• August 5, 2020 – Eaton Area Historical Society Begins Construction of Carriage House, Holds On-line Auction  Following a review of bids submitted by interested local builders, the Eaton Area Historical Society has chosen Troy Hauer Custom Builders, Inc. of Eaton as the contractor for the construction of their replica Carriage House. The current non-historical garage behind the A.J. Eaton House Museum will be removed and replaced with the new structure. It will be used to exhibit items currently in storage, as well as to provide better preservation areas for items not on display.

“Troy and his wife Angie have been great to work with during the bidding process and are very enthusiastic about the project, “ said Historical Society president Carolyn Prior. “They are currently working with us and the Town of Eaton to remove the old garage to make room for the new Carriage House. This part of the process is scheduled to be completed in August.”

The garage was a storage area for items that would not fit in the house museum, duplicate items, and things that did not work well with our museum exhibits.  Many of those things have been moved to other storage.  What is remaining will be sold as an additional way to add funds to the building project. Several people have donated items to be included in the sale as well. 

Thanks to the help of auctioneer Lance Nichols, the sale will be conducted as an on-line auction from August 5th to  August 13th. Items may be viewed and purchased at  https://mhbarsales.hibid.com

 

• July 18, 2020 – Ready to take a walk about town? The Eaton Area Historical Society has created a self-guided tour of historical homes for history buffs to enjoy while the museum remains COVID-closed.  Walking tour brochures with addresses and historical information are available at the museum at 207 Elm Ave, as well as the Library, Town Hall, and Coffee TEN24.

 

 

• June 20, 2020 – We are excited to announce our second online presentation in connection with the Eaton Library on Tuesday, June 30 at 6:00pm

EAHS president Carolyn Prior will be present: Eaton Pioneer People and Places from 1870-1915:  Why did they come, and why did they stay? Stories will be shared in pictures of the bygone days in which the people braved the dangers and hardships of a new western pioneer life. “We lived mostly on hope,” was a comment of Mrs. Thomas Leadbetter, an early pioneer who came to Eaton in 1881 as a bride from Maine.

As before, the presentation will be conducted via ZOOM and all who are interested are invited to join the Zoom meeting.  Here is what you need to to join the Zoom presentation:

Join Zoom Meeting

Shown here:  18,800 lbs of potatoes from the B.H. Eaton Farm and the Mcracken Family 1902

• May 6, 2020 – We are excited to announce an online presentation in connection with the Eaton Library:

EAHS member Greg Dewey will be presenting his research in a live virtual presentation titled “Establishing Roots East of Eaton” on Wednesday, May 20th at 6 pm. The presentation will be conducted via ZOOM and all who are interested are invited to join the Zoom meeting.

 on Wednesday, May 20th at 6 pm. The presentation will be conducted via ZOOM and all who are interested are invited to join the Zoom meeting.

• May 6, 2020 – We are excited to announce an online presentation in connection with the Eaton Library:

EAHS member Greg Dewey will be presenting his research in a live virtual presentation titled “Establishing Roots East of Eaton” on Wednesday, May 20th at 6 pm. The presentation will be conducted via ZOOM and all who are interested are invited to join the Zoom meeting.

 

• 4/26/2020 – The A. J. Eaton House Museum will remain closed through the month of May.  The general meeting scheduled for May has been cancelled. 

• 3/14/2020 – In keeping with local COVID-19 precautionary measures, the AJ Eaton House Museum will be closed until March 31. At that time the situation will be re-evaluated and up-dates will be posted.

• Announcing NEW hours for the Museum! Beginning March 2020 the museum will be open:
• Tuesday mornings 10am-noon
• Thursday afternoons 2-4pm
• 1st and 3rd Saturdays 10am – 2pm
Varying the schedule a little is designed to create better opportunities to fit with visitors’ varied schedules.
If you haven’t been in the museum lately, stop by and say Hello!

• Mimmack Family Honors Bill Mimmack with Donation to EAHS Carriage House Project

A significant contribution to the Eaton Area Historical Society Carriage House project fund has been made by Jim and wife LaNell Mimmack in honor of Jim’s brother William Edward Mimmack Jr. PhD. 

 The current Museum space is well-utilized for display of numerous collections owned and curated by the EAHS, but does not provide enough space to allow for adequate display and interpretation of all the valuable and fascinating historical items that have been acquired by and donated to the museum. The current (not historical) garage behind the museum will be removed and replaced with a 1400 square foot, two story carriage house-style building in which the EAHS plans to display military, school, and agriculture collections.  The Mimmack memorial gift is a major step toward realizing the funds necessary for the project.

Jim is a member of EAHS and owns 325 Elm Avenue in Eaton.The house was built by grandad Fred Mimmack in 1903 so his boys would not have to ride horseback seven miles each way to attend school in Eaton.

William E. (Bill) Mimmack was born August 22, 1926 in a Sugar House in Eaton, Colorado. He died September 8, 2019 at Sierra Medical Center, El Paso Texas, and is buried in the family plot in Linn Grove cemetery in Greeley. Father was William Sr., Mother was Margaret Macmillan Mimmack.

Great Grandparents Thomas and Mary were original colonists of The Union Colony at Greeley, arriving in 1870 via the new transcontinental railroad with four children: Sarah, Jane, Emma, Willie, and Fred.

Fred married Minnie Newlin and had two boys, Rufus and Bill Sr.  Rufus moved to Southern California, married Georgina Smillie of Eaton, and had two children: Georgina and Fred. Fred is a member of the Eaton Area Historical Society.

Bill Sr. and family lived with Grandad Fred Mimmack on his farm east of Ault near Wyatt School. Bill Sr. died suddenly in December 1935, and the family moved to Denver.  Son Bill Jr. graduated in Denver from East High class of 1944, then joined the Navy. Discharged in 1946, he enrolled at CU and graduated BS in Physics in 1950.

Bill Jr.’s first job was at the White Sands Missile Range where he specialized in optics. He took time out to get a PhD in Optics at U of Rochester 1972. He worked as a consultant until retiring from optics, then attended University of Texas El Paso, studying philosophy, literature, the humanities. He learned Latin and Greek so he could read the  classics in the original.

He then went into deep retirement living a quiet life taking care of his cats, reading and visiting friends. He was a generous person well-liked by family and friends.

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• Happy New Year from the EAHS Board!  We expect the upcoming year to be truly exciting.  The Board has changes — new president: Carolyn Prior, new vice-president Nomie Ketterling, new treasurer: Art Meyer, and new membership chair: Peg Riley. Marcia Schmidke will return as secretary.

As part of our 2020 agenda we will be posting a copy of the minutes from the EAHS general meeting to keep you up with what’s going on with the historical society.  Members who have provided an email address will receive the minutes via email. 2019 November Annual Meeting Minutes are available by clicking here: EAHS Nov ’19 minutes.

Please note the change to the location of the EAHS monthly general meeting.  It will no longer be held at the Eaton Public Library.  Instead, we will be meeting at the Eaton Area Community Center (called “the rec center” by most folks), 1675 3rd Street, Eaton, CO.    The time for the meeting will still be 7 PM.  We will meet in the room next to the swimming pool.  Meetings are the last Monday of the month unless otherwise noted. Next meeting is January 27th.

The Carriage House project planning and fund raising are moving right along toward our goal of building a replica carriage house to replace the old garage behind the museum.

We are looking forward to a special year with lots going on.  Hope you can join us at our meetings.

Best Regards – The EAHS Board

 

• News and information is also posted on our Facebook page regularly
https://www.facebook.com/eaton.historical