Saguache County is named for the Ute language word meaning “blue earth” or “water at blue earth”.
Surrounding County Courthouses:
N – Gunnison County and Chaffeee County
E – Fremont County, Custer County and Huerfano County
S – Alamosa County and Rio Grande County
W – Mineral County, Hinsdale County and Gunnison County
Created: December 29, 1866 
County Seat:
Saguache 1866 – present
County Courthouse – Saguache
Location: 501 Christy Avenue / 4th Street
Built: 1910 – 1911
Style: Neo-Classical
Architect: John James Huddart
Contractor: J Y Parker
Description: The building faces east and is a two story buff colored brick, stone and concrete structure. The building is located on landscaped grounds in the center of Saguache. The building has a raised basement. The east front has a slightly protruding center section with entrance on the first story which has a small pediment above. And rises to a curved section above the roof line. There are dormers on the hipped roof. In the interior there is a central lobby on the first story. The courtroom is located on the second story. The building houses the District Court and County Court of the 12th Judicial District.
See: The architect, John James Huddart of Denver, Colorado, designed courthouses in Colorado in Arapahoe County, Cheyenne County, Custer County, Elbert County, Logan County, Summit County and Washington County and in Nebraska in Deuel County and Garden County.
Note: The first courthouse was a plain adobe building that had been owned by Nathaniel Russell and had only two or three rooms.The building served a variety of purposes in the early years. County meetings were held in the building, the rooms on the south were used for judicial proceedings, and rooms on the north held schoolrooms for some students during 1876.
See: The 12th Judicial District includes Alamosa County, Conejos County, Costilla County, Mineral County and Rio Grande County.
History: The county was created in 1866 and Saguache was selected as the county seat. The first courthouse was an adobe structure owned by Nathaniel Russell. The second courthouse was built by John Farrington in 1881 to 1881 and was destroyed by fire on March 2, 1910. The third and present courthouse was constructed in 1910 to 1911 at a cost of $36,110.
County Courthouse - Saguache
Photos taken 2011