Cisco, TX

Cisco is an Eastland County city of 3,883 residents in the 2020 census, set at the crossroads of U.S. 183 and I-20, 45 miles east of Abilene and 105 miles west of Fort Worth. The Texas and Pacific Railway founded the town in 1881, and the rail-era street grid still leads to the city's signature building: the Mobley Hotel, the first hotel Conrad Hilton acquired in 1919. That history is still part of the working town. The Conrad Hilton Center and Museum operates from the restored hotel, Cisco College has operated from its hilltop campus since 1940, and Cisco ISD runs elementary, junior high, and high schools.

The college also offers career and technical programs, tying the old hilltop campus to current regional training. Lake Cisco lies north of town, with ranch and farm country surrounding the city. Cisco's local map is highway, college, school, museum, and lake—a small Big Country city whose routes and institutions still define the way it works.