Historical Marker
Parramore Post #57, American Legion
Abilene, Taylor County · Texas
Erected 1998
The Texas Department the post joined was born in San Antonio on San Jacinto Day, April 21, 1919, at a meeting of World War I veterans who first called themselves the Texas Division of World War Veterans. Col. Claude V. Birkhead was elected chairman, and the name changed to match the national legion's constitution of December 1919. The early posts' first cause was hospital care for sick and injured veterans: donations from posts and individuals topped $500,000, and in 1921-22 the department built the American Legion Memorial Hospital at Legion, Texas, sold to the United States in 1925.
What the plaque says
Founded in March 1919, the American Legion was established as a World War I veterans' organization. Abilene Post No. 57 was organized on July fourth and chartered in September of that year, one of one hundred such chapters formed in the legion's first six months. Soon after its inception the post was renamed for James Harrison Parramore (1840-1917), one of Abilene's founders and a Civil War veteran who had been a supporter of the local National Guard. The post's first structure was built of natural stone in 1920. The Ladies' Auxiliary was formed in 1922 and chartered in 1925. Legion facilities, expanded in 1937, housed the Ladies' Auxiliary and included what was for many years the only public swimming pool in Abilene. In 1942, World War II veterans were admitted; veterans of the wars in Korea, Vietnam, and the Persian Gulf later became members, as did veterans of other major military conflicts. The legion building was virtually destroyed by fire in 1980, eliminating the post's records. The purpose of the American Legion is "to protect the interests of United States war veterans and their families." The legion has assisted veterans with employment, financial aid, medical care, and government benefits. The members celebrate Memorial Day and Veterans Day with parades and programs. The Parramore post also takes an active role in civic service, working with Abilene's youth and underprivileged citizens. Parramore Post No. 57 continues to uphold the traditions of its founders and remains an integral part of the Abilene community. (1998)
Where it stands
32.43672, -99.72115 · Directions
Worth the stop nearby
- Frontier Texas! — 1.0 miAbilene's multimedia museum of the frontier as the settlers told it, beside the Texas and Pacific tracks the town was built on, and the official visitor center for the Texas Forts Trail.
- Buffalo Gap Historic Village — 12 miThe 1880 stone courthouse and jail of the county seat Abilene took away, with about twenty old buildings from around West Texas gathered around it since 1956.
- Fort Phantom Hill — 14 miA field of lone stone chimneys north of Abilene, left by the fire after the Army left in 1854, later a stage stop and a buffalo-hide town of more than 500 people.
- Abilene State Park — 17 miA pecan-shaded park on Elm Creek in the Callahan Divide south of Abilene, with red sandstone CCC buildings, a summer pool, a bird blind and yurts under the trees.