For the past 15 years, two billboards have stood on the city limits of Flagler, Colorado, waiting to greet those who may be looking for a place to land. From 10 feet in the air overlooking I-70 and Flagler, the two signs deliver their proclamatory message: “Got Land! Got Water! All we need is you.”
Flagler is a rarity in the West it’s offering land without a price tag to someone willing to stake a future in the town.
Situated in eastern Colorado, this small town is an agricultural community akin more to the tilled-and-planted Midwest than the Rocky Mountain reveries most envision upon hearing “Colorado.” The ground is flat, and most houses are separated by a mile or two of grain fields and grassland for cattle. The two main employers in town are a grain co-op and bird seed factory. It’s the kind of small, blue-collar town that residents are quick to compare to Mayberry the idyllic and sleepy setting of “The Andy Griffith Show” in the 1960s. A trip to the post