[4] Eaton is a part of the Greeley, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Front Range Urban Corridor.

The town is named after Benjamin Harrison Eaton,[7][8] a pioneer of irrigation who played a leading role in transforming the arid prairie of the Great Plains east of Colorado's Front Range into a thriving agricultural region with water brought from the nearby Rocky Mountains in the late 19th century.

[9] Eaton was first named Eatonton to avoid conflict with the Easton post office in El Paso county.

When Easton had changed its name to Eastonville, the last syllable of Eatonton was dropped, and the town has since been known as Eaton.

The county judge ordered that an election be held to decide whether or not the remaining residents desired Eaton to be incorporated.

Eaton is located at 40°31′46″N 104°42′47″W / 40.52944°N 104.71306°W / 40.52944; -104.71306 (40.529481, -104.713177),[12] on the Denver, Colorado-Cheyenne, Wyoming mainline of the Union Pacific Railroad, and along U.S. Route 85, approximately 7 miles north of Greeley, Colorado.

[15] Eaton can claim two active National Football League (NFL) players: