Formed April 11, 1889 (50th county)
Kiowa County (1,445), Eads (675)
A light tan brick Modern style building was built in 1956 for Kiowa County. The building is located on Goff Street between 13th and 14th streets. United States Highway 287 is two blocks south of the location. William E. Ross and C. Francis Pillsbury are the architects of the courthouse. The county was formed on April 11, 1889 from Bent County as the 50th county. Sheridan Lake was the original county seat and moved to Eads in 1902. There was a 1904 version of the courthouse in Eads prior to the current one. Kiowa County was named for the Native American tribe. The tribe is also the namesake for the county seat of Elbert County. James Buchanan Eads, a bridge engineer, was the namesake for the county seat. The center of the county is 10.2 miles Southeast of Eads.
Kiowa County government consists of a sheriff, assessor, manager, coroner, and treasurer (executive). It has 3 Commissioners (legislative.) Two District Court Judges serve Kiowa, Baca, Cheyenne, and Prowers counties and a Trial Court Judge, clerk, and county attorney serve Kiowa County (judicial.) The county is located in southwest Colorado on the border with Kansas. The county is surrounded clockwise by Cheyenne County and Kansas and Bent, Prowers, Otero, Crowley, and Lincoln counties. The county is rectangular shaped with the northwest corner cut out.
The area of the county is 1785.9 square miles. The county is 24 out of 64 in the state. It ranks 60 out of 64 in population in the state. It has a density of 0.8 persons per square mile making it 63 out of 64 in the state. Kiowa County has 55.3% of its population in its incorporated areas. United States Highway 287 crosses north to south through the county from Cheyenne County to Prowers County. United States Highway 385 crosses further east from north to south Cheyenne County to Prowers County. Eads is located near the center of the county. Eads is the county seat and the largest city. It is 46.7% of the county population. The county is pronounced KIE-O-WAH. The county seat is pronounced EEDZ.
Eads
Haswell
Sheridan Lake
