| Bent County Courthouse and Jail | |
| Location: | 725 Carson Ave., Las Animas, Colorado |
| Coordinates: | 38.0642°N -103.22°W |
| Built: | 1887 |
| Builder: | Holmberg Bros.; Reilly, M.F. & B. Bradley |
| Architecture: | Victorian Institutional |
| Added: | January 2, 1976 |
| Area: | 3acres |
| Refnum: | 76000546 |
The Bent County Courthouse and Jail, of Bent County, Colorado, at 725 Carson Ave. in Las Animas, was built in 1887. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976; the listing included two contributing buildings.
The courthouse building was built and furnished for a total of $58,429, during 1886–1889. Its architecture is described positively in its NRHP nomination.[1]
The NRHP listing includes also the 1902 Bent County Jail, a 30x two-story brick building, and a brick garage and another brick extension building.
1886 Bent County decided that a court house must be built, and in 1887 James Jones a resident of the county sold his plot of land. The land was sold for a dollar under a condition that the land would be used for the Bent County Courthouse. The Holmberg Brothers architectural firm made the plans for the Bent County Courthouse and on July 4th 1887 construction began. The original courthouse burned down January 10th 1888 and was restored the next year.[2] The new building that stands today is a two story red brick building with an elevated basement. Built in a Victorian style with the addition of Romanesque arches the Courthouse is symmetrical with reassessed bays but is missing its original iron cresting. The Courthouse also features rough sandstone blocks that add a beige trim. The building was furnished with antique oak furniture and opened March 12th 1889. 23 years later Bent County added a jail next to the court house. Similar to the Courthouse the Jail was a two story red brick structure however built in a Classical Revival style.[3] By the 1990s the Jail no longer met federal standards and closed in 2000. The Bent County Courthouse is now the longest standing and functional Courthouse in Colorado.[4]