Buckeye Street Neighborhood

Buckeye Street Neighborhood. . , From its earliest platting to the most recent times, building on North Buckeye Street has been a reflective barometer of the attitudes and economy of Abilene. Though the original town and business district were due south of the Union Pacific tracks, frequent flooding and fires accelerated the building "boom" on the higher ground to the north. These building trends are in evidence throughout the northern half of Abilene, yet only on Buckeye Street is the entire eighty year period so obvious., By the mid-1880's all the land along the street had been deeded and in most cases, lot lines had been drawn and a few homes built. The Kuney and Hodges Addition, extending from the Union Pacific tracks to Fourteenth Street and from Buckeye Street east nearly to Campbell, was systematically divided into regular lots and spacious streets. This addition bordered the east side of Buckeye and formed the pattern visible today. The west side of the street was owned by as many as eleven different individuals or firms, each dividing his property to different dimensions with little regard for roadways., Home building increased during the early years of the twentieth century inspired by the rising popularity of the automobile, the building of the Golden Belt Road, and increasing local prosperity. Among these homes was the magnificent Seelye Mansion, completed in 1905 and situated on an entire block between Eleventh and Twelfth. By the 1920's the park planned for the 1300 block on the west side was abandoned and the land sold for building lots. It was not until the post World War II years, however, that the final homes were built on the west side to complete the neighborhood.