Editing Taylor County, Texas (section)

==History==

Among first inhabitants of the area were the [[Comanche|Penteka]].<ref name="Taylor County, Texas">{{cite web|last=Leffler|first=John|title=Taylor County, Texas|url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hct02|work=Handbook of Texas Online|publisher=Texas State Historical Association|access-date=November 29, 2010|date=June 15, 2010}}</ref> In 1849, [[Randolph B. Marcy|Capt. Randolph Marcy]], a U. S. Army engineer, passed through, scouting out West Texas-to-California routes.<ref name="Spirits of the Border V: The History and Mystery of the Lone Star State">{{cite book|last=Hundell|first=Ken and Sharon|title=Spirits of the Border V: The History and Mystery of the Lone Star State|year=2005|publisher=Omega Press|isbn=978-0-9626087-9-7|pages=118–119}}</ref>
The Texas legislature established Taylor County in 1858 from [[Bexar County, Texas|Bexar]] and [[Travis County, Texas|Travis]] Counties. The county is named for Alamo defenders Edward, James, and George Taylor. The [[Butterfield Overland Mail]] established the Mountain Pass Station at Merkel; it was in continual use until 1861.<ref name="Taylor County, Texas"/>

By 1872, the first cattlemen had ventured into present Taylor County.<ref name="Taylor County, Texas"/> Six years later, Taylor County was organized. [[Buffalo Gap, Texas|Buffalo Gap]] was named county seat.<ref name="Taylor County, Texas"/><ref>{{cite web|title=Buffalo Gap, Texas|url=http://www.texasescapes.com/TexasTowns/Buffalo-Gap-Texas.htm|work=Texas Escapes|publisher=Texas Escapes - Blueprints For Travel, LLC|access-date=November 29, 2010}}</ref> In 1880, the Texas & Pacific Railroad signed an agreement to run tracks through the future city of [[Abilene, Texas|Abilene]].<ref name="Spirits of the Border V: The History and Mystery of the Lone Star State"/>
Abilene was established in 1882, and named after [[Abilene, Kansas]].<ref name="Abilene, Texas">{{cite web|title=Abilene, Texas|url=http://www.texasescapes.com/TOWNS/Abilene/Abilene_Texas.htm|work=Texas Escapes|publisher=Texas Escapes - Blueprints For Travel, LLC|access-date=November 29, 2010}}</ref> Abilene became the county seat in 1883.<ref name="Abilene, Texas"/> A wagon train of 10 [[Baptists|Baptist]] families arrived in the county that year.<ref name="Taylor County, Texas"/>

The Abilene Board of Trade was organized in 1890, when 587 farms and ranches were in the county.<ref name="Taylor County, Texas"/>
The next year,  [[Hardin-Simmons University]] was established as Abilene Baptist College by the Sweetwater Baptist Association.<ref>{{cite book|last=Early Jr|first=Joseph E|title=A Texas Baptist History Sourcebook: A Companion to McBeth's Texas Baptists |year=2004|publisher=University of North Texas Press|isbn=978-1-57441-176-8|author2=McBeth, Harry Leon |page=139}}</ref>
[[Lytle Lake]] was created in 1897.<ref name="Taylor County, Texas"/>

The State Epileptic Colony opened in Abilene in 1904.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Epileptic Colony Open|journal=The Journal of the American Medical Association|year=1903|volume=41|page=973}}</ref>  In 1906, [[Abilene Christian University]] opened its doors as Childers Classical Institute.<ref>{{cite book|last=Foster|first=Douglas A|title=The Encyclopedia of the Stone-Campbell Movement |year=2005|publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company|isbn=978-0-8028-3898-8|author2=Blowers, Paul M |author3=Dunnavant, Anthony L |author4= Williams, D Newell |page=1}}</ref> In the 1920s, Hendricks Medical Center opened in Abilene as West Texas Baptist Sanitarium (1924) and the [[West Texas Historical Association]] was chartered in Abilene.<ref name="Taylor County, Texas"/>
The first senior class of [[McMurry University]] graduated (1926).<ref>{{cite web|last=Downs|first=Fane|title=McMurry University |url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/kbm17|work=Handbook of Texas Online|publisher=Texas State Historical Association|access-date=November 30, 2010|date=June 15, 2010}}</ref> Oil was discovered in the county a few years later (1929).<ref>{{cite book|last=Warner|first=C A|title=Texas Oil & Gas Since 1543|year=2007|publisher=Copano Bay Press |isbn=978-0-9767799-5-7|author2=Thompson, Ernest O |page=227}}</ref>

In 1933, Abilene donated land for use by the [[Civilian Conservation Corps]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Ebeling|first=Walter|title=Fruited Plain: The Story of American Agriculture |url=https://archive.org/details/fruitedplainstor00ebel|url-access=registration|year=1990|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-03751-9|page=[https://archive.org/details/fruitedplainstor00ebel/page/249 249]}}</ref>

[[Dyess Air Force Base]] was established as Abilene AFB in 1942; it is named in honor of Texas native and [[Bataan Death March]] survivor [[Lieutenant Colonel]] [[William E. Dyess|William Dyess]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Leatherwood|first=Art|title=Dyess Air Force Base|url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/qbd03|work=Handbook of Texas Online|publisher=Texas State Historical Association|access-date=November 30, 2010|date=June 12, 2010}}</ref>  The Abilene Philharmonic Orchestra was created, with Jay Dietzer as the first conductor, in 1950.<ref name="Taylor County, Texas"/>  The  [[Buffalo Gap Historic Village]] opened in 1956.<ref>{{cite book|last=Aston|first=B W|title=Along the Texas Forts Trail|year=1997|publisher=University of North Texas Press|isbn=978-1-57441-035-8|author2=Taylor, Ira Donathon |page=49}}</ref>

<!-- notable? The Ranch Horse Association of America was formed in Abilene in 1998.<ref>{{cite book|last=Sellers|first=Laren|title=Training and Showing the Versatility Ranch Horse |year=2005|publisher=The Lyons Press|isbn=978-1-59228-555-6|page=114}}</ref> -->