Downtown Abilene: the good, the bad, the ugly.

WestTexan87 · November 23rd, 2009, 08:46 AM

Abilene, Texas: located about 2 or 3 hours west of DFW by car. It is home to about 116,000 people (160,000 in the metropolitan area). Like many towns around the south, its downtown has endured years of neglect. Only in the past 20 years have portions of it slowly begun to be rehabilitated and turned into a source of civic pride.

This tour doesn't stick to the shiny, polished path. I started off in southern downtown, in an area surrounding the Taylor County Courthouse. A few days later, I ventured through the restored area and then back off the beaten trail into the under-loved warehouse district, which has suffered two devastating fires since September.

Any feedback is appreciated (even negative).

Disclaimer: I know there are no people. I have no good excuse for this. Abilene is not a city of pedestrians. Just accept that fact before proceeding.

A bit of history to start with. Abilene has had 3 courthouses over the years.
The first one, built in the late 1880s, was a typical Texan gem, complete with clock tower.

Deemed to small for the burgeoning city by the 1910s, it was demolished to make way for a more modern (and larger) neoclassical box in 1914.

By the 1970s, Abilene had far outgrown its courthouse and a new one was erected across the street, in typical 70s taste.

The old town square is basically dead, save a couple random cafes and shops. Mostly, the few remaining storefronts are home to lawyers' offices.

A block away, buildings sit abandoned and broken.

Moving another block east, the sidewalks disappear altogether and the weeds grow taller.

A row of tidy office buildings serve to enhance the Twilight Zone effect offered by the desolate and silent streets.

A former warehouse serves as a furniture making business.

Across the street is the 1929 Abilene & Northern Rail Depot. Supposedly, it's going to be converted into a restaurant.

Across the road from that, to the south, is a 90+ year old grain mill.

Once a bustling business, it left its good ol' days long behind.

North downtown peeks over at us.

The back side of the 1914 Courthouse.

At left, the 1938 Agriculture Dept building, now home to Welfare (built by the Works Progress Admin). At right is the former county jail, an art deco gem encased in 60s white brick.

The Taylor County Law Enforcement HQ, built on the site of a long-closed Thornton's Department Store.

Taylor County Plaza, built in the 1960s as a bank, is home to many county offices. Hideous and in dire need of renovations, I can't say it is anything but an eyesore at the present time.

Abilene's tallest building: the 1983 Enterprise Building (300 feet).

The 1930 Wooten Tower looking over the tracks at me.

A row of lawyers' offices.

An odd place for lunch.

A beautiful building currently playing host to a less-than-reputable club.

Moving across the tracks to the north side, you'll find the restored portion of downtown. Its crown jewel is the 1930 Paramount Theater. It was saved from the wrecking ball in the 1980s and spurred the revival of the rest of the neighborhood.
(The Theater in 1930)

(And today)

Grissom's Department Store, an Abilene favorite for decades, is now home to the Center for Contemporary Arts (and a new brick face).
(In 1955)

(Today)

Busch Jewelers, another longtime Abilene resident, built this oddly intriguing new store in the 60s. It still stands today with the same tenant.
(In abt 1970)

(Today)

McKay's Bakery (a local favorite) and O'Kelly Office Supply.

A row of office towers. In the foreground is a parking lot that used to be a 6-story 1950s bank tower. Is it progress to pave over a highrise? I don't think so, but hey, I've been wrong before.

The Citizens Bank building, erected in the 1950s, is now home to American State Bank and boasts and rather tired-looking black skin.
(Abt 1955)

(Today)

The AT&T building. It was built in the 30s, but now I can only guess at what it once looked like.

First Financial Bank's west tower.

Behind it stands the much larger east tower, built in 1984.

American State Bank's row of storefronts along Cypress. Mostly offices and jewelers now.

Downtown is filled with examples of architecture gone bad. This former pharmacy at 1052 North 5th was horrendously reclad some time in the 60s.
(In 1956)

(Today)

First Financial Center's plaza with the old Hilton catching the sun.

Looking south on Pine Street in 1955:

And from the same spot in 2009.

The Windsor Hotel was originally built in the late 1920s by the Abilene Hotel Company. Needing someone to manage it, they recruited a hotelier from nearby Cisco, Texas to run the joint. He agreed on one condition: that the hotel bear his name. Conrad Hilton got his way, and in 1929, this opened as the world's first Hilton Hotel.
(Abt 1950)

(Today)

The 1930s Federal Post Office and Courthouse. It replaced a turn-of-the century predecessor located at the same site.

Abilene tried to modernize in the 1970s, building an enclosed shopping mall on Pine Street called One City Center. Ultimately, it didn't last long, as the much larger Mall of Abilene opened on the city's far south side in 1979. One City Center fell into a horrible state of repair and was a common target for vandals and vagrants until the building was gifted to Abilene Independent School District in 2005. Today, it houses all administrative offices and special programs as well as the board room.

Pine Street was home to a slew of department stores and other shops. Below is a photo from the 50s showing Grant Department Store, Walgreens, JCPenney and Sears all in a row.

Most of the buildings made way for a parking garage in the 60s (replaced by yet another parking garage in the 1980s), but the Grant Building still stands. Today it is home to Texas Tech's school for higher education as well as AISD's New Tech High School for Engineering, Math and Science.

Looking west down North 3rd. The lot in the foreground was once a store.

Minter's, yet another Abilene department store, has been transformed into Under One Roof, a cooperative crafts and gift shop with a restaurant upstairs. Though it's a bit tired a dirty looking, it's nice to see it still in use as a store.
(In 1958)

(Today)

A row of old Pine Street storefronts with the First Financial Center in the background.

Before building its stark white concave shop on Cypress, Busch Jewelers was located on the ground floor of the 1928 Alexander Building at First and Pine.
(On the right)

Today, the shop fronts are glassed over and Red Oaks are slowly growing, towering over the sidewalk.

Across from the Alexander Building, at one time, was a row of stores and offices, crowned by the Citizens Bank Building. Shown below in 1922, it was a beautiful entrance to Abilene's Central Business District.

Today, more than half a dozen stores have been long ago replaced by a parking lot.

A quirky piece of art in front of the 1914 T&P Freight warehouse.

Horace Wooten, benefactor of the Wooten Tower and Paramount Theater, made his fortune as a grocer. His store, on North First, still stands.
(Abt 1900)

(Today)

Another early-20th-century gem hidden in obscurity.
(In 1920)

(Today)

Wandering east, into Abilene's seldom-trod warehouse district.

On Plum Street, a 1967 warehouse burned to the ground about a week ago. From the Abilene Reporter-News:

The remains:

With a headache forming from the noxious fumes emanating from the pile, I move on the less-smoldering portions of the neighborhood.

The trees (complete with planters) are a nice touch for a street with no sidewalks...

Two blocks from the burned warehouse stood for about a century Abilene Candy Company. It was here that the edible ink used to print messages on lollipops was invented.
(In 1930)

In September, the business was consumed by flames.

Today, the blackened wreckage is fenced off.

A bookbinding company

Abilene's Postal fleet.

Not all theaters downtown were as lucky as the Paramount. One casualty was the Majestic, about a block south of the Paramount on Cypress.
(In 1960)

Today, it's a parking lot.

Another block south, the Queen Theater was similarly ill-fated.
(In 1959)

It's not as bad as being a parking lot, though. The Queen was transformed into a memorial park complete with waterfall.

Returning to my car as a train rumbles by.

The end.

krazeeboi · November 23rd, 2009, 05:24 PM

Lots of architectural gems to be found in Abilene, and sadly many were destroyed too.

dmoor82 · November 23rd, 2009, 09:20 PM

nice pix! pretty dense for a smaller city!

Chadoh25 · November 23rd, 2009, 09:42 PM

Great photos.

Slavic Warrior · November 24th, 2009, 04:08 AM

It does look kind of creepy with no people anywhere.

Geborgenheit · November 24th, 2009, 10:53 PM

Some pictures are just sad. Anyway, thank you for showing us Abilene !

nyrac6275 · November 16th, 2010, 08:38 AM

I have lived in Abilene all my life and I enjoyed seeing it through your lens. Have you ever taken pictures of Lincoln (formerly Abilene High) or Lake Fort Phantom?

simms3 · November 17th, 2010, 04:32 AM

Enjoyed seeing a new place.

diskojoe · November 19th, 2010, 10:22 PM

sad to see good building turned into parking lots.

Manitopiaaa · November 20th, 2010, 07:41 AM

Gosh who could live in such a quiet, lonely place. I would get depressed!

zigzag · November 20th, 2010, 03:50 PM

Nice tour, thanks.

lizayuen · December 3rd, 2010, 07:53 AM

Pictures of places are really look great I feel that I'm having a tour. Thank you for sharing such wonderful pictures.

-----------
The Lady of Shalott Classic Art Reproduction

WestTexan87 · December 20th, 2010, 03:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nyrac6275

I have lived in Abilene all my life and I enjoyed seeing it through your lens. Have you ever taken pictures of Lincoln (formerly Abilene High) or Lake Fort Phantom?

I took some photos of the shuttered Lincoln/AHS several years ago and posted them on city-data.com. My work computer is a dinosaur and won't load large quantities of photos, so I can't track them down right now, but log in there and search for "westtexan87" and you'll find a few of my photo threads, one of which will have Lincoln pics. I have not really taken photos around Lake FP. Honestly, other than the ruins of the fort, there's not a whole lot to see there yet. Plans are in place to develop the waterfront over the coming decades, but it will be very slow-going.

Thank you guys for the kind words and for resurrecting this old thread! I moved to NYC earlier this year and revisiting these photos has me all nostalgic.

e9wife · January 12th, 2011, 07:14 PM

Would you have a picture of Thornton's" I am especially interested in the Christmas display windows. We are having a 3 yr combined AHS class reunion. A lot of us grew up waiting for the display windows to be uncovered every year. Thought it would be nice to include one in our vidio presentation for the hopitality room.
Loved the walk down memory lane. I left Abilene for over 40 years and have recently moved back. I could not place a lot of memories downtown. I do remember the fiasco of the downtown and underground mall. My friends and I modeled for J C Penney in high school. It was not a great place.
Thanks

jonathaninATX · January 13th, 2011, 10:34 AM

Looks like at one time there used to be a streetcar. I do hope that Abilene gets involved in restoring downtown, so much protenial...

November 23rd, 2009, 08:46 AM	#1
WestTexan87 Plattsburgh to Abilene Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: New York City Posts: 168 Likes (Received): 1	Downtown Abilene: the good, the bad, the ugly. Abilene, Texas: located about 2 or 3 hours west of DFW by car. It is home to about 116,000 people (160,000 in the metropolitan area). Like many towns around the south, its downtown has endured years of neglect. Only in the past 20 years have portions of it slowly begun to be rehabilitated and turned into a source of civic pride. This tour doesn't stick to the shiny, polished path. I started off in southern downtown, in an area surrounding the Taylor County Courthouse. A few days later, I ventured through the restored area and then back off the beaten trail into the under-loved warehouse district, which has suffered two devastating fires since September. Any feedback is appreciated (even negative). Disclaimer: I know there are no people. I have no good excuse for this. Abilene is not a city of pedestrians. Just accept that fact before proceeding. A bit of history to start with. Abilene has had 3 courthouses over the years. The first one, built in the late 1880s, was a typical Texan gem, complete with clock tower. Deemed to small for the burgeoning city by the 1910s, it was demolished to make way for a more modern (and larger) neoclassical box in 1914. By the 1970s, Abilene had far outgrown its courthouse and a new one was erected across the street, in typical 70s taste. The old town square is basically dead, save a couple random cafes and shops. Mostly, the few remaining storefronts are home to lawyers' offices. A block away, buildings sit abandoned and broken. Moving another block east, the sidewalks disappear altogether and the weeds grow taller. A row of tidy office buildings serve to enhance the Twilight Zone effect offered by the desolate and silent streets. A former warehouse serves as a furniture making business. Across the street is the 1929 Abilene & Northern Rail Depot. Supposedly, it's going to be converted into a restaurant. Across the road from that, to the south, is a 90+ year old grain mill. Once a bustling business, it left its good ol' days long behind. North downtown peeks over at us. The back side of the 1914 Courthouse. At left, the 1938 Agriculture Dept building, now home to Welfare (built by the Works Progress Admin). At right is the former county jail, an art deco gem encased in 60s white brick. The Taylor County Law Enforcement HQ, built on the site of a long-closed Thornton's Department Store. Taylor County Plaza, built in the 1960s as a bank, is home to many county offices. Hideous and in dire need of renovations, I can't say it is anything but an eyesore at the present time. Abilene's tallest building: the 1983 Enterprise Building (300 feet). The 1930 Wooten Tower looking over the tracks at me. A row of lawyers' offices. An odd place for lunch. A beautiful building currently playing host to a less-than-reputable club. Moving across the tracks to the north side, you'll find the restored portion of downtown. Its crown jewel is the 1930 Paramount Theater. It was saved from the wrecking ball in the 1980s and spurred the revival of the rest of the neighborhood. (The Theater in 1930) (And today) Grissom's Department Store, an Abilene favorite for decades, is now home to the Center for Contemporary Arts (and a new brick face). (In 1955) (Today) Busch Jewelers, another longtime Abilene resident, built this oddly intriguing new store in the 60s. It still stands today with the same tenant. (In abt 1970) (Today) McKay's Bakery (a local favorite) and O'Kelly Office Supply. A row of office towers. In the foreground is a parking lot that used to be a 6-story 1950s bank tower. Is it progress to pave over a highrise? I don't think so, but hey, I've been wrong before. The Citizens Bank building, erected in the 1950s, is now home to American State Bank and boasts and rather tired-looking black skin. (Abt 1955) (Today) The AT&T building. It was built in the 30s, but now I can only guess at what it once looked like. First Financial Bank's west tower. Behind it stands the much larger east tower, built in 1984. American State Bank's row of storefronts along Cypress. Mostly offices and jewelers now. Downtown is filled with examples of architecture gone bad. This former pharmacy at 1052 North 5th was horrendously reclad some time in the 60s. (In 1956) (Today) First Financial Center's plaza with the old Hilton catching the sun. Looking south on Pine Street in 1955: And from the same spot in 2009. The Windsor Hotel was originally built in the late 1920s by the Abilene Hotel Company. Needing someone to manage it, they recruited a hotelier from nearby Cisco, Texas to run the joint. He agreed on one condition: that the hotel bear his name. Conrad Hilton got his way, and in 1929, this opened as the world's first Hilton Hotel. (Abt 1950) (Today) The 1930s Federal Post Office and Courthouse. It replaced a turn-of-the century predecessor located at the same site. Abilene tried to modernize in the 1970s, building an enclosed shopping mall on Pine Street called One City Center. Ultimately, it didn't last long, as the much larger Mall of Abilene opened on the city's far south side in 1979. One City Center fell into a horrible state of repair and was a common target for vandals and vagrants until the building was gifted to Abilene Independent School District in 2005. Today, it houses all administrative offices and special programs as well as the board room. Pine Street was home to a slew of department stores and other shops. Below is a photo from the 50s showing Grant Department Store, Walgreens, JCPenney and Sears all in a row. Most of the buildings made way for a parking garage in the 60s (replaced by yet another parking garage in the 1980s), but the Grant Building still stands. Today it is home to Texas Tech's school for higher education as well as AISD's New Tech High School for Engineering, Math and Science. Looking west down North 3rd. The lot in the foreground was once a store. Minter's, yet another Abilene department store, has been transformed into Under One Roof, a cooperative crafts and gift shop with a restaurant upstairs. Though it's a bit tired a dirty looking, it's nice to see it still in use as a store. (In 1958) (Today) A row of old Pine Street storefronts with the First Financial Center in the background. Before building its stark white concave shop on Cypress, Busch Jewelers was located on the ground floor of the 1928 Alexander Building at First and Pine. (On the right) Today, the shop fronts are glassed over and Red Oaks are slowly growing, towering over the sidewalk. Across from the Alexander Building, at one time, was a row of stores and offices, crowned by the Citizens Bank Building. Shown below in 1922, it was a beautiful entrance to Abilene's Central Business District. Today, more than half a dozen stores have been long ago replaced by a parking lot. A quirky piece of art in front of the 1914 T&P Freight warehouse. Horace Wooten, benefactor of the Wooten Tower and Paramount Theater, made his fortune as a grocer. His store, on North First, still stands. (Abt 1900) (Today) Another early-20th-century gem hidden in obscurity. (In 1920) (Today) Wandering east, into Abilene's seldom-trod warehouse district. On Plum Street, a 1967 warehouse burned to the ground about a week ago. From the Abilene Reporter-News: The remains: With a headache forming from the noxious fumes emanating from the pile, I move on the less-smoldering portions of the neighborhood. The trees (complete with planters) are a nice touch for a street with no sidewalks... Two blocks from the burned warehouse stood for about a century Abilene Candy Company. It was here that the edible ink used to print messages on lollipops was invented. (In 1930) In September, the business was consumed by flames. Today, the blackened wreckage is fenced off. A bookbinding company Abilene's Postal fleet. Not all theaters downtown were as lucky as the Paramount. One casualty was the Majestic, about a block south of the Paramount on Cypress. (In 1960) Today, it's a parking lot. Another block south, the Queen Theater was similarly ill-fated. (In 1959) It's not as bad as being a parking lot, though. The Queen was transformed into a memorial park complete with waterfall. Returning to my car as a train rumbles by. The end.

November 23rd, 2009, 05:24 PM	#2
krazeeboi Registered User Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: metro Atlanta Posts: 4,747 Likes (Received): 2	Lots of architectural gems to be found in Abilene, and sadly many were destroyed too. __________________ You can't win, you can't break even, and you can't get out of the game!

November 17th, 2010, 04:32 AM	#8
simms3 Registered User Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Midtown Atlanta Posts: 506 Likes (Received): 0	Enjoyed seeing a new place. __________________ Atlanta - New Vantage Points Part 1 :: Unseen Atlanta Part 2 :: Unseen Atlanta Part 1 :: Chicago May 2011 :: The First Coast of the US :: Avondale Architecture :: Charlotte Part 1 :: Charlotte Part 2

November 19th, 2010, 10:22 PM	#9
diskojoe Registered Menace Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Houston TX Posts: 2,853 Likes (Received): 7	sad to see good building turned into parking lots. __________________ Photothreads Flickr My Book

November 20th, 2010, 03:50 PM	#11
zigzag Registered User Join Date: Feb 2003 Posts: 151 Likes (Received): 0	Nice tour, thanks. __________________ Savannah GA. Pictures http://www.intimateinterracial.com

November 23rd, 2009, 09:20 PM	#3
dmoor82 Red Sox Nation! Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Oklahoma City Posts: 1,448 Likes (Received): 2	nice pix! pretty dense for a smaller city!

November 23rd, 2009, 09:42 PM	#4
Chadoh25 Registered User Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Columbus, Ohio Posts: 7,580 Likes (Received): 282	Great photos.

November 24th, 2009, 04:08 AM	#5
Slavic Warrior Registered User Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 187 Likes (Received): 44	It does look kind of creepy with no people anywhere.

November 24th, 2009, 10:53 PM	#6
Geborgenheit *** Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Latvija Posts: 1,931 Likes (Received): 364	Some pictures are just sad. Anyway, thank you for showing us Abilene !

November 16th, 2010, 08:38 AM	#7
nyrac6275 Registered User Join Date: Nov 2010 Posts: 1 Likes (Received): 0	I have lived in Abilene all my life and I enjoyed seeing it through your lens. Have you ever taken pictures of Lincoln (formerly Abilene High) or Lake Fort Phantom?

November 20th, 2010, 07:41 AM	#10
Manitopiaaa Illuminati Leader Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Madrid, Spain - Panama City, Panama - Tulsa, OK, United States of America Posts: 1,804 Likes (Received): 454	Gosh who could live in such a quiet, lonely place. I would get depressed!

December 3rd, 2010, 07:53 AM	#12
lizayuen Registered User Join Date: Oct 2010 Posts: 86 Likes (Received): 0	Pictures of places are really look great I feel that I'm having a tour. Thank you for sharing such wonderful pictures. ----------- The Lady of Shalott Classic Art Reproduction Last edited by lizayuen; January 6th, 2011 at 06:49 AM.

January 12th, 2011, 07:14 PM	#14
e9wife Registered User Join Date: Jan 2011 Posts: 1 Likes (Received): 0	Thornton's Would you have a picture of Thornton's" I am especially interested in the Christmas display windows. We are having a 3 yr combined AHS class reunion. A lot of us grew up waiting for the display windows to be uncovered every year. Thought it would be nice to include one in our vidio presentation for the hopitality room. Loved the walk down memory lane. I left Abilene for over 40 years and have recently moved back. I could not place a lot of memories downtown. I do remember the fiasco of the downtown and underground mall. My friends and I modeled for J C Penney in high school. It was not a great place. Thanks

January 13th, 2011, 10:34 AM	#15
jonathaninATX Registered User Join Date: May 2007 Location: Austin Posts: 1,490 Likes (Received): 84	Looks like at one time there used to be a streetcar. I do hope that Abilene gets involved in restoring downtown, so much protenial...

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