After viewing a 30min orientation film on Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890-1969), World War II hero and former US president, guests may take self-guided tours of Eisenhower's boyhood home. The Eisenhower Museum displays a lifetime of memorabilia, including original oils by DDE himself, an accomplished hobby painter. The Presidential Library houses documents and historical materials from DDE's terms of office (1953-61). The Eisenhower family is entombed at the Place of Meditation. The little town of Abilene itself has a remarkable history. Founded in the 1860s, it was the original Kansas cowtown at the end of the Chisholm Trail. Many of its 19C and early-20C homes and commercial buildings are on the National Register of Historic Places; some are open for tours.