Pitkin County Courthouse
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![]() South elevation, 2010
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Location within Colorado
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Location | Aspen, CO |
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Coordinates | 39°11′25″N 106°49′2″W / 39.19028°N 106.81722°WCoordinates: 39°11′25″N 106°49′2″W / 39.19028°N 106.81722°W |
Built | 1890 |
Architect | William Quayle |
Architectural style | Victorian |
NRHP Reference # | 75000531 |
Added to NRHP | May 12, 1975 |
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The Pitkin County Courthouse is located on East Main Street (State Highway 82) in Aspen, Colorado, United States. It is a large brick building erected in the late 19th century that serves as offices not just of Pitkin County's courts but its other governmental agencies, and the Aspen police. A landmark of the city, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.
Like many courthouses, it has a statue of Lady Justice in the front. Unlike many of the other such statues, she is depicted without a blindfold. In the late 20th and 21st centuries, as Aspen became a popular destination for wealthy and famous people, the courthouse has seen several high-profile defendants and litigants, from Ted Bundy to Charlie Sheen.
The courthouse is located on the north side of the block of East Main between Galena and Hunter streets, closer to the former on the west. Across the street is an open area around St. Mary's Catholic Church. A mix of commercial and residential properties and the Pitkin County Library are to the northwest and a small housing development lies to the east. is to the southeast on South Hunter. Two blocks west is another Aspen landmark, the Hotel Jerome. Aspen City Hall is a block away at South Galena and East Hopkins. The terrain slopes slightly toward the Roaring Fork River to the north.
The building itself is a two-story brick structure on a stone foundation, raised to expose the basement. It is set back from the street, fronted by a low iron fence, red cobblestone sidewalk, and small trees and shrubbery. Two large evergreens flank the courthouse. A large modern extension containing the jail is located to the rear.
On the 13-bay south (front) facade, the five-bay projecting entrance pavilion, itself with the center three bays projecting, is complemented by two lesser projections on the third and fourth bays from the center. Bricks are laid in stretcher bond. Stone belt courses provide sills and lintels the narrow one-over-one double-hung sash windows on the first story. Segmental arches of vertical brick, with keystones, spring from the lintels on the flanking projections.