the fair mother city: part III

(history)

History has always been a mild interest of mine. And particularly, local history. And by local, I mean wherever I happened to be living at the time (ie: If I lived in Bangor, Maine, then I’d be fascinated by Bangor’s history. But I’ve never been there, thus I’ve never looked into Bangor’s history).

The history of the fair mother city is fun for me because it’s real. This is my home. I walk or drive by things every day that was once some historical significance of some sort. For example, there’s a huge rusted metal building near Franklin Middle School, between N. 10th and N. 11th streets a few blocks west of Grape Street (I think the address is Clinton Street). Few people know that this was once the garage that housed the downtown trolley cars back in the 1920’s.

I love this kind of stuff. I am a nerd.

If you don’t want to read the details, here’s the history of the fair mother city in a brief, one sentence quip:

Abilene, Texas was founded on bribery, deceit, and greed.

And somehow, in a spiritual sense, I don’t think that’s too far off from the inner makings of the religious church culture that controls this town. But those parallels are mere conspiracy theories of mine, and nothing more.

The brief details of the fair mother city’s founding:*

In the mid to late 1870’s, a community of people lived in Buffalo Gap, Texas in Taylor County. It was the only populated community in the area due to it’s natural underground water source and beautiful greenery. I think somewhere between 1000 and 3000 people lived there.

Word got out that the Texas and Pacific Railroad Co. (T & P) were planning to build a railroad between Dallas/Ft. Worth and El Paso. Everyone knew that having the railroad built in your struggling frontier town meant strong economic impact and thus a strong future for your town. Buffalo Gap was directly in between Ft. Worth and El Paso so all was assumed that they would be put on the map forever.

Meanwhile, three businessmen (J.D. Parramore, and twin brothers John and Clabe Merchant) met with an executive from the T & P at the Hashknife Ranch, located about 15 miles north of Buffalo Gap in an open field where current day Will Hair City Park is located**.

The three businessmen bribed the railroad executive to have the railroad built about 15 miles north of Buffalo Gap…through an empty field they happen to own. Knowing good and well that any land with a railroad on it would multiply in value overnight, the bribing trio planned to auction off city blocks from the railroad and create Abilene, named after Abilene, Kansas which was then a famous cattle shipping point. And this happened March 15, 1881. The first city block sold is at N. 2nd and Pine Street (One City Center which currently houses AISD offices).

Residents of Buffalo Gap were dumbfounded since their town already had the populous in the region. Three years later, Abilene was voted County Seat over Buffalo Gap. Legend states that there was an actual gun slinging fight over the transfer of county record from BG to the FMC. But nobody was shot.

And there you have it: bribery, deceit, trickery, and greed. Little did the founding fathers know (or care) that not only was there no natural water source*** for their new city, but that their open field was a major flood plain****. Way to go guys! Who needs common sense when you can make a buck.




*Please, it has been a few years since I’ve read the numerous history books on Abilene from our local library. Some details of mine written here may be incorrect. If interested, there’s a wealth of books at the downtown library. The best ones on Abilene and Taylor County history are written by Juanita Zachery, who I’m told is still alive and lives near ACU.

** Yes, the pervert park by ACU.

***The fair mother city still struggles to maintain an adequate water supply for its residents, especially amongst drought within our semi-arid region of the planet.

****Abilene, especially the city’s north side (which is usually home to the poorer residents) floods easily and often. There are no underground drainage systems within the north side of town. The streets serve as drainage into the creek system. And the creeks are often in need of cleaning and/or maintenance to insure proper water flow in flood situations. I’ve noticed that creeks in the southern, wealthier parts of the city are cleared out often, when north side creeks are left in need of repair. But I may be incorrect on this observation...