Garfield County | US Courthouses

Garfield County is named for James Abram Garfield, who was the twentieth President of the United States of America.

Surrounding County Courthouses:

N – Rio Blanco County

E – Routt County and Eagle County

S – Pitkin County and Mesa County

W – Uintah County, Utah

Created: February 10 1883

County Seat:

Carbonate 1883

Glenwood Springs 1883 – present

County Courthouse – Glenwood Springs

Location: 109 8th Street / Colorado Avenue

Built: 1928 – 1930

Style: Art Deco

Architect: Robert K Fuller

Contractor: A E Danielson & Sons of Denver

Description: The building faces south and is a four story buff colored brick and concrete structure. The building is located on landscaped grounds in the center of Glenwood Springs. The building has a raised basement with horizontal brick design. The south front has a projecting center section with central entrance which is framed with ornamentation above. There are vertical pilasters between the windows and ornamented panels between the windows. Horizontal narrow cream colored bands run below the above the basement and above the top story. A parapet runs along the flat roof line. The building houses the District Court and County Court of the 9th Judicial District. An addition was constructed on the north side in 1983 1984. The architect was Henningson, Durham and Richardsen and the contractor was Western Empire Builders.

Note: Carbonate was founded in 1878 when three prospectors by the name of Bell, Blake and Cleiofar discovered carbonate ore containing silver. It became the original county seat of Garfield County in 1883 and a toll road was built to connect it to Glenwood Springs. Four months later the county seat was moved to Glenwood Springs, due to its location above timberline in the Flat Tops. The post office in Carbonate opened in 1883, only to close in 1886. This leads to one of the greatest stories in Colorado ghost town history. E E Winslow won the contract to haul the mail from Glenwood Springs to Carbonate. It was a tough 40 miles with over 5,000 vertical feet of elevation gain. To add to the difficulty, Winslow signed up for daily service. Upon arrival for his first visit, he discovered that Carbonate contained but one resident, an old miner.

See: The 9th Judicial District includes Pitkin County and Rio Blanco County.

History: The county was created in 1883 and Carbonate was selected as the county seat. The first courthouse was a dugout log cabin built by Nims Ferguson at Flat Tops north of Glenwood Springs. Later in 1883, the county seat was moved to Glenwood Springs. The second courthouse was a two story structure built at 8th Street and Pitkin Avenue in 1883 to 1884. The third and present courthouse was constructed in 1928 to 1930 at a cost of $203,111. The cost of the 1983 to 1984 addition was $3,823,000.

County Administration Building – Glenwood Springs

Location: 110 8th Street / Colorado Avenue

Built: 2000 – 2002

Style: Modern

Architect: Unknown

Contractor: Unknown

Description: The building faces north and is a four story buff colored concrete and glass structure. The building is located on landscaped grounds in the center of Glenwood Springs on the south side of the courthouse. The north front has a large arch at the central entrance with glass panels and two columns. The vertical windows are large. The roof line is flat.

County Courthouse Annex – Rifle

Location: 200 East 18th Avenue / Railroad Avenue

Built: 2007 – 2008

Style: Modern

Architect: Humprises Poli Architects of Denver

Contractor: White Construction Group of Castle Rock

Description: The building faces south and is a one story buff colored stone, glass and concrete structure. The rectangular shaped building is located on landscaped grounds to the north of the center of Rifle. At the center of the south front is a two story entrance tower with glass panels. Along the south front are red colored iron decoration. The roof line is flat. In the interior is a courtroom for the County Court. The building houses the County Court of the 9th Judicial District.

Note: Before 2008, the court met at the Rifle City Hall at 202 Railroad Avenue.