not fulfill the founders’ expectations for Abilene. Undaunted, town boosters soon

redoubled their promotional efforts. The T & P inaugurated a campaign in the eastern

states to create interest for Abilene. The railroad offered reduced fare “immigrant trains”

to deliver any new settlers. Abilene citizens designed and printed brochures to attract

further immigration. Editors for the Taylor County News and the Abilene Reporter

constantly celebrated the beauty and people of the region. The local press also helped

create the West Texas Immigration Association, aimed at increasing settlement in the

city. Although the efforts of local newspapers were largely unsuccessful, the T & P

campaign brought more settlers to the area.v

By the end of 1882, the size of Abilene had increased enough to highlight the

need for local government. In January 1883, Abilene citizens incorporated their

settlement, using the alderman system of municipal government. By that fall, an

increasingly assertive population in Abilene sought to transfer the county seat from

Buffalo Gap to Abilene. After a hotly contested election, Abilene wrestled the county

seat away from Buffalo Gap by a countywide vote of 905 to 269.vi

With the organization of the municipal and county governments, new businesses

arrived in the growing town. By 1884, a photography studio, a machine shop, and a

grocery store opened. These new enterprises enhanced the existing commercial

community; consisting of a hardware store, lumber company, and a blacksmith. Such

business activity resulted in increased property values. For example, a lot at the northeast

corner of North Second and Pine streets sold for $335 in 1881; that same lot cost $2,740

in 1898vii.

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Although the T & P dominated railroad service through Abilene, two short-line

railroads serviced Abilene, contributing to the town’s development. The first of these

railroads was the Abilene and Southern with two unconnected lines, one from Anson to

Hamlin, and one from Abilene to Ballinger. The Abilene and Southern began in 1909 and

ran until its purchase in 1972 by the Missouri-Pacific. The other short-line railroad was

the Abilene and Northern, which extended from Abilene to Stamford. Traffic ran on the

Northern from 1907 until the purchase of the line by the Fort Worth and Denver Railroad

in 1952.viii

The T & P brought more settlers to Abilene to staff these new businesses and

serve in the local governments. Census reports stated that the population of Taylor

County in 1880 was 1,736. One decade later, the population of the county was 6,957. In

comparison, numbers for the non-railroad Throckmorton County were 711 in 1880, and

902 in 1890. The addition of the railroad and Abilene’s possession of city and county

governments caused the boom in growth that the town experienced.ix

The growth in population also brought the arrival of culture and highlighted the

need for civic improvements. In 1888 the Maltbie Opera House opened, well-supplied for

its time. The opera house possessed good stage equipment and hosted number of acting

celebrities. Citizens founded a Reading Club by 1885, which evolved into the

Shakespeare club. Local women started the Cactus Chatauqua Circle and the Hesperian

Chatauqua Circle to educate themselves about a broad range of topics. Abilene men

formed their own literary group, the Round Table. These literary groups demanded the

establishment of a library, which the city built in 1899. Citizens also insisted on public

services, such as better sidewalks and streets. The lack of a public water system emerged

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as one of the most glaring civic deficiencies. The drilling of the city’s first water well in

1891 rectified the problem. Local activists also addressed another apparent deficiency by

outlawing prizefighting within city limits in 1894.x

Other signs of preeminence emerged with the introduction of banks and hotels to

Abilene. One of the earliest banks was Kerr Bank, which subsequently became the

town’s first bank failure. Other banks followed, like Abilene National and Mercantile

Cooperative of New York in 1890. The Windsor and Grace hotels opened for business in

the years after the T & P arrived in Abilene. Many of the city’s most prominent citizens

attended the party celebrating the opening of the Windsor on January 1, 1891. The Grace

hotel opened in 1909 did not have such a grand reception. However, within an hour of the

opening, thirteen people had signed the register.

The founding of Christian churches in Abilene brought about the three colleges,

which validated the T & P’s investment in the town. Three Christian denominations

played a major role in founding the colleges. The Baptists, who met in Abilene for the

first time in 1881, built the first college (Simmons College) by 1892. Members of the

Church of Christ established their first church in 1903. Despite their late start, the

members of the Church of Christ took the shortest amount of time to open their college,

Childer’s Classical Institute. The other three major denominations were the Methodists,

who met by 1880. The Methodist college, McMurry, was the last college established, in

1923.xi

Baptists had a significant impact on early Abilene, especially with the

establishment of a church-related university. The denomination first met in Abilene in

1881, with M. H. Jones as pastor, with twelve members. By 1885, Baptist churches in

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the area organized themselves into the Sweetwater Baptist Association. The association

drew congregations from places as far away as Snyder and Midland. At the association’s

second meeting on August 2, 1890, Abilene reported 263 members in its Baptist

churches. During this second meeting, Abilene Baptists formed a committee to

investigate the establishment a Baptist college in Abilene. They concluded that a school

in Abilene was feasible, and called for the formation of another committee to construct

the college.xii

Two prominent Abilene men played key roles in establishing a Baptist school in

Abilene: K. K. Leggett, and Henry Sayles, Sr. Sayles, along with three other men, made a

attractive offer to the committee for the donation of 16 acres of land and five thousand

dollars for construction of the college. The major stipulation of the offer was that the

college must reside permanently on the site offered. The Sweetwater Baptist Association

accepted the proposal.xiii

Despite the efforts of the Abilene men, the school encountered serious problems

before its opening. Architects drew up plans for the college’s first building, with costs for

construction estimated at $12,500. Clearly, a building needed, but the school did not

possess the money necessary for construction. The Abilene Baptist College project stalled

as a dream on paper, without adequate funds for construction.xiv

Despite such problems, benefactors soon secured the college’s future. Smith, a

local former pastor, wrote Simmons a letter, making a desperate plea for any aid

Simmons, a well-known philanthropist, could offer. By 1907, through the efforts of

Smith, Simmons donated a total of twenty thousand dollars to the college. In return for

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the generous donation, the trustees renamed the university Simmons College. This

donation provided for construction of the college’s first building.xv

Simmons College started its first year, 1892, with many ceremonies. Hundreds of

people attended the placing of the cornerstone of the first building and barbecue on July

14, 1894. Advertisements appeared in newspapers throughout Texas promoting the new

institution. On September 16 in 1892, most of the local population gathered for a

spectacle that few in the area had ever witnessed – the opening ceremony for a college’s

academic year. In the audience, ninety students and the seven faculty members sat as the

first president of the college, Dr. William Christopher Friley, presided over the ceremony.

R. T. Hanks, the “resident pastor,” presented a sermon entitled “Learn of Me,” based on

Matthew 11:29. Classes commenced the following day.xvi

Simmons College’s early classes were typical of the period, and the classes

brought the first courses in higher education to the Abilene area. Early classes followed

the classical tradition. The study for freshmen included the study of Latin and Greek

grammar, Latin Prose, and a course in geometry. The History of Modern People was

required as well. Sophomores studied Trigonometry, Anatomy, Physiology, and Hygiene.

The “wise fools” also attended courses in Latin and Greek prose, Astronomy and

“General History.” The course of the upperclassmen continued in the same classical

tradition.xvii

The Church of Christ was the second major Christian denomination to establish a

college in Abilene. Although arriving in Abilene over a decade after the town’s founding,

the Church of Christ grew locally, quickly establishing Abilene as one of the major

centers for the denomination in the United States. In October 1903, local settlers planted

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the first Church of Christ. Colonel J. W. Childers, This first church went on to establish

twelve other area churches.xviii

Regardless of their location, Church of Christ men helped build a college for their

denomination in Abilene. Two Tennessee men, A. B. Barret and Charles H. Robinson

made the initial impetus for founding and construction. These two men made up a part of

the committee in Tennessee that determined Abilene as the best site for the new

institution to reside. After correspondence between the men and an Abilene resident,

Barret and Robinson instructed a local lawyer to file the papers that chartered the college.

Colonel Childers, a member of this first church, offered the committee his residence and

surrounding land at less than its value to assist in the construction. As a demonstration of

their gratitude, the committee agreed to name the new institution Childers Classical

Institute. The committee also appointed A. B. Barret president and Charles H. Robinson

as secretary-treasurer of the school, in appreciation of their work in Tennessee for the

establishment of the school; and ordered the construction of a building, completed in time

for the opening on September 11, 1906.xix

Initial hope, however, soon faded. About ninety-three students arrived for classes,

with most enrolled in the elementary and lower high school divisions. By the end of the

year, no student had graduated. Student enrollment declined during the second year. By

1908, both Barret and Robinson resigned their positions, in response to more lucrative

offers from other colleges. Following the resignation of its two founders, the institute

suffered from lack of interest and of funds. In addition, the school had to compete with

Simmons College, already accredited to offer collegiate degrees. The less than two

hundred ex students tried to increase interest in the school, but their actions had little

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impact. The presidency of the college changed frequently, and the school made little

progress. In 1912, the appointment of Jesse Parker Sewell as president provided a turning

point.xx

The school flourished under Sewell, and his efforts ensured the stability and long-

term success of the school. Sewell oversaw the building of a girl’s dormitory, the first

new building in six years. Due to such efforts, the quality and quantity of both the staff

and the classes improved enough by 1914 to warrant the accreditation of the school by

the University of Texas. The University accredited Childer’s Institute as a junior college,

authorized to award the Associate of Arts degree. Finally, in 1920, the new college

obtained permission to change its name to Abilene Christian College. The accreditation

of Abilene Christian College and of Simmons College paved the way for local

Methodists to establish a church-related college in 1923.xxi

Abilene Methodists, among the first to arrive in the city, had been a part of

community life from the very beginning. L. F. Collins served the Taylor County Mission

in 1878, before the initial land sales. The congregation organized themselves into a

district in 1880, followed a year later by the establishment of the First Methodist Church.

In addition, the denomination built the first church in Abilene, at 202 Butternut Street. By

1888, the Abilene association claimed two hundred 225 members, which necessitated the

building of a second church structure in 1890. The Methodist congregation continued to

grow as the town increased in size and stature. St. Paul Methodist, the largest church of

the denomination in the city, became active by 1908. During that same year, Bishop

Joseph S. Key noted on his visit to Abilene that the city needed another Methodist church

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on the growing northern side. These new members soon called for the building of the

city’s final religious college, McMurry.xxii

Abilene citizens played a prominent role in competition for the new college. The

Methodist Northwest Texas Conference decided to establish a college in the area, due to

the closure of two other Methodist colleges in West Texas. James Winfred Hunt, the

pastor of St. Paul’s in Abilene pushed the document through the conference. The

conference notified cities within its boundaries of the plan. Both Abilene and Stamford

expressed interest in having the new institution. Both cities submitted offers of land and

money, but the conference chose Abilene over Stamford. Abilene offered a total of

$450,000. $300,000 was allocated for buildings, $50,000 for the grounds, and the final

100,000 dollars for the endowment of the new college. In addition to the money, the city

pledged to build streetcar connections to the property and promised free water and

twenty-five acres of land. Stamford offered twenty acres of land already owned by the

conference, and 165,000 dollars. Abilene’s generous offer won the committee’s

approval.xxiii

McMurry College started strong. The conference chose the name “McMurry

College” in honor of the Bishop that had seen the institution to fruition. Reverend Hunt

was nominated to be the first president, because of his zeal in bringing the school to

Abilene. His appointment ensured the close tie between St. Paul’s and McMurry. The

initial building projects finished in time for the opening of the institution on September

19, 1923.xxiv

The establishment of this final college enhanced Abilene’s stature in the region.

The three colleges complemented the investment of the Texas and Pacific, and all the

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efforts of the citizens by ensuring the regional preeminence of the city. Abilene, however,

would not exist without the initial efforts of the Texas and Pacific to bring settlers to the

area. Abilene exhibits an unusual reciprocal relationship between two organizations, very

much different, but both with much the same purpose: to ensure the “Future Great City of

West Texas, Abilene.”

i Fane Downs, “Abilene, Texas,” The New Handbook of Texas [Handbook on-line]; available

from http://tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/view/AA/hda1.html; Internet, accessed 5 April, 2003.ii __________, ed., The Future Great City of West Texas Abilene: 1881-1981 (Abilene, TX:

Rupert N. Richardson Press, 1981), 3; Naomi Hatton Kinckaid, “The Founding of Abilene, ‘The FutureGreat’ of the Texas and Pacific Railway” West Texas Historical Association Year Book 22 (1946): 18.

iii Downs, ed., The Future Great City, 3; First Century Abilene (Abilene, TX: Abilene PublicLibrary, 1981), 1.

iv Robert Graham Porterfield, Jr.,“Early History of Abilene up to 1920,” (M. A. Thesis, Hardin-Simmons University, 1969), 21; First Century Abilene, 1; Porterfield, Jr.,“Early History of Abilene up to1920,” 21.

v First Century Abilene, 2; Shirley M. Eoff, “Abilene, Texas, 1888 to 1900: A Town Striving forSuccess” (M. A. Thesis, Hardin-Simmons University, 1978), 6, 9.

vi Porterfield, Jr.,“Early History of Abilene up to 1920” 23, 25, 26.vii Porterfield, Jr.,“Early History of Abilene up to 1920” 60.viii Ira G. Clark, Then Came the Railroads: The Century From Steam to Diesel in the Southwest

(Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 1958) 256; “Abilene Closes Contract for Morgan JonesRoad” Abilene Reporter News (October 18 1908), 1; Charles P. Zlatkovich, Texas Railroads: A Record ofConstruction and Abandonment (Austin, TX: Texas State Historical Society, 1981): 61.

ix Porterfield, Jr.“Early History of Abilene up to 1920” 103.x Eoff, “Abilene, Texas, 1888 to 1900,” 65, 67; First Century Abilene, 4; Downs, ed., The Future

Great City, 6; Eoff, “Abilene, Texas, 1888 to 1900” 60.xi Porterfield, Jr.,“Early History of Abilene up to 1920,” 124, 128, 135; First Century Abilene, 3.xii R. C. Crane, “The Beginning of Hardin-Simmons University,” West Texas Historical

Association Year Book 16 (1940): 61-74, here 61-65, 68.xiii Crane, “The Beginning of Hardin-Simmons University,” 61, 68; Porterfield, Jr.,“Early History

of Abilene up to 1920,” 128-129.xiv Rupert Norval Richardson, Famous Are Thy Halls (Abilene, TX: privately printed, 1964), 19.xv Dr. Smith was the former pastor of the Abilene Baptist Church. Dr. Simmons was known for

donating money for the cause of Christian education. Dr. Pope knew both men, and assisted Smith in hisplea for assistance. Simmons College would not possess its current name until the death of James B.Hardin, whose estate donated $900,000 upon his death in 1935. Porterfield, Jr.,“Early History of Abileneup to 1920,” 113; Crane, “The Beginning of Hardin-Simmons,” 73; Richardson, Famous Are Thy Halls, 19,156.

xvi “Opening of Simmons College: Attended by a Great Many Citizens and Visitors FromNeighboring Towns,” The Abilene Reporter September 16 1892, 1; Crane, “The Beginning of Hardin-Simmons,” 72; Porterfield, Jr.,“Early History of Abilene up to 1920,” 114; Richardson, Famous Are ThyHalls, 20; Catalogue: Simmons College, 1892-1893 (Abilene, TX: Richardson Library, 1891 LegacyCollection), 2, 3.

xvii Catalogue: Simmons College, 1892-1893, 2, 3.

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xviii Porterfield, Jr.,“Early History of Abilene up to 1920,” 135, 136.xix Porterfield, Jr.,“Early History of Abilene up to 1920,” 117.xx Porterfield, Jr.,“Early History of Abilene up to 1920,” 118, Guy A. Scruggs, “Abilene Christian

College,” West Texas Historical Association Year Book 21 (1945): 5.xxi Porterfield, Jr.,“Early History of Abilene up to 1920,” 118; Scruggs, “Abilene Christian

College,” 9-11.xxii Porterfield, Jr.,“Early History of Abilene up to 1920,” 125-126, 127.xxiii “New Institution Heavily Endowed,” The Abilene Daily Reporter, March 21 1920, 1; Fane

Downs, Robert Sledge, eds., Pride of Our Western Prairies: McMurry College, 1923-1988 (Abilene, TX:McMurry College, 1989), 7.

xxiv Downs and Sledge, eds., Pride of Our Western Prairies, 11.