Huerfano County is named for the Huerfano River and the Spanish name means “orphan”.
Surrounding County Courthouses:
N – Custer County and Pueblo County
S – Las Animas County and Costilla County
W – Alamosa County and Saguache County
Created: November 1, 1861
County Seat:
Autobees Plaza 1861 – 1867
Badito 1867 – 1874
Walsenburg 1874 – present
County Courthouse – Walsenburg
Location: 401 Main Street / West 5th Street
Built: 1904 – 1905
Style: Romanesque
Architect: C A Henderson
Contractor: Friedhoff and Hoeffel of Pueblo
Description: The building faces east and is a two story gray colored stone and concrete structure. The building is located on landscaped grounds in the center of Walsenburg. The building is a “T” shape with a raised basement. There is a large square tower on the east front with a steep black colored pyramidal roof. On the east front is a portico supported by two stone columns and on top of the portico is a balcony. Above is an ornamented semi-circle. On the second story there are arched windows. In the interior, the former courtroom is located on the second story. On the west side is the two story stone County Jail and County Judicial Center.
See: National Register of Historic Places – Huerfano County Courthouse
County Judicial Center – Walsenburg
Location: 200 West 5th Street / Albert Avenue
Built: 2019 – 2020
Style: Modern
Architect: Anderson Hallas Architects of Golden
Contractor: G H Phipps Construction Companies of Greenwood
Description: The building faces east and is a two story concrete structure. The building is located on landscaped grounds in the center of Walsenburg to the west of the courthouse. The east front has a central protruding tower with entrance on the first story, large window on the second story and peaked roof. The roof line is flat. In the interior are two courtrooms for the County District Court and the County Court. The building houses the County District Court and County Court of the 3rd Judicial District.
Note : The final brick concept uses a three-color palette. Grain-textured “Dark Gray,” “Ginger and “Thistledown” colored bricks are used across the building’s facade using single-colored “Flemish” patterns. Intermittent areas of accent occur like recessed, protruding, or pattern interrupts where either different building materials intersect or add dimension to large wall areas. A two-toned dimensional coursing “crazy quilt” accent pattern is used at the building’s front elevation tower section.
Note: In 1861, Huerfano County was one of the 17 original counties
See: The 3rd Judicial District includes Las Animas County.
History: The county was created in 1861 and Autobees Plaza was designated as the county seat. In 1867, the county seat was moved to Badito. In 1874, the county seat was moved to Walsenburg. The county used rented premises. The first and present courthouse was constructed in 1904 to 1905 at a cost of $35,000. The County Judicial Center was constructed in 2019 to 2020 at a cost of $9,589,000.
County Courthouse – Walsenburg
County Judicial Center – Walsenburg
Old County Jail – Walsenburg
Photos taken 2007 and 2022