A city of 115,000 residents, Abilene owes its existence to the 1881 decision of the Texas & Pacific Railway to lay tracks on the land that is now the middle of town. While Buffalo Gap was the established county seat at the time, the railroad's existence 12 miles to the north rerouted the course of history, bringing pioneers to Abilene in droves. The initial industry revolved around the hundreds of thousands of buffalo skeletons that were killed for their hides in the years before--the bones were highly sought by sugar refineries and fertilizer manufacturers. By the end of 1882, the plains were picked clean and Abilene had laid claim to the county seat. Buffalo Gap's position as the prime regional outpost screeched to a halt as Abilene grew by leaps and bounds.

In 1940, Camp Barkley, a massive U.S. Army training center that would eventually be home to 60,000 troops, opened southwest of the city. When World War II ended, the camp's closure led skeptics to believe that the local economy would collapse. However, in the 1950s, Dyess Air Force Base came to town and established Abilene as the home for B-1 bomber crew training; the base is now the city's largest employer, with a workforce 15,000 strong. In the 1990s, aggressive economic developments stimulated the economy, cementing Abilene's status as a regional commercial hub. It is also one of the world's foremost horse show capitals, with numerous equine events held annually. The former county seat, Buffalo Gap, didn't fade into nothingness, however; the community has retained a quaint, small-town atmosphere and is one of the area's premier tourist attractions.