Prowers

Formed April 11, 1889 (53^rd county)

Prowers County (11,995), Lamar (7,688)

The Neo-Classical Revival style county courthouse is made of limestone and concrete.  It is on Main Street at Elm Street.  Main Street is United States Highway 287 passing through Lamar.  This 1927 courthouse replaced an 1890 facility in Lamar, the only county seat.  The county was created on April 11, 1889 from Las Animas County as the 53^rd county.  The facility was designed by Robert K. Fuller.  The grounds feature veteran memorials and a windmill.  The county was named for John W. Prowers, an explorer in this area.  Lamar was named for the United States Secretary of Interior, Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar.  The center of the county is 13.3 miles East-Southeast of Lamar nearer Granada. 

Prowers County government consists of a sheriff, assessor, manager, coroner, and treasurer (executive).  It has 3 Commissioners (legislative.)  Two District Court Judges serve Prowers, Baca, Cheyenne, and Kiowa counties and a Trial Court Judge, clerk, and county attorney serve Prowers County (judicial.)  The county is in southeast Colorado on the border with Kansas.  The Arkansas River flows through the county.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Kiowa County and Kansas and Baca and Bent counties.  

The area of the county is 1645.4 square miles.  The county is 28 out of 64 in the state.  It ranks 36 out of 64 in population in the state.  It has a density of 7.3 persons per square mile making it 39 out of 64 in the state.  Prowers County has 78.9% of its population in its incorporated areas.  United States Highway 50 crosses east to west in the county, Kansas to Bent County.  United States Highway 287 enters from Kiowa County, north, and exits into Baca County, south.  United States Highway 385 comes from Kiowa County, joins United States Highway 287 in Lamar, and goes into Baca County.  The county is a rectangle with Lamar in the northwest quarter of the county.  Lamar is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 64.1% of the county population.