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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.

Jackson County, Colorado

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

County Seat: Walden
Year Organized: 1909
Square Miles: 1,613

Court House:

P.O. Box 337
County Courthouse
Walden, CO 80480-0337

Etymology - Origin of County Name

Jackson County is named in honor of Andrew Jackson, the seventh President of the United States.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

History

In November 1861 Colorado set up 17 counties for the state, with Larimer County as one of these. This was where county Jackson County would be carved out of in 1909. But before then both Grand and Larimer Counties claimed the North Park area. In the beginning no one paid much attention to North Park because it was the hunting grounds of the Ute and Arapaho Indians. They fiercely defended these lands and the white settlers were often afraid to venture in. When valuable minerals were discovered in North Park, Grand County claimed it as part of their county because they wanted the revenue it would provide. The residents didn't care much because the county seat for Grand County was closer than the one in Larimer County, and all official business needed to be done at the county seat. But Larimer also claimed this county and it was contested all the way to the Colorado Supreme Court. In 1886 the court decided in favor of Larimer. This did not make the North Park residents very happy and they pushed for their own county until Jackson was formed.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,621 square miles (4,198 km²), of which, 1,613 square miles (4,178 km²) of it is land and 8 square miles (20 km²) of it (0.48%) is water

Most of Jackson County is a high relatively broad intermontane basin known as North Park which covers 1613 square miles. This basin opens north into Wyoming and is rimmed on the west by the Park Range, on the south by the Rabbit Ears Range, and on the east by the Medicine Bow Mountains. Elevations ranges from 7,800 to 12,953 feet above sea level and is home to the head waters of the North Platte River.

Neighboring Counties:

Northeast: Albany County, Wyo.
East: Larimer County
Southeast: Grand County
Southwest: Routt County
Northwest: Carbon County, Wyo.

Cities and Towns:

- Walden (County Seat)

town

Incorporated Area

County Resources:

Enter County Resources and Information Here

County Resource Guide

Counties: US Map

The history of our nation can be seen as a prolonged struggle to define the relative roles and powers of our governments: federal, state, and local. And the names we've given our counties, our most locally based jurisdictions, reflects the "characteristic features of our 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."

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