Frederick D. Nichols, Library of Congress, 1936

The county courthouse today serves as a Masonic Lodge, June, 2006, Kathy Weiser.

The discovery of gold on the slopes of Baldy Mountain in 1867 had led to rapid growth in the Moreno Valley and the distance from the county seat at Mora prompted the state legislature to organize a new county. On January 25, 1869, the County of Colfax, named for Schuyler Colfax, Vice-President of the United States from 1869-1873, was established with the county seat at Elizabethtown. A year later "E-town" became the first incorporated town in New Mexico but when there proved to be less gold, and people, than originally anticipated, the county seat was moved in 1872 to Cimarron, which had recently become a stop on the Barlow, Sanderson & Company stage line. This building was built in 1872 and used as the Colfax County Courthouse for several years, followed by a drafting office, school, residence and, presently, the Masonic Lodge. In 1882, the county seat was moved again, this time to the railroad town of Springer. Raton, the largest community in Colfax County, became the final destination of the county seat in 1897.