The Eisenhower Presidential Library & Museum  200 Southeast Fourth Street Abilene, Kansas 67410 (785) 263-4751 Open 362 days a year 9 AM - 4:45 PM one hour earlier & later from Memorial Day until mid August Portions free, except $2 fee for Eisenhower's boyhood home & $8 fee for the Eisenhower Presidential Museum

11' statue of Dwight D. Eisenhower by Robert Dean

Eisenhower Family Home

The Eisenhower Presidential Library & Eisenhower Museum in Abilene, Kansas was started in 1962. It includes a Visitor Center, Dwight D. Eisenhower's boyhood home, the Place of Meditation, the Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum, in a park like setting. Allow about 2 hours if you wish to see it all.

Many things at the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential complex are free, except the Eisenhower boyhood home at $2 and the Eisenhower Museum, which I think is a bit over priced at $8. Interesting parts of the museum are the war gallery, a section about Mamie's "style," and a section on Ike's election and presidential years. When last visited, the rotating exhibits gallery had an exhibit of Ike's paintings. I believe that many visitors will be satisfied with a tour of the rest of the complex, omitting the museum.

The Eisenhower Library includes 480 manuscript collections; over 300,000 still photographs; thousands of hours of motion picture film, audio tapes and discs; oral history transcripts; 25,000 books and many other objects. But, you can't see the collections. The library has just one gallery open to the public. The library is free and open from 9 AM - 4:45 PM, 362 days a year as of this posting. The hours are extended in the summer. Call to confirm at (785) 263-6700.

The Place of Meditation is a combination chapel and Mamie and Ike Eisenhower's tomb.

While you are in Abilene, visit the Greyhound Hall of Fame, across the street from the Eisenhower Presidential Museum. Admission is free and the Hall of Fame is open 7 days a week.

The Kansas Sampler Foundation selected Eisenhower Presidential Museum as one of the Eight Wonders of Kansas. 

Other sites selected as the Eight Wonders of Kansas include the Cathedral of the Plains, Kansas Cosmosphere, Monument & Castle Rocks, and the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve.

Be sure to time your visit to Abilene, Kansas to allow you to try one or more of the community's great restaurants.

copyright 2005-2011 by Keith Stokes