Chaffee County is named for Jerome Bunty Chaffee, who was one of the first United States Senators from Colorado from 1876 to 1879.
Surrounding County Courthouses:
N – Lake County
E – Park County and Fremomt County
S – Sagauche County
W – Gunnison County and Pitkin County
Created: February 10, 1879 
County Seat:
Buena Vista 1879 – 1928
Salida 1928 – present
County Courthouse – Salida
Location: 142 Crestone Street / L Street
Built: 1931 – 1932
Style: Art Deco
Architect: De Mordaunt
Contractor: Raylines Post 64 American Legion.
Description: The building faces west and is a three story buff colored brick and concrete structure. The rectangular shaped building is located on spacious landscaped grounds in the center of Salida. The center section projects from the main building and rises three stories. The entrance is faced with stone. The north and south wings are two story and lower in height. The windows are vertical with panels between. A two story addition was constructed on the north side in 1968 which houses the county offices. The architect was Edward A DeVilbiss and Charles E Gathers.
County Judicial Facility - Salida
Location: 142 Crestone Street / L Street
Built: 1990 – 1991
Style: Modern
Architect: Petersilie-Keys-Architects
Contractor: Geller Construction Services
Description: The building faces west and is a one story buff colored brick and concrete structure. The building is located on landscaped grounds in the center of Salida to the north of the courthouse. The entrance sections project from the main building and rise to peaked roofs. The main building is recessed with landscaped grounds at the front. The building houses the District Court and County Court of the 11th Judicial District. Attached on the northeast side is the County Jail.
Old County Courthouse – Buena Vista
Location: 501 East Main Street
Built: 1882 – 1883
Style: Italianate
Architect: George E King
Contractor: Diedrich Fischer
Description: The building faces south and is a two story red colored brick and stone structure. The building faces south and was completed in 1883. The south front has a projecting center section with arched entrance on the first story and rising to a small pediment at the roof line. On the center of the roof is a narrow cupola with steep silver colored roof. The roof is hipped. On the north side is the old red colored brick jOld County Jail
See: National Register of Historic Places – Oled Chafee County Courthouse
See: The 11th Judicial District includes Custer County, Fremont County and Park County.
History: The county was created in 1879 and Granite was selected as the county seat. In 1881, the county seat was moved to Buena Vista. The first courthouse was built in 1882 to 1883 at a cost of $50,000. In 1928, the county seat was moved to Salida. The second and present courthouse was constructed in 1931 to 1932. The County Judicial Facility Center was constructed in 1990 to 1991.
Note: Chaffee County was created as one of the 17 original counties on 1 November 1861. The county was formally known as Lake County (while Lake County was known as Carbonate County) for a brief period before the name was changed to Chaffee on 10 February 1879.
County Courthouse – Salida
County Judicial Facility – Salida
Old County Courthouse – Buena Vista
Old County Jail – Buena Vista
Photos taken 2011