Imperial

Formed August 7, 1907 (58^th county)

Imperial County (179,709), El Centro (44,316)

The 1924 Classical Revival masonry courthouse of Imperial County fits well into this desert city.  It is located at Main and 10^th Streets.  California State Highway 86 is six blocks north of the building.  The courthouse architects were Donald W. Wells and Ralph Swearingen.  The courthouse was damaged in the 1973 earthquake.  El Centro was also the home to a previous courthouse since El Centro has been the only county seat.  An Administrative Center was added in 1981.  Imperial County was created on August 7, 1907 from San Diego County as the 58^th and last county.  The county was named by the Imperial Land Company in hopes to attract settlers.  El Centro is a Spanish geographical name meaning “the center.” 

Imperial County government consists of a sheriff, assessor, controller, and treasurer (executive).  It has 5 Supervisors (legislative.)  Eleven Superior Court Judges, clerk, and counsel serve Imperial County (judicial.)  The county is situated in the far southeast corner of the state.  San Diego, California is west, Mexico is south, and Phoenix, Arizona is east of the county.  The county center is 20.1 miles North-Northeast of El Centro nearer Brawley.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Riverside County and Arizona and Mexico and San Diego County.  The county is a flat rectangle with the wandering river on the east.  El Centro is in the southwest quarter of the county.  El Centro is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 24.7% of the county population.  The county seat is pronounced EL CEN-TROE.   

The area of the county is 4175 square miles.  It is 10 out of 58 in the state.  It ranks 31 out of 58 in population in the state.  It has a density of 43.0 persons per square mile making it 41 out of 58 in the state.  Imperial County has 80.0% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 8 comes from Arizona in the east and goes to San Diego County to the west.  The Colorado River forms the east border of the county.  This county is in the El Centro Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Westmorland