Abilene

On a warm summer day we rolled into Abilene, Kansas. We arrived from the south, much like the cattle drives of old. The first destination on our itinerary was the Dickinson Heritage Center. This multi-subject museum is a good spot to learn the background of the area, as well as some extra informational tidbits. The museum is located in a section of the city that has a collection of historical sites and specialty museums. It was nice to find that many of the places we would be touring were all within walking distance of each other. The Dickinson Heritage Center begins with a [...]

There is something engrossing about seeing history come to life. At Old Abilene Town visitors have the chance to witness this happen each weekend during the summer. This place is family-friendly and includes a mix of static museum-style displays with interactive activities. We dropped in on them on a Saturday afternoon and found that they even had a concession truck available for those needing a snack. The Town Our arrival was made in time to give us the leisure of walking around the town before the afternoon performance was scheduled to begin. The buildings are laid out like an old street, but there [...]

UPDATE: The Brookville has been reopened under new ownership. We plan to revisit to update this article.  Abilene, Kansas held a few unexpected surprises for us. Some of you may have heard of the Brookville Hotel, which originated in Brookville, Kansas in the late 1800's. In those days, cowboys were driving Texas longhorns north up the Chisholm Trail. The town of Brookville sprang up along the route, and quickly grew in population with the aspiration of attracting a railroad center. When Union Pacific settled on nearby Junction City, it was a crippling blow for the town of Brookville. Even though the population dwindled, [...]