Avon's name came from 'Avondale,' not an English river

Avon sits in the Eagle River valley between Edwards and Vail, and its name comes with a story that is often told wrong. A popular tale says English settlers named the town for the Avon River back home, because the valley reminded them of the English countryside. It is a pleasant story, but the town’s own documented history tells it differently: an early settler named George A. Townsend fancied the name “Avondale,” and that name, shortened, became Avon.

This is a useful caution for reading any Colorado map. Place names collect legends, and the romantic version often travels farther than the documented one because it is easier to repeat. Some Eagle County names describe the land plainly, like Gypsum or Eagle. Others carry the tastes and memories of the people who arrived — and sometimes the real story is simpler than the legend.

Avon is now a busy valley-floor town, incorporated in 1978 and known today as the gateway below Beaver Creek. The name is older than that modern role, a thread back to the farming and homesteading families who worked the valley long before the ski era.

Place-name origins pick up tall tales over the years, so it is worth checking the documented version. The Town of Avon’s official history page is the place to confirm how Avon got its name.