Photo: Dave Mayes
A new mural in Abilene honors America’s 250th anniversary, blending history, symbolism and community pride into a lasting tribute.
The new Abilene Celebrates America 250! mural paints a picture of patriotism and civic pride. The project was unveiled in August 2024, kicking off Kansas’ celebration of our nation’s founding. It decorates the General Dwight D. Eisenhower Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post #3279 building in downtown Abilene.
In 1976, Abilene celebrated the nation’s bicentennial by installing 11 informative markers at historic sites throughout the community. Julie Roller Weeks, director of the Abilene Convention and Visitors Bureau, has long admired these markers, which were installed before she was born. She believes present-day communities should create something lasting for future generations to commemorate the country’s semiquincentennial.
“It’s important that we leave something for the next 50 years,” she says. “This mural is a great way to do that.”
The mural, painted by Mindy Allen of Mindy’s Murals, uses various symbols of our nation’s heritage to honor its founders and military history. Look for America’s first official flag, designed by Betsy Ross and featuring a circle of 13 stars to represent the original colonies, as well as today’s American flag, featuring 50 stars to represent the states. The mural also features each branch of the military and silhouettes of both a minuteman from the American Revolution and a modern American soldier.
But the mural’s central figure is the American bald eagle—a symbol the Founding Fathers chose in 1782 as the centerpiece of the Great Seal to represent America’s strength, freedom, independence and sovereignty.
The project was a collaborative effort, Weeks says, with ideas and funding coming from the local VFW Post, the Abilene Chapter of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (NSDAR) and the Abilene Convention and Visitors Bureau. Additional funding was provided by a Community Foundation of Dickinson County grant and the NSDAR’s America 250! Celebration Grant, Weeks adds.
“When you think of patriotic communities, Abilene certainly stands among the best,” she says. “One of our travel writers [who visited Abilene] said that when you look up the definition of Americana, it just says ‘See Abilene, Kansas.’”
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