Colfax

Formed January 25, 1869 (11^th county)

Colfax County (12,385), Raton (6,046)

The tan brick and masonry Art Deco structure is located on a square at 3^rd, Clark, 4^th, and Savage streets.  The facility is one block west of United States Highway 87 passing through the city.  This structure was built in 1937 from the designs of Towns, Funk, and R. W. Voorhees.  A Justice Center was added in 2010.  Cimarron had an 1870 courthouse, Springer had an 1880 courthouse, and Raton had a 1900 courthouse.  The county was formed on January 25, 1869 as the 11^th county.  Raton comes from the Spanish name for “Mouse.”  The county’s name comes from United States Vice President, Schuyler Colfax.  The Canadian River has its source in Colfax County. 

Colfax County government consists of a manager, a sheriff, a treasurer, an attorney, an assessor, and a clerk (executive).  It has 3 Commissioners (legislative.)  Two District Court Judges serve Colfax, Taos, and Union counties (judicial.)  The county is located in the northeast part of the state on the border with Colorado.  Albuquerque, New Mexico is southwest and Pueblo, Colorado is north of this county.  The county center is 31.8 miles South-Southwest of Raton nearer Maxwell.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Colorado and Union, Harding, Mora, and Taos counties. 

The area of the county is 3757 square miles.  It is 17 out of 33 in the state.  It ranks 24 out of 33 in population in the state.  It has a density of 3.3 persons per square mile making it 23 out of 33 in the state.  Colfax County has 76.8% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 25 crosses the county north to south from Colorado to Mora County.  United States Highway 56 comes into the southern part of the county from Union County on the east and terminates.  United States Highway 64 enters from the east, Union County, and exits to the west, Taos County.  United States Highway 87 is joined with Interstate Highway 25 from Colorado, splits at Raton, and proceeds east with United States Highway 64 into Union County.  United States Highway 412 is joined with United States Highway 56 from Union County to termination.  The county is basically rectangular.  Raton is in the northeast quarter of the county.  Raton is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 48.8% of the county population.  The county is pronounced KOLE-FAKS.  The county seat is pronounced RA-TONE.