e-ReferenceDesk's College and 50 State Learning Resource Guide

Find Online Colleges

Find Campus Colleges

Colorado State...

Colorado

Choose a County

Adams, Alamosa, Arapahoe, Archuleta, Baca, Bent, Boulder, Broomfield City and, Chaffee, Cheyenne, Clear Creek, Conejos, Costilla, Crowley, Custer, Delta, Denver, Dolores, Douglas, Eagle, El Paso, Elbert, Fremont, Garfield, Gilpin, Grand, Gunnison, Hinsdale, Huerfano, Jackson, Jefferson, Kiowa, Kit Carson, La Plata, Lake, Larimer, Las Animas, Lincoln, Logan, Mesa, Mineral, Moffat, Montezuma, Montrose, Morgan, Otero, Ouray, Park, Phillips, Pitkin, Prowers, Pueblo, Rio Blanco, Rio Grande, Routt, Saguache, San Juan, San Miguel, Sedgwick, Summit, Teller, Washington, Weld, Yuma

Colorado Counties

Click Image to Enlarge

Colorado Counties

Colorado currently has sixty-four counties. The Counties of Colorado are important components of government since the state has no secondary civil subdivisions such as townships. Two counties, the City and County of Denver and the City and County of Broomfield, have consolidated city and county governments.. No organized Counties of the District of Louisiana, the Territory of Missouri, or the Territory of Nebraska existed within the present boundaries of the State of Colorado.

Costilla County, Colorado

Costilla County History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education

County Seat: San Luis
Year Organized: 1861
Square Miles: 1,227

Court House:

P.O. Box 100
County Courthouse
San Luis, CO 81152-0100

Etymology - Origin of County Name

Costilla County is named for the Costilla River.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

County History

Costilla County was the first area of Colorado to be settled by European-Americans. Hispanic settlers from Taos, New Mexico, officially established San Luis on 1851-04-09. Costilla County was one of the original 17 counties created by the Territory of Colorado on 1861-11-01. The county was named for the Costilla River. Although San Miguel was originally designated the county seat, the county government was moved to San Luis in 1863.

The county's original boundaries had the county extend over much of south-central Colorado. Much of the northern portion became part of Saguache County in 1866, and the western portions were folded into Hinsdale and Rio Grande counties in 1874. Costilla County arrived at its modern boundaries in 1913 when Alamosa County was created from its northwest portions.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,230 square miles (3,187 km²), of which, 1,227 square miles (3,178 km²) of it is land and 3 square miles (9 km²) of it (0.27%) is water.

Neighboring Counties:

Northeast: Huerfano County
East: Las Animas County
Southeast: Colfax County, N.M.
South: Taos County, N.M.
West: Conejos County
Northwest: Alamosa County

Cities and Towns:

- Blanca	town	Incorporated Area
- San Luis (County Seat)	town	Incorporated Area

County Resources:

Enter County Resources and Information Here

County Resources

The history of our nation was a prolonged struggle to define the relative roles and powers of our governments: federal, state, and local. And the names given the counties, our most locally based jurisdictions, reflects the "characteristic features of this country!"

But age, size and colorful names of our counties isn't the only reason to explore counties' role in American history, or the history of county government itself. In fact, the story of county government reflects the larger meanings of American history.

Today's counties are the most flexible, locally responsive and creative governments in the US. They are the most diverse, varying in size, population, geography, and governmental structure. In their politics and policies, they express a 1990's political slogan "Think globally, act locally."