Eastern Plains
Ault's name remembers a grain buyer who helped farmers
A Porch Note from Colorado Porch — plain-English local details for all 64 Colorado counties.
When the Denver Pacific Railroad laid tracks to this spot on the Eastern Plains in 1869, the rail siding carried other names first. The one that stuck belonged to Alexander Ault, a mule and grain buyer.
What earned a man a town named after him? Ault bought wheat in difficult times, and that purchasing kept local farmers from going bankrupt when a bad season might otherwise have wiped them out. A favor like that could outlast the man and the moment, surviving as a name on the map long after the details faded from memory.
Early Ault grew on the usual plains mix: ranching, farming, the railroad, and later sugar-beet shipping to the Eaton Sugar Factory. So the name is not just a label on Highway 85. It points back to a farm economy where credit, buyers, rail sidings, and crop prices together could decide whether a year of work ended in profit or ruin. A grain buyer who extended a little faith in the lean years was worth remembering.
Weld County’s incorporated towns history page carries the fuller account if you want the rest of the town’s beginnings.
Sources
Official or primary sources used for this note. Local details can change, so confirm before acting.