Custer County is named for General George Armstrong Custer, who was a United States Army officer and who died at the Battle of Little Big Horn.
Surrounding County Courthouses:
N – Blaine County and Loup County
E – Valley County and Sherman County
S – Buffalo County and Dawson County
W – Lincoln County and Logan County
Created: February 17, 1877 
County Seat:
Callaway 1877 – 1882
Broken Bow 1882 – present
County Courthouse – Broken Bow
Location: 431 South 10th Street / South E Street
Built: 1911 – 1912
Style: Classical Revival
Architect: John Latenser of Omaha
Contractor: George P Shaul of Seneca, Kansas
Description: The building faces east and is a two story brown colored brick, stone and concrete structure. The building is located on landscaped grounds.in the center of Broken Bow. The east front of the rectangular shaped building has a large portico with two large white colored columns and a recessed entrance. The inside surfaces of the portico’s piers are treated with terra cotta pilasters that faithfully repeat the bases, fluting, and angular volutes of the two Roman Ionic columns. The entrance treatment is reminiscent of a Palladian motif and the second level of the wall behind the portico is surrounded by stone trim. The first and second stories have smaller white columns dividing the windows. Continuous around the courthouse’s apex is a stoned-coped parapet that is slightly pedimented on the sides. The roof line is flat. In the interior, the first story corridor is floored with ceramic tile and the staircase is of cast iron with marble treads. Located on the second story are the county courtroom and district courtroom. The building houses the District Court and County Court of the 8th Judicial District. On the west side is the old two story red colored brick jail built in 1914.
See: The architect, John Latenser of Omaha, designed courthouses in Cherry County, Dawes County, Furnas County and Holt County; and John Latenser, Sr. of Omaha in Douglas County.
See: National Register of Historic Places – Custer County Courthouse
Old County Courthouse – Callaway
Location: Pacific Street and Cameron Street
Built: 1876 – 1877
Style: Log Cabin
Architect: Milo F Young
Contractor: Milo F Young
Description: The building faces south and is one story log cabin structure. The building faces south and is a one story log structure. The building is located on spacious landscaped grounds of the park in the center of Callaway. The building is “L” shaped. The south front and the east side have porches. The roughly hewn squared logs are laid up with crudely cut squared joints to form the chinked walls. The logs are reportedly of cedar and came from along Spring Creek on the Young Ranch. The roof is hipped. The building was the first courthouse in the county.
See: National Register of Historic Places – Old Custer County Courthouse
See: The 8th Judicial District includes Blaine County, Boyd County, Brown County, Cherry County, Garfield County, Greeley County, Holt County, Howard County, Keya Paha County, Loup County, Rock County, Sherman County, Valley County and Wheeler County.
History: The county was created in 1877 and Callaway was selected as the county seat. The first courthouse was built in 1876 to 1877 and is still standing. The county seat was moved to Broken Arrow in 1882. The county occupied rented premises u8ntil the second courthouse, a two story brick structure was designed by F S Allen and constructed by B B Coleman ion 1889. The courthouse was destroyed by fire in 1910. The third and present courthouse was constructed in 1911 to 1912 at a cost of $75,000.
County Courthouse - Broken Bow
Old County Jail – Broken Bow
Old County Courthouse – Callaway
Photos taken 2010 and 2016