325 Area Code 🌍☎️

Abilene is a city in Taylor and Jones counties, Texas, located 150 miles west of Fort Worth on Interstate 20, with a 2020 population of 125,182 and a metropolitan area population of 176,579. Established in 1881 as a cattle shipping point on the Texas and Pacific Railway and named after Abilene, Kansas, the city grew rapidly after winning the county seat election and later raising funds to attract Camp Barkeley during World War II and Dyess Air Force Base in the early 1950s, which remains its largest employer with over 6,000 workers. Home to three Christian universities - Hardin-Simmons University (founded 1891), Abilene Christian University (founded 1906), and McMurry University (founded 1923) - the city also hosts branches of Texas State Technical College and Cisco College, making it a regional educational hub. The city's downtown historic district sits north of the Union Pacific Railway mainline, while the growing "SODA" district has developed to the south, with multiple freeways including I-20, US Routes 83/84/277, and Loop 322 forming a transportation network around the city's core. Abilene's population nearly doubled between 1950 and 1960, growing from 45,570 to 90,638 residents as the post-World War II economy boomed and veterans established businesses in the city. San Angelo is the county seat of Tom Green County in West Texas's Concho Valley, with a 2020 population of 99,893 and a metropolitan area population of 100,159. Founded in 1867 when the United States built Fort Concho as a frontier outpost, the city was established as a trade center by settler Bartholomew J. DeWitt at the junction of the North and South Concho Rivers, originally named Santa Angela after his wife before being renamed San Angelo in 1883. San Angelo became a major regional hub during the oil boom of the 1900s and is home to Angelo State University (founded as San Angelo College in 1928), historic Fort Concho, and Goodfellow Air Force Base, which was established during World War II to train pilots. The city grew rapidly after the Santa Fe Railroad arrived in 1888 and the Kansas City, Mexico and Orient Railway in 1909, and attracted tuberculosis patients seeking treatment in its dry, warm climate during the early 1900s TB outbreak. San Angelo is known for hosting the Miss Wool of America Pageant, an annual event organized by the National Wool Growers Association, and is the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Angelo. Brownwood is the county seat of Brown County in the Texas Hill Country with a 2020 population of 18,862 and home to Howard Payne University, founded in 1889. The town was incorporated in 1884 after Greenleaf Fisk donated 160 acres to relocate the county seat west of Pecan Bayou following a land and water rights dispute. During World War II, Brownwood hosted Camp Bowie, a major training facility that peaked at over 80,000 soldiers, and the city was struck by an F5 tornado on April 19, 1976, causing extensive damage but no fatalities. Lake Brownwood, a 7,300-acre reservoir 7 miles north of the city created by damming Pecan Bayou, opened with its 538-acre state park in 1938 and offers fishing, camping, waterskiing, and boating. The city sits at the intersection of U.S. Routes 84, 67, and 377, with Interstate 20 approximately 46 miles away, and has a humid subtropical climate with hot summers and mild winters.