Travelogue: A Glimpse of Abilene, Kansas through a Postcard

Abilene, Kansas, looks and feels like the definition of Small Town, U.S.A. | Dennis Lennox

Anyone who has ever done a cross-country road trip on Interstate Highway 70 has passed through Abilene, Kansas.

This city with its population of 6,460 souls at the last census is one of those quintessential small towns. Note I didn’t describe it as Midwest, as I reject the argument some Kansans make that their state is somehow not part of the surrounding Great Plains. That dispute aside, Abilene looks and feels like the definition of Small Town, U.S.A.

Notwithstanding all the small-town charm, which is in and of itself a draw, Abilene’s real claim to fame is General of the Army and President Dwight David Eisenhower (1890-1969).

For older readers of this column, Ike, as Eisenhower was popularly known, needs no introduction. For younger generations who never learned any substantive history, as supreme allied commander in the European theater of World War II he was the architect of the D-Day invasion of Normandy. Later, he was the 34th president of the United States after twice-winning election as a Republican in 1952 and 1956.

The Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library & Museum in Abilene, Kansas. | Dennis Lennox

While other places have a claim to Eisenhower — his career in the service of the United States took him to many places — Abilene was his boyhood home.

A short drive from downtown is the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library & Museum.

The late Victorian house that Ike lived in from 1898 until 1911 — the year he went to West Point for the beginning of an Army career — stands out in the sea of a relatively nondescript postwar building. However, the real anchor of the 22-acre campus is the Place of Meditation.

The Eisenhower tomb inside the Place of Meditation in Abilene, Kansas. | Dennis Lennox

Designed like countless suburban mainline Protestant churches of the postwar era, this small nonsectarian chapel contains the tombs of Eisenhower and his wife, Mamie Eisenhower. It was also here where Ike’s burial service took place on April 2, 1969.

The Place of Meditation is also a reminder of Eisenhower’s somewhat complicated religious beliefs.

Born into a Mennonite family of German extraction, he was baptized as a Presbyterian in the early days of his first term at a time when the once-great mainline Protestant denominations were at their peak. To this very day, Ike remains the only president in history to have been baptized in office.

If you go

The Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library & Museum is open 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday. Admission starts at $10 for students, $12 for seniors and $15 for adults.

Other things to see and do include Old Abilene Town, an open-air Old West attraction; the heritage line Abilene & Smoky Valley Railroad; and the 122-year-old C.W. Parker Carousel at the Dickinson County Heritage Center and Museum.

The closest major airport, which as one might expect carries the Eisenhower name, is about a hundred miles away in Wichita. It is served by all of the big airlines. For those planning a cross-country road trip, Abilene is within six hours of Dallas, Denver and St. Louis.

If you stay the night in Abilene, the Holiday Inn Express is basically the hotel in town. For something different, try Abilene’s Victorian Inn Bed & Breakfast.

Dennis Lennox writes a travel column for The Christian Post.

Dennis Lennox writes about travel, politics and religious affairs. He has been published in the Financial Times, Independent, The Detroit News, Toronto Sun and other publications. Follow @dennislennox on Twitter.