Homes for sale in Vail

About the town

About Vail

Vail sits right on US 30, so your commute is straightforward whether you work west in Denison or east in Carroll. Your children would go to Ar-We-Va, with the buildings over in Westside. It's a small town, and you'd know the people on your street. Tell us you're looking in Vail and we'll call you when something comes up.

Vail grew up around the Chicago and North Western main line on the west side of the Iowa Divide, where eastbound trains took on water. The railroad builder John Insley Blair named it for a relative. It was the first town in Crawford County to incorporate. It did so in 1875, after a census that year counted just over two hundred people.

Served by the Ar-We-Va Community School District, named for Arcadia, Westside and Vail, with both schools in Westside.

Vail was the birthplace of Staff Sergeant William "Billy Jack" Dieter. He was the bombardier on the sixth B-25 to launch from the USS Hornet in the Doolittle Raid of April 1942. He was one of only three airmen killed in the raid itself. He received the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Purple Heart, and in 2014 the Doolittle Raiders were collectively awarded the Congressional Gold Medal.