History | Flagler Library

The Building

According to the National Register of Historic Places Registration Form (download pdf), the Flagler Library began its journey in 1937 as the Flagler Hospital Building.

In 1937, Dr. William L. McBride purchased the hotel and remodeled it into a nine-bed hospital. The remodeling included the addition of up-to-date wiring, heating, and plumbing systems. The upstairs included nine patient rooms, an operating room, a developing room, an X-ray room, a nursery, and a lab room. The floors of the operating room were designed to be grounded and static-free. During remodeling, the front porch received a new concrete floor and the entrance was changed from the front to the south side to provide access for ambulatory patients.

Dr. McBride, his wife and a duty nurse (Mrs. Vivienne Williams) lived on the first floor of the building when it was a hospital. The first floor included a waiting area, doctor’s office, a drug dispensary, and the living quarters which included a living room, dining room, two bedrooms, a bath, and the nurses living quarters. These alterations are historic and are directly related to the building’s significance in the fields of health and medicine. In 1963, the hospital went out of business because it was no longer economically feasible to upgrade the facility to the standards that were required during this time. In 1967, the town of Flagler purchased the building and moved the city government offices into the building. Presently, the building is as it was during the time it was a hospital.

Hal Borland

Located in the Town Library, the Hal Borland Room celebrates the life and accomplishments of author Hal Borland, a Flagler native. The room commemorates the author with artifacts donated by the Borland family among others and includes all of the over 44 books written by Hal. Mr. Borland grew up in Flagler where he began his work as a writer penning articles for the local paper for his father. He later moved on to not only author many books, but he also wrote for the New York Times. He passed away in 1978.

1951 Air Show Disaster

Tragedy struck Flagler in 1951 when 20 people were killed and many injured in a devastating accident at an Air Show. A plane attempting a maneuver, the pilot miscalculated and struck scores of people who were lining the streets in large numbers to view the show. The local park has a memorial for those who passed, many which were children.

Article from Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection (CHNC)

Researching Flagler (and other things)

The Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection (CHNC) can be browsed and searched for free. CHNC is a service of the Colorado State Library and currently includes more than 1.7 million digitized pages, representing more than 400 individual newspaper titles published in Colorado from 1859 up to 2019.

Article from Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection (CHNC)

The Page Memorial Room

The Page Memorial room was refurnished by the Page family of Flagler. It is full of general history books, including local history books, which the Page family donated.