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Located in northeastern New Mexico, Colfax County is named for Schuyler Colfax, who was Vice President under Ulysses S. Grant.
New Mexico Territory had nine counties when it was established in 1852. In 1859, the eastern portion of Taos County was split off to become Mora County. On January 25, 1869, Colfax County was established from the northern portion of Mora County.
The original county seat of Colfax County was the goldmining town of Elizabethtown. In 1872, after the gold rush had died down, the county seat was moved to Cimarron. In 1881, the count seat was moved again, this time to Springer. After a bitter legislative fight, the set was moved to the coal mining town of Raton in 1897, where it remains today.
The 1936 WPA Art Deco courthouse in Raton is the second in Raton, and the (I'm guessing) fifth courthouse overall. The ones in Cimarron and Springer are still standing.
Some features of the current courthouse are the decorative panels of the brands of area ranches set around the entryway. There are also carved cattle heads and bas reliefs of farming and mining scenes.
Lobby area of the historic General Electric Building at 570 Lexington Avenue, done in Art Deco style.
Potter County was organized in 1876, and named Robert Potter, who moved from North Carolina to Texas, settling in the Marshall area, in 1835 after assaulting (evidently castrating?!) two men whom he accused of having an affair with his wife.
A former member of the North Carolina House of Commons, he continued his political career in Texas, and was a signer of the Texas Constitution and served as the Secretary of the Navy for the Republic of Texas. He was rather dramatically killed during a feud known as the Regulator-Moderator War, or the Shelby County War, in 1842.
The county seat of Amarillo was originally name Oneida. It was founded in April of 1887 by J. I. Berry on a section along the right-of-way of the Fort Worth and Denver City Railroad, and was named the county seat after an election in August of 1887.
In 1888, Henry B. Sanborn and Joseph F. Glidden began purchasing land to the east of Berry's land, eventually convincing townspeople to move to their preferred location.
By the late 1890s, Amarillo was one of the busiest cattle shipping sites in the US.
The 1932 Art Deco courthouse, which is seven stories high, is the county's fifth courthouse, and cost $420,000 ($9,245,756 in today's money) to build. The original county library building is also on the grounds.
The area now known as the State of Arkansas was acquired by the US in the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. Arkansas Territory (Territory of Arkansaw) was formed in 1819, and was admitted into the union as the 25th state on June 15, 1836.
Originally part of Sevier County, Polk County was first settled by whites around 1830. In November of 1844, the area was separated from Sevier County, and named for President James K. Polk. The first county seat was in the town of Dallas, which was named for Polk’s Vice President, George Dallas.
In 1896, the Kansas City, Pittsburg and Gulf Railroad (now the Kansas City Southern Railroad), founded by Arthur E. Stillwell, platted out a townsite named for Folmina Margaretha Janssen-De Goeijen, called Mena, who was the wife of Jan de Goeigen, a wealthy Dutch merchant who helped finance the railroad. The railroad arrived in Mena on August 19, 1896, and Mena was incorporated on September 18, 1896. In June of 1898, a special election was held, and it was voted to move the county seat from Dallas to Mena.
The 1939 Art Deco style building in the center of Mena is the county’s fourth courthouse. It was constructed by the Works Progress Administration, using local labor. The first two courthouses were in the then county seat of Dallas. The first was built in 1844, and burned down. The second was built in 1869, and burned down in 1883. The first courthouse in Mena was built in 1898 (I don’t know what happened to that one).
This beauty needs restoration, which is likely with gentrification. Do not use without my permission. Visit me on Instagram.