Abilene High School Band, Abilene, Kansas
Date: 1925
This is a view of the members of the Abilene High School Band marching in a parade on 3rd Street, between Buckeye and Spruce, in Abilene, Kansas. Also visible are spectators, a horse-drawn carriage, automobiles, businesses, and buildings.

Abilene Ikes baseball team, Abilene, Kansas
Date: 1949
This photograph features the 1949 Abilene Ikes, the team that won the pennant in the Amateur Baseball League of America with a record of 28-20. The ABLA, which was established in 1947 as a successor to the Central Division of the Kansas Ban Johnson League, consisted of five teams in 1949, including Abilene, Beloit, Clay Center, Junction City, and Manhattan. Standing in the photo are (l to r): Jim Schlesener, Lonnie Golden, Leo Christopher, Tex Seymour, Chick Gordon, Gus Carmack, Clyde Girrens, Wayne Platz, and Mike Gulino. Seated are (l to r): William Bell, Jack Sullivan, Carrol Bryant, Sonny Hancks, Von Price (manager), Dale Hatfield, Bob Stewart, Bob Tomchak, and Neale Henderson. The photo appeared in the Abilene Reflector-Chronicle on August 9, 1949. Digital reproduction of the photograph was accomplished through a joint project sponsored by the Kansas Historical Society and the Shawnee County Baseball Hall of Fame.

Abilene, Kansas
Creator: Baker-Co
Date: 1874
An illustration, titled "Abilene in its Glory," of crowds of people at the railroad depot in Abilene, Kansas. Also visible are a train drawn by a steam locomotive, people on foot and on horseback, a telegraph wire, a horse-drawn carriage, and buildings. The illustration was copied from Joseph G. McCoy's Historic Sketches of the Cattle Trade of the West and Southwest, 1874. The illustrator is Henry Worrall.

Abilene, Kansas
Date: 1875
A photograph showing Broadway Avenue, looking north in Abilene, Kansas.

Abilene, Kansas, looking northwest from the Courthouse
Date: 1886
Photograph of Abilene, Kansas, in Dickinson County, looking northwest from the Courthouse, 1886.

Abilene in its glory
Creator: Baker-Co
Date: 1874
An illustration of a train of cattle leaving Abilene, Kansas. The illustration was copied from Joseph G. McCoy's Historic Sketches of the Cattle Trade of the West and Southwest, 1874. The illustrator is Henry Worrall

Abilene reflector
Creator: Strother, Berzelius Leslie
Date: September 6, 1883-April 26, 1888
View and search this newspaper by clicking on the Chronicling America link below. This newspaper comes from the collections of the Kansas Historical Society and was digitized with funds from the National Endowment for the Humanities as part of the National Digital Newspaper Program. The Abilene Reflector, founded in the latter half of 1883, was an eight-page newspaper published every Thursday. By the early 1880s, Abilene had shed its rough cowtown image of the late 1860s to become a thriving commercial center with a rapidly growing population. In its own words, the paper was "conducted in the interest of the Democratic party, believing the party in its wisdom in the choice of candidates, from county offices to national, is greater than personal feeling or prejudice."

Abilene weekly reflector
Creator: Reflector Pub.
Date: May 3, 1888-June 28, 1894
View and search this newspaper by clicking on the Chronicling America link below. This newspaper comes from the collections of the Kansas Historical Society and was digitized with funds from the National Endowment for the Humanities as part of the National Digital Newspaper Program. The Abilene Weekly Reflector was published from May 3, 1888 until February 21, 1935. Owned by the Reflector Publishing Company, consisting of John J. Cooper as president and Richard Waring as business manager, the Reflector began a new Republican Party affiliation. The new proprietors cited "the universal demand of republicans in this section of the state for a Republican newspaper at Abilene" and began the "anomalous task of converting a Simon-pure democratic paper into a live, progressive republican journal." In 1888, the Reflector became the official paper of Dickinson County, seizing the title from the Abilene Gazette.

Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway Company tool house, Abilene, Kansas
Date: May 1931
This black and white photograph shows the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway Company's west tool house, which was a part of the Middle Division Strong City District, in Abilene, Kansas. The structure was built in 1887.

Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway Company tool house, Abilene, Kansas
Date: May 1931
This black and white photograph shows the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway Company's east tool house, which was a part of the Middle Division Strong City District, in Abilene, Kansas. The structure was built in 1887.

Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway Company water tank, Abilene, Kansas
Creator: Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway Company
Date: May 1931
This black and white photograph shows the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway Company's water tank in Abilene, Kansas. The structure was built in 1904 and was a part of the Middle Division Strong City District.

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Company depot, Abilene, Kansas
Date: July 1926
This photograph shows the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Company depot in Abilene, Kansas. At the peak of the roof a four-leaf emblem is visible. The red-brick building is located on the Eastern Lines, Middle Division, Strong city District along mile post 58.1. The depot is maintain by Burlington Northern Railroad.

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Company depot, Abilene, Kansas
Creator: Killam, H.
Date: November 14, 1954
This photograph shows the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Company depot in Abilene, Kansas. At the top peak of the roof a four leaf emblem is visible. The red brick building is located on the Eastern Lines, Middle Division, Strong City District along mile post 58.1. The depot is maintained by Burlington Northern Railroad.

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Company depot, Abilene, Kansas
Date: Between 1950s and 1960s
This photograph shows the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Company depot in Abilene, Kansas. The red-brick building is located on the Eastern Lines, Middle Division, Strong City District along mile post 58.1. The depot is maintained by Burlington Northern Railroad.

Auto races, Abilene, Kansas
Date: Between 1910 and 1929
This black and white photograph shows an auto racing at the fair in Abilene, Kansas.

Baseball team, Abilene, Kansas
Date: 1911
This black and white photograph shows baseball players from Abilene, Kansas. The members have been identified as: BACK ROW from left to right: Roy Garver, Six McDonnell, David Stanley, Earl Briney, Frank Madded, Francis Little, Jack Hutton. FRONT ROW from left to right: Eddie Kincaid, Otto Smith, Earl Merrifeld, Milton Huffman, and Carl L. Nicolay.

Bird's-eye view of Abilene, Kansas
Date: 1886
This bird's-eye view shows Abilene, Kansas, possibly as early as 1886.

Birdseye view of Abilene, the future Capital of Kansas
Date: Between 1870 and 1899
A street map of Abilene, Kansas, surrounded by images of its notable buildings, as published for the J. D MacMaster and Company real estate dealers and loan brokers.

C. W. Parker Amusement Company
Date: Between 1903 and 1905
A photograph showing the C. W. Parker Amusement Company on the carnival grounds in Abilene, Kansas.

C. W. Parker Amusement Company billboard in Abilene, Kansas
Date: Between 1903 and 1905
A photograph showing C. W. Parker Amusement Company's billboard in Abilene, Kansas.

Cattle in Abilene, Kansas
Date: 1886
A photograph showing cattle in the stockyards at Abilene, Kansas. Visible in the photograph are railroad cars and an elevator.

Cedar Street in Abilene, Kansas
Date: Between 1882 and 1883
A stereograph looking south on Cedar Street from 3rd Street in Abilene, Kansas. The photograph shows various business buildings on Cedar Street.

Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad depot, Abilene, Kansas
Creator: Killam, H.
Date: November 14, 1954
This photograph shows the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad depot in Abilene, Kansas. The combination depot was part of Missouri-Kansas Division, Sub. Division 36B at milepost 198.4. The depot was moved to the Old Abilene Town museum complex in 1959. The Victorian-era Stick Style building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2010.

Clyde Phares Moot, World War I soldier
Creator: Moot, Clyde Phares
Date: 1917-1919
Around 1919, the Kansas State Historical Society and the American Legion solicited biographical information from returning veterans (primarily members of the 35th and 89th infantry divisions) and the families of those who died in service, notably from the Gold Star Mothers. Each veteran or family member was asked to provide letters, photographs, a biography, and military records. This file contains information on Clyde Phares Moot, Headquarters Company, 353rd Infantry, 89th Division.

Correspondence between Dwight David Eisenhower and U.S. Senator Joseph L. Bristow concerning Eisenhower's appointment to a military academy
Creator: Eisenhower, Dwight David, 1890-1969
Date: August 1910 -- March 1911
This is a series of letters concerning Dwight D. Eisenhower's request for an appointment to a military academy--either West Point or Anapolis. Four of the letters are from Eisenhower to Kansas Senator Joseph L. Bristow. One is from E. F. Fairchild to Bristow conveying the scores of Kansans taking a preliminary examination and one is from Bristow informing Eisenhower of his appointment to West Point. Eisenhower was living in Abilene, Kansas, when he wrote these letters. Eisenhower, born October 14, 1890, was nearly 20 but claimed to be a year younger as the Naval Academy did not accept candidates over age 18. The items in this series are also in Kansas Memory as individual items except the letter from Eisenhower dated August 20, 1910, which is the first letter in this item.