Peyton is an unincorporated town, a post office, and a census-designated place (CDP) located in and governed by El Paso County, Colorado, United States. The CDP is a part of the Colorado Springs, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area. The Peyton post office has the ZIP Code 80831. At the United States Census 2010, the population of the Peyton CDP was 214, while the population of the 80831 ZIP Code Tabulation Area was 21,993 including adjacent areas. The nearby unincorporated area of Falcon also uses zip code 80831. Peyton and towns such as Falcon, Calhan, Ramah, Simla, and Matheson straddle U.S. Highway 24 between Colorado Springs and Limon, Colorado where US 24 intersects with Interstate 70. History Peyton was settled by George Peyton in 1888 and was surveyed and platted on December 25 of that year. Originally called Mayfield, the settlement was renamed Peyton after the post office had been refused under that name because there was already a Mayfield, California. Among the first settlers of Peyton were James and Susan McDermott. With the coming of the Rock Island Railroad they settled in Calhan in 1888 and in 1890 moved to Peyton where Mr. McDermott was the first postmaster and ran a general store for 25 years. His home, which still stands at the southwest corner of Main and Front Streets, was a popular boarding house. A few years later, Russell Gates opened a mercantile store. He had previously established general stores in Limon, Calhan, Eastonville, Elbert and Elizabeth, Colorado. These enterprises carried everything from pins to coffins plus running a creamery. The store closed in 1920. At one time, there were five general stores in Peyton, one of which also sold gasoline. By 1900, 50 people lived in Peyton. While farming and coal mining comprised the main occupation, supporting services included a blacksmith, physician, general store, creamery, hotel, and clergy. Joseph Zimmerman built a hall above a storage building attached to the Gates store. This meeting place hosted Odd Fellows, Modern Woodmen, elections, community dances, and fundraising events. The first telephone in Peyton arrived in 1904. It ran on a dry cell battery and had a crank to turn to get your party. Telephone lines ran as the top strand on the barbed wire fences. Eventually, the area had enough phones that a central switchboard was installed. Mrs. George Hayes became the switchboard operator until 1922. In 1923, a devastating fire