The city of Abilene, Texas is a city located close to the geographic center of the state. Abilene serves as the county seat for Taylor County and is considered to be "the Future Great City of West Texas". The county of Taylor presently has a population of just more than 120,000; 115,930 of these inhabitants reside inside the Abilene city limits. It is conveniently located adjacent to Interstate 20. Abilene was established in March, 1881 when the Texas and Pacific Railroad was finally done.
Abilene is not quite as big as other cities in Texas, it can still offer a lot of dining, lodging, cultural, and shopping opportunities. Abilene is quickly becoming known as a regional center for distribution, commerce, transportation, education and industry.
Abilene, over the years has transformed the economy from a cattle-shipping prairie township to a busy city, full of military, oil and agriculture. The breadth of economic diversity which the city of Abilene offers attracts many determined people. The city of Abilene solicits new businesses by offering tax incentives and many opportunities.
Abilene was the very first city in Texas to combat the 1980s oil bust by creating a half-cent sales tax to help finance economic development in 1986.
The city of Abilene boasts many attractions, like for example: the Mesquite Hill Motocross, Abilene Skate Park, Abilene Speedway, Abilene Dragstrip, and the Ball Ranch. Abilene also provides several unique attractions, such as The Grace Museum, the National Center for Children's Illustrated Literature, 12 Armored Division Memorial Museum, the Center for Contemporary Arts, Prime Time family Entertainment Center, Paramount Theatre, Abilene Ballet Theatre, Cockerell Galleria and Studios, Abilene Community Theatre, Abilene Community Bank, Abilene Philharmonic Orchestra, Abilene Opera Association, the Amy Graves Ryan Little Theatre and the Chorus Abilene.
Other attractions in Abilene city limits, include the Dyess Visitor Center Memorial Park, the Abilene Zoo, the Abilene State Park and the Buffalo Gap Historic Village. Within the city there are over 25 parks that take up a total of approximately 1,246 acres.
The is an enormous variety of animals housed at the Abilene Zoo, somewhere in the vicinity of several hundred animals. Throughout the year, the Zoo provides several educational programs and summer programs. They also have several special events that happen every so often. A few of the newer attractions comprise a cougar exhibit, a Black Rhino exhibit and a Southern American maned Wolf Exhibit. The Elm Creek backyard area will house some animals like otters, armadillos and skunks that have been found locally.