Elbert

Formed February 2, 1874 (21^st county)

Elbert County (26,049), Kiowa (730), Elizabeth (1,670)

A Modern style concrete and stone Justice Center, built in 2008, sits on Ute Street between Shoshone and Dakota streets.  Colorado State Highway 86 is four blocks north of the facility.  Humphries/Poli Architects provided the designs.  The 1912 courthouse remains in operation supporting the Justice Center.  Veteran memorials are at the courthouse.  John James Huddart designed the courthouse.  Elbert County was cut from Douglas County on February 2, 1874 as the 21^st county.  Lincoln, Kit Carson, and Cheyenne counties were created from Elbert County in 1889.  Governor Samuel Hitt Elbert was the namesake for the county.  Kiowa was named for the Native American tribe.  They are also the namesake for Kiowa County.  A number of seasonal rivers flow through the county.  The center of the county is 9.7 miles East-Southeast of Kiowa. 

Elbert County government consists of a sheriff, assessor, manager, coroner, and treasurer (executive).  It has 3 Commissioners (legislative.)  Twenty-two District Court Judges serve Elbert, Arapahoe, Douglas and Lincoln counties and a Trial Court Judge, clerk, and county attorney serve Elbert County (judicial.)  The county is surrounded clockwise by Arapahoe, Lincoln, El Paso, and Douglas counties.  Interstate Highway 70 cuts the northeast corner of the county coming from Arapahoe County, north, and exiting into Lincoln County, east.  United States Highway 24 crosses the southern part of the county east to west, Lincoln County to El Paso County.  United States Highways 40/287 are joined with Interstate Highway 70 from Arapahoe County to Lincoln County.  

The area of the county is 1849.1 square miles.  The county is 22 out of 64 in the state.  It ranks 21 out of 64 in population in the state.  It has a density of 14.1 persons per square mile making it 29 out of 64 in the state.  Elbert County has 11.5% of its population in its incorporated areas.  The county is shaped like the number 9.  Kiowa is located in the northwest corner of the county.  Elizabeth is in the extreme western part of the county.  Kiowa is the county seat and Elizabeth is the largest city.  Kiowa is 2.8% of the county population while Elizabeth is 6.4% of the county population.  The county seat is pronounced KIE-UH-WA.  The county is in the Denver-Aurora-Broomfield Metropolitan Statistical Area.