Eastonville is an
extinct town
Ghost Town(s) or Ghosttown may refer to:
* Ghost town, a town that has been abandoned
Film and television
* ''Ghost Town'' (1936 film), an American Western film by Harry L. Fraser
* ''Ghost Town'' (1956 film), an American Western film by Alle ...
in
El Paso County,
Colorado
Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...
, United States.
[Eberhart, Perry. Ghost of the Colorado Plains. Swallow Press, Athens, Ohio, 1986. p. 50] A post office named
Easton opened on May 6, 1872, but the name was changed to Eastonville on September 28, 1883. The post office closed on May 11, 1932.
Eastonville is no longer incorporated.
The former town limits now lie in the
Colorado Springs
Colorado Springs is a home rule municipality in, and the county seat of, El Paso County, Colorado, United States. It is the largest city in El Paso County, with a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States Census, a 15.02% increase since ...
metropolitan area, near the
Black Forest
The Black Forest (german: Schwarzwald ) is a large forested mountain range in the state of Baden-Württemberg in southwest Germany, bounded by the Rhine Valley to the west and south and close to the borders with France and Switzerland. It is t ...
.
History
![Eastonville cemetery 2007](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5b/Eastonville_cemetery_2007.JPG)
The area around Eastonville began settlement around 1872 when a post office was established a mile to the south of its eventual location on Squirrel Creek. The area was located in the Black Forest of Colorado and was found to be suitable for potato farming and many pioneers homesteaded in the vicinity. In 1881 the
Denver and New Orleans Railroad (later the
Colorado and Southern Railway
The Colorado and Southern Railway was an American Class I railroad in the western United States that operated independently from 1898 to 1908, then as part of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad until it was absorbed into the Burli ...
) laid their tracks through the area and created a stop named "McConnellsville" near what is now Eastonville; this was the main standard gauge line from Colorado Springs to Denver until the 3-foot-gauge Denver and Rio Grande was 3-railed. Shortly after, in 1883, the area post office was moved north and named "Easton" for a local pioneer, John Easton. The town soon became Eastonville. At the behest of the railroad, the town moved a short distance to its current site.
By the 1900s the town had 350-500 people. It had three churches, three hotels, a newspaper, a school house, race track, ball field, and many businesses. Nine to ten passenger trains passed through everyday, and with at least that many freight trains using the tracks a constant rolling of locomotives could be heard day and night in the burgeoning city. It had become the self-proclaimed "potato capital of the world" and some years couldn't find enough workers to harvest the crops.
Colorado Springs
Colorado Springs is a home rule municipality in, and the county seat of, El Paso County, Colorado, United States. It is the largest city in El Paso County, with a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States Census, a 15.02% increase since ...
newspapers
A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background.
Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports ...
would print large advertisements offering work at respectable wages on the potato farms of Eastonville. It was one of the most prosperous farm centers in eastern
Colorado
Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...
that are now ghost towns.
Eastonville continued as a stable town until the 1930s when
drought
A drought is defined as drier than normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D. Jiang, A. Khan, W. Pokam Mba, D. Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, an ...
and
depression hit the west. In 1935 the area endured a potato blight and a flood which washed away many buildings in Elbert, the next town north on the railroad; the railroad was then abandoned. The town couldn't recover without the railroad, especially since Peyton (6 miles away) still had the
Rock Island railroad
The Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad (CRI&P RW, sometimes called ''Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway'') was an American Class I railroad
In the United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly k ...
.
Although little remains but a few buildings and the cemetery,
[Eberhart, Perry. Ghost of the Colorado Plains. Swallow Press, Athens, Ohio, 1986. P. 51] as of May 2013 the
United States Board on Geographic Names
The United States Board on Geographic Names (BGN) is a federal body operating under the United States Secretary of the Interior. The purpose of the board is to establish and maintain uniform usage of geographic names throughout the federal governm ...
still lists Eastonville as a
populated place
Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using a ...
.
As the town died, the Eastonville school district was merged into the Peyton School District 23jt. Eastonville is, however, in the Falcon fire district.
See also
*
Bibliography of Colorado
The location of the State of Colorado in the United States of America
This is a bibliography of the U.S. State of Colorado.
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General history
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*Sibley, George. ''Water Wranglers - The 75-Ye ...
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Geography of Colorado
The geography of the United States, U.S. Colorado, State of Colorado is diverse, encompassing both rugged mountainous terrain, vast plains, desert lands, desert canyons, and mesas. Colorado is a landlocked U.S. state. In 1861, the Thirty-sixt ...
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History of Colorado
The region that is today the U.S. State of Colorado has been inhabited by Native Americans and their Paleoamerican ancestors for at least 13,500 years and possibly more than 37,000 years. The eastern edge of the Rocky Mountains was a major ...
*
Index of Colorado-related articles
This is an alphabetical list of articles related to the U.S. State of Colorado.
0–9
* .co.us – Internet second-level domain for the State of Colorado
* 4 Corners
** 4 Corners Monument
* 6th Principal Meridian
* 10-mile Range
* 10t ...
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List of Colorado-related lists
The following lists include links to lists related to the U.S. State of Colorado.
# Colorado-related lists by topic
# Alphabetical list of Colorado-related lists
Colorado-related lists by topic General lists
*Bibliography of Colorado
*Index of Co ...
**
List of ghost towns in Colorado
This is a list of some ghost towns in the U.S. State of Colorado. Colorado has over 1,500 ghost towns, although visible remains of only about 640 still exist. Due to incomplete records and legends that are now accepted as fact, no exhaustive li ...
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Outline of Colorado
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to the U.S. state of Colorado:
Colorado – 22nd most populous, the eighth most extensive, and the highest in average elevation of the 50 United States. Colorado ...
References
External links
State of ColoradoHistory Colorado
{{authority control
1872 establishments in Colorado Territory
Former municipalities in Colorado
Former populated places in El Paso County, Colorado
Geography of El Paso County, Colorado
Ghost towns in Colorado
History of Colorado
Populated places established in 1872
Pre-statehood history of Colorado