Chaffee

Formed February 10, 1879 (31^st county)

Chaffee County (19,473), Salida (5,661)

The tan brick and masonry courthouse for Chaffee County was built in 1932 and enlarged in 1968.  The building in Art Deco style.  The facility is on Crestone Avenue at Park Place.  Colorado State Highway 291 is three blocks east of the facility.  De Mordaunt was the building designer.  A Justice Center was added in 1991.  Buena Vista was the earlier county seat and has an 1880 courthouse.  Salida became the county seat in 1928.  The county was established on February 10, 1879 from Lake County as the 31^st county.  Senator Jerome B. Chaffee was the namesake for the county.  The county seat comes from the Spanish word for “exit.”  The Arkansas River flows through the middle of the county.  The center of the county is 27.9 miles Northwest of Salida nearer Buena Vista. 

Chaffee County government consists of a sheriff, assessor, manager, coroner, and treasurer (executive).  It has 3 Commissioners (legislative.)  Five District Court Judges serve Chaffee, Custer, Fremont and Park counties and a Trial Court Judge, clerk, and county attorney serve Chaffee County (judicial.)  Chaffee County is in central Colorado west of Colorado Springs, Colorado.  The Continental Divide forms the western border of the county.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Lake, Park, Fremont, Saguache, Gunnison, and Pitkin counties.  

The area of the county is 1014.1 square miles.  The county is 43 out of 64 in the state.  It ranks 26 out of 64 in population in the state.  It has a density of 19.2 persons per square mile making it 25 out of 64 in the state.  Chaffee County has 48.5% of its population in its incorporated areas.  United States Highway 24 comes into the county from the north, Lake County, and exits to the east, Park County.  United States Highway 50 crosses the extreme south of the county east to west from Fremont County to Gunnison County.  United States Highway 285 enters joined with United States Highway 24 from Park County and terminates in the county.  The county is shaped like a bag of marbles with the top tilting to the west.  Salida is located in the extreme southeast part of the county.  Salida is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 29.1% of the county population.  The county is pronounced CHAF-EE.  The county seat is pronounced SA-LIE-DA.