Placeless Names #4: A concrete marker is all that remains of a military post and associated small community that helped guard the West from 1867-1872. Here's more information:
(You can park right in front of it)
Fort Reynolds was Colorado's largest fort property
By Kenneth Jessen
The only sign of the 23-square-mile Fort Reynolds is a concrete marker with a bronze plaque along U.S. 50 a little less than three miles east of Avondale. It was placed here in 1932 by the Colorado Historical Society (now History Colorado). (Kenneth Jessen / Special to the Reporter-Herald)
If you go
The only sign of Fort Reynolds is a concrete marker with a bronze plaque along U.S. 50 a little less than three miles east of Avondale.
Covering an astonishing 23 square miles, Fort Reynolds was constructed in 1867.
Its location was about 20 miles east of Pueblo or a little less than three miles east of Avondale. It was located along the Arkansas River, and the Santa Fe Trail passed by the fort.
Frame and adobe buildings surrounded a 400-foot by 400-foot parade ground.
The fort was named for a West Point graduate, John Reynolds, killed at Gettysburg.
Pioneer Charles Autobees opened a nearby business plaza with diversions for the soldiers such as dancing and drinking.
The original Fort Lyon was abandoned the same year Fort Reynolds was constructed and a new Fort Lyon was constructed 60 miles to the east.
Fort Lyon proved to be more strategically located to protect travelers along the Santa Fe Trail and swelled to around 4,000 men. Fort Reynolds was relegated to become a supply post.
The only call to arms at Fort Reynolds was to put down a drunken quarrel in Trinidad that had escalated into murder and a jail break. Troops arrived from both Fort Reynolds and Fort Lyon only to find that the fighting had ended.
Fort Reynolds was closed in 1872 and other than a marker placed in 1932 by the Colorado Historical Society along U.S. 50, nothing else remains.
Placeless Names: Ft. Reynolds
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