[4][5] It is home of The Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum and the Greyhound Hall of Fame.

In 1857, Dickinson County was founded and Abilene began as a stage coach stop, established by Timothy Hersey and named Mud Creek.

In the same year, Joseph G. McCoy purchased 250 acres of land north and east of Abilene, on which he built a hotel, the Drover's Cottage, stockyards equipped for 2,000 heads of cattle, and a stable for their horses.

The Kansas Pacific put in a spur line at Abilene that enabled the cattle cars to be loaded and sent on to their destinations.

The first twenty carloads left September 5, 1867, en route to Chicago, Illinois, where McCoy was familiar with the market.

[13] As railroads were built further south, the end of the Chisholm Trail was slowly moved south toward Caldwell, while Kansas homesteaders concerned with cattle ruining their farm crops moved the trail west toward and past Ellsworth.

Town marshal Tom "Bear River" Smith was initially successful policing Abilene, often using only his bare hands.

Smith wounded one of his two attackers during the shootout preceding his death, and both suspects received life in prison for the offense.

While the marshal was standing off a crowd during a street brawl, gambler Phil Coe took two shots at Hickok, who returned fire, killing Coe, but Hickok then accidentally shot his friend and deputy, Mike Williams,[14] who was coming to his aid.

In 1887, Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway built a branch line from Neva (3 miles (4.8 km) west of Strong City) through Abilene to Superior, Nebraska.

Seelye developed over 100 products for the company including "Wasa-Tusa",[16][failed verification] an Indian name meaning to heal.

[18][20] According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has an area of 4.68 square miles (12.12 km2), all land.

[22] Abilene remains a cattle yard town, loading onto the rail system, along with grain and other crops.

[24] The 2020 United States census counted 6,460 people, 2,797 households, and 1,675 families in Abilene.

[19][40] It intersects a BNSF Railway line which enters the city from the east and then turns north.

British singer-songwriter John Cale's song "Buffalo Ballet" from his 1975 album "Fear" reflects a cynical view of the town's history from the days it was "young and gay" until it "drowned in wealth and pain", as an example of the expansion of the American Frontier.

The main storyline of western video game Call of Juarez: Gunslinger is at Abilene.

[2][56] Old West figures who lived in Abilene during its period as a cowtown included Wild Bill Hickok, cattle baron Joseph McCoy, gambler Phil Coe, marshal Tom "Bear River" Smith, gunfighters Pat Desmond, John Wesley Hardin, and Ben Thompson, and Thompson's sister-in-law Libby, a prostitute and dance hall girl.

[57][58] President of the United States and five-star general Dwight D. Eisenhower grew up in Abilene as did his brothers Edgar, Earl, and Milton.

[59][60] Eisenhower is buried in Abilene, along with his wife Mamie and their eldest son Doud, on the grounds of his presidential library.