Flagler, CO

Flagler sits near Exit 395 on Interstate 70 in western Kit Carson County, where a small town grid meets a wheat-and-corn farming area. The settlement began beside the Rock Island Railroad in 1888 and grew with the line. Flagler is also known for Wagner’s Bird Seed Packing, founded in 1894, and its self-described “Birdseed Capital” identity. The 2020 census counted 567 residents, and the town’s location keeps the interstate, the agricultural plain, and the main-street business district in the same frame.

ATTRArt davis / CC BY-SA 4.0

Flagler remembers a painful turning point in the 1951 Fall Festival Day air show crash, which killed 20 people, including the pilot and 13 children. A memorial in the local park and the Flagler Community Library’s history displays keep that event part of the town’s public memory. Present-day services include the library and museum on Main Avenue, town recreation programs, and Arriba-Flagler CSD #20, whose preschool-through-12th-grade school is on Julian Avenue. The school, birdseed plant, memorial, and interstate each mark a different part of how Flagler works today.