The first white settlers arrived in the Elizabeth area in 1855 and gold was discovered in 1858, the first gold discovered in Colorado. In 1868, the first post office was established near Elizabeth. In 1880 and 1881, Tom Phillips and Charles Garland donated land north and south of an Indian trail (Highway 86) to establish the town. It was named by Territorial Governor John Evans after his sister-in-law Elizabeth Gray Kimbark Hubbard sometime before 1882. The town of Elizabeth was incorporated in 1890.

During the late 1880’s, several one-room schools were developed in and around the Elizabeth community. A two-story stone school was erected in 1885. 9thgrade classes began in the early 1900’s. In 1911, a four-year high school, Elizabeth Union High School (the first in Elbert County) was organized. The first graduating class (three students) received their diplomas in 1913. The three-story Red Brick School opened in 1920 to house an expanding student population and the high school was first accredited in 1924. By 1959, Elizabeth housed an underground silo missile site for an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM).

The third Elizabeth High School was built on County Road 13 and opened in January, 1978. It presently serves as Elizabeth Middle School. As the school and district student populations continued to grow, several additions to the building occurred throughout the 1980’s. The present Elizabeth High School was built on County Road 13 across from the previous building and opened in the fall of 2000. The sixty acre campus included a stadium with an all-weather track and a tiered cafetorium. The taxpayer approved construction bond allowed for a peak enrollment of 866 students.  We celebrated the 100th anniversary of EHS at homecoming in the fall of 2011 with a student count of 721.

Source: “Elizabeth High School – 100 Years” – Norma Anderson Proud (2011)