Custer

Formed March 9, 1877 (29^th county)

Custer County (4,703), Westcliffe (423), Silver Cliff (615)

The red brick, stone and concrete courthouse is located on 6^th Street at Rosita Street in this small town.  Colorado State Highway 69 is 6^th Street through the town.  Ula, Rosita, and Silver Cliff have all been county seats for this county.  The county was formed on March 9, 1877 from Fremont County as the 29^th county.  John J. Huddart is the designer for this 1929 Romanesque style courthouse.  The county was named for Colonel George Armstrong Custer.  The county seat is named for Westcliffe, England.  The Grape River flows through the county on its way north to meet the Arkansas River.  The center of the county is 12.8 miles Southeast of Westcliffe. 

Custer County government consists of a sheriff, assessor, manager, coroner, and treasurer (executive).  It has 3 Commissioners (legislative.)  Five District Court Judges serve Custer, Chaffee, Fremont, and Park counties and a Trial Court Judge, clerk, and county attorney serve Custer County (judicial.)  The county is in south central Colorado just to the west of Pueblo, Colorado.  Custer County was the birthplace of 1 Colorado Governor, Ralph L. Carr.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Fremont, Pueblo, Huerfano, and Saguache counties. 

The area of the county is 739.2 square miles.  The county is 52 out of 64 in the state.  It ranks 53 out of 64 in population in the state.  It has a density of 6.4 persons per square mile making it 41 out of 64 in the state.  Custer County has 22.1% of its population in its incorporated areas.  There are no Interstates or United States Highways in the county.  The county has straight northern and eastern borders.  The western and southern borders follow a line of mountains giving the county the shape of a fat knife blade.  Westcliffe is in the northern quarter of the county.  Silver Cliff is located just to the east in the county.  Westcliffe is the county seat and Silver Cliff is the largest city.  Westcliffe is 9.0% of the county population while Silver Cliff is 13.1% of the county population.