Eagle, Colorado

Eagle is a non-resort town located about 30 miles west of Vail, just south of the I-70. Probably the first Europeans to come through here were members of Fremont's 1st Expedition, guided by Kit Carson. Before that, the Eagle River Valley was prime summer hunting and fishing grounds for the Ute bands.

The first settlers in the Eagle area were ranchers and farmers, raising food and meat for the mining camps in the mountains east and south of here. I found Eagle to be a very clean, bright community, with lots of new construction around. I'd say this is another of those towns near the resorts where the folks who actually work at the resorts can afford to live. On the other hand, I found the Wendy's Restaurant in Eagle to be the cleanest but most expensive Wendy's I've ever been in.

I drove in on a Saturday in early September and found a street fair happening on Broadway. I was probably a bit early as most of the folks were still just setting up their stuff but the kids, well... Kidtopia (one of the shops on the north end of Broadway) was trying to set up some portable skating ramps and having a hard time because the skateboarders were kinda impatient: as soon as something was almost ready, they were on it.

The county administration buildings in Eagle were beautiful with lots of curved, flowing brick lines. I had to walk completely around that block and examine all the signage to be sure it was really government offices. I took enough photos that I could probably devote a whole page to that one block, but I won't. Needless to say, I was quite impressed... me and my search for historical stuff... oh yeah, the county courthouse was built in 1932 and I'd say that was pretty progressive for those days. The Eagle Town Hall is a bit different, too.

The Eagle County Welcome Center

Eagle Town Hall, on Broadway

In the Eagle County Government complex

The Eagle County Library