Rio Grande

Formed February 10, 1874 (25^th county)

Rio Grande County (11,539), Del Norte (1,454), Monte Vista (4,250)

The tan brick and stone building which is the Rio Grande County courthouse was built in 1949.  The structure is located on 6^th Street at Cherry Street.  United States Highway 160 is one block north of the location.  There was an earlier courthouse in Del Norte, the only county seat, dating from 1885.  A County Administration building was added in 1997.  The county was formed on February 10, 1874 from Costilla County as the 25^th county.  The Classical Revival style building architect is Walter H. Simon.  Rio Grande, Spanish for “Big River,” comes from the river which flows through the northern part of the county.  Del Norte is Spanish for “of the north” which is the name of a local river.  The center of the county is 10.3 miles Southwest of Del Norte. 

Rio Grande County government consists of a sheriff, assessor, manager, coroner, and treasurer (executive).  It has 3 Commissioners (legislative.)  Four District Court Judges serve Rio Grande, Alamosa, Conejos, Costilla, Mineral, and San Miguel counties and a Trial Court Judge, clerk, and county attorney serve Rio Grande County (judicial.)  The county is in the southern part of the state.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Saguache, Alamosa, Conejos, Archuleta, and Mineral counties.  

The area of the county is 913.1 square miles.  The county is 45 out of 64 in the state.  It ranks 37 out of 64 in population in the state.  It has a density of 12.6 persons per square mile making it 31 out of 64 in the state.  Rio Grande County has 54.2% of its population in its incorporated areas.  United States Highway 160 crosses east to west in the county from Alamosa County to Mineral County.  United States Highway 285 enters from the north, Saguache County, and joins United States Highway 160 to go into Alamosa County.  The county is a rectangle with a smoke stack on the northwest corner.  Del Norte is in the far north quarter of the county.  Monte Vista is located in the far eastern quarter of the county.  Del Norte is the county seat and Monte Vista is the largest city.  Del Norte is 12.6% of the county population while Monte Vista is 36.8% of the county population.  The county is pronounced REE-OE GRAN-DAE.  The county seat is pronounced DELL NORE-TAE.  The largest city is pronounced MON-TEE VIS-TA.

Center