About Us
Zionsville was a railroad town established in 1852, and named after William Zion who was a pioneer settler from Lebanon. Today, Zionsville is a growing town northwest of Indianapolis in the southeast area of Boone County. Surprisingly, there are no railroad tracks in the Zionsville village today. Where railroad tracks used to be, we now enjoy a rail trail many of our residents enjoy walking and biking on.
The first Eagle School was built in 1911 on the site where the Hussey-Mayfield Memorial Library is today. The current Eagle Elementary School was dedicated in 1955. With its construction, elementary grades were separated from the high school and junior high. We have had additions added in 1966, and in 1999. Students who attend Eagle Elementary, then go to Zionsville West Middle School for fifth through eighth grades, and onto Zionsville Community High School.
Eagle Elementary is located on the site of what once was Zion Park. Zion Park was the home of the Zion Park Assembly from 1892-1924, the locals called it a Camp Meeting, or Chautauqua. The event lasted over three weekends in August where people enjoyed listening to bands and musical performances, watching plays, listening to speakers, preachers, and comedians. The visitors came by train, wagon, buggy, and by horseback. There was a lake in Zion Park. Lake Como offered boat rides and it even had a cable car that folks could ride across it. There was a small island in the lake and it held a bandstand. Families would sit on blankets around the lake and enjoy listening to music, have picnics, and visit with family and friends. Today, there is a path behind Eagle Elementary that students can explore with their teachers in outdoor learning. Lake Como is no longer here, but a small pond does remain. As people in the past enjoyed learning outdoors here, so do the students of today! We are in the process of getting an Outdoor Learning Experience which will redefine how we learn by promoting inquiry, mindfulness, and will change the way we interact with our environment.
Today, Eagle Elementary has preschool though fourth grade and just over 400 students enrolled. We are lucky to be a neighborhood school where many children are able to walk or bike to school. Eagle has an advantage being in the village, just up the hill from Main Street. Students can walk across the street to the public library, or to the Zion Nature Center which is adjacent to us.
If you would like more information on the history of Zionsville look for books by Joan Praed Lyons and Arcadia Publishing.