Peyton

History

Peyton was settled by George Peyton in 1888 and was surveyed and platted on December 25 of that year. Originally called Mayfield, the settlement was renamed Peyton after the post office had been refused under that name because there was already a Mayfield, California. Among the first settlers of Peyton were James and Susan McDermott. With the coming of the Rock Island Railroad they settled in Calhan in 1888 and in 1890 moved to Peyton where Mr. McDermott was the first postmaster and ran a general store for 25 years. His home, which still stands at the southwest corner of Main and Front Streets, was a popular boarding house. A few years later, Russell Gates opened a mercantile store. He had previously established general stores in Limon, Calhan, Eastonville, Elbert and Elizabeth, Colorado. These enterprises carried everything from pins to coffins plus running a creamery. The store closed in 1920. At one time, there were five general stores in Peyton, one of which also sold gasoline. By 1900, 50 people lived in Peyton. While farming and coal mining comprised the main occupation, supporting services included a blacksmith, physician, general store, creamery, hotel, and clergy. Joseph Zimmerman built a hall above a storage building attached to the Gates store. This meeting place hosted Odd Fellows, Modern Woodmen, elections, community dances, and fundraising events. The first telephone in Peyton arrived in 1904. It ran on a dry cell battery and had a crank to turn to get your party. Telephone lines ran as the top strand on the barbed wire fences. Eventually, the area had enough phones that a central switchboard was installed. Mrs. George Hayes became the switchboard operator until 1922. In 1923, a devastating fire took out several buildings, a number of…

Geography

The Peyton CDP has an area of , all land.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• House Finch

  Haemorhous mexicanus (P.L.Statius Müller, 1776) · Aves
  1,979
• Black-billed Magpie

  Pica hudsonia (Sabine, 1823) · Aves
  1,555
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  1,498
• Northern Flicker

  Colaptes auratus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,434
• Red-winged Blackbird

  Agelaius phoeniceus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  1,395
• Eurasian Collared-Dove

  Streptopelia decaocto (Frivaldszky, 1838) · Aves
  1,178
• Pygmy Nuthatch

  Sitta pygmaea Vigors, 1839 · Aves
  1,148
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,148