Deer Trail, Colorado

Deer Trail is in southeastern Arapahoe County, about 55 miles east of Denver. The town was originally a siding built on the Kansas Pacific Railroad in 1870. In 1875, the railroad platted out a town that grew to have 5 grocery stores, 2 banks and 3 hotels in the 1920s. Deer Trail was a shipping point for eggs, livestock and grain in those days but the Great Depression nearly killed the town. Then came a devastating flash flood in 1965 that damaged or destroyed many of the business structures on Main Street. There are still folks living in Deer Trail but the town is not nearly what it once was.