Bent County Courthouse and Jail

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.

From the record

“The Bent County Courthouse and Jail, of Bent County, Colorado, at 725 Bent 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.”
Wikipedia article Bent County Courthouse and Jail, CC BY-SA 4.0.

One of 8 National Register listings published here for Bent County · listed in 1976 · category: Building.

Sources: the Wikipedia article · the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service

The listing

What is counted as historic. The nomination lists 2 buildingss as contributing to the listing.
Address. 725 Carson Ave., Las Animas, 81054
When was it listed? January 1976
Category. building
Census division. Las Animas
National Register reference number. 76000546 - the number the National Park Service assigned this property when it was listed, and the key its nomination file is catalogued under at the National Archives.

Fires near this property

79 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 79 fires within 5 miles of Bent County Courthouse and Jail between 1994 and 2020, burning about 16,761 acres in total. None started naturally. None was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause	Fires
Missing data/not specified/undetermined	49
Debris and open burning	23
Equipment and vehicle use	4
Smoking	3

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

Date	Cause	Size	Reported by	Name on the report
30 September 2014	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	Las Animas-Bent County Fire Department	UNKNOWN
21 July 2014	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	Las Animas-Bent County Fire Department	UNKNOWN
18 June 2014	Equipment and vehicle use	under an acre	Las Animas-Bent County Fire Department	UNKNOWN
17 June 2014	Equipment and vehicle use	40 acres	Las Animas-Bent County Fire Department	UNKNOWN
17 June 2014	Equipment and vehicle use	under an acre	Las Animas-Bent County Fire Department	UNKNOWN
3 May 2010	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	200 acres	Colorado State Forest Service-State Headquarters	not named
2 May 2010	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	5.0 acres	Colorado State Forest Service-State Headquarters	not named
16 May 2005	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	1.0 acres	Colorado State Forest Service-State Headquarters	not named

Every fire recorded in Bent County

Mines and quarries near this property

10 of 16 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 16 workings within 5 miles of Bent County Courthouse and Jail: 8 unknowns, 7 occurrences, 1 producer. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Site	Commodity	Status	Recorded
Bent Builders	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Producer
Unk	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Unknown
Unk	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Unknown
Unk	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Unknown
Unk	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Unknown
Unk	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Unknown
Unk	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Unknown
Unk	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Unknown
Unk	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Unknown
Unknown	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Occurrence	Gravel

Every working recorded in Bent County

Storms near this property

60 of 127 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Las Animas, the town this property stands in, in 127 storm reports between 1994 and 2025: 71 hail, 24 thunderstorm wind, 18 tornado, 9 flash flood. The reports record 8 injuries. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

When	Event	Place named	Harm	What the report says
October 1997	Tornado (F1)	Las Animas	6 hurt, $200,000	no account filed
June 2004	Tornado (F1)	Las Animas	1 hurt, $1,000,000	A tornado caused severe damage to at least seven buildings at Mountain Prairie Hog Farms. Seven farrowing barns (380 feet x 60 feet) were destroyed. Only one pig was killed. A fire started in one of the structures when a gas line broke. Debris was scattered a few miles east southeast of the Farms.
June 2004	Tornado (F2)	Las Animas	1 hurt, $100,000	A tornado struck a ranch destroying the house, and damaging other buildings and two mobile homes. The family of five sought shelter in an interior closet, and the lone injury was the mother, who suffered a minor gash on her forehead.
July 2001	Thunderstorm Wind	Las Animas	$100,000	Damaging thunderstorm winds downed 1 1/2 miles of power poles along Highway 101 around 7 miles south of Las Animas in Bent county. It took around 2 to 3 weeks to replace the poles.
August 1996	Thunderstorm Wind	Las Animas	$75,000	no account filed
June 2004	Thunderstorm Wind	Las Animas	$50,000	Strong rear flank downdraft winds caused damage to horse barns and knocked down around 40 power poles along highway 101. This rear flank downdraft later tightening a circulation which caused a tornado at a ranch in extreme south central Bent county.
June 1995	Tornado (F0)	Las Animas	$50,000	Tornado downed some power lines in open country in northern part of county, but no other known damage.
October 1997	Hail	Las Animas	$50,000	no account filed
June 2016	Thunderstorm Wind	Las Animas	$20,000	Large cottonwood trees, taller than 25 feet, were uprooted at the Las Animas golf course.
October 1997	Tornado (F1)	Las Animas	$20,000	A line of thunderstorms moving east through western Bent county merged with a northeast moving supercell thunderstorm just west of Las Animas. The hail quickly grew from one inch in diameter up to 4.50 inches in diameter. A tornado and high winds skipped across the landscape for about 8 miles from about 3 miles west northwest of Las Animas through ranch country of north central Bent county. Windows were broken and roofs were destroyed on houses, outbuilding were damaged and destroyed, and vehicles were damaged and destroyed by both the high winds and hail.
June 2006	Thunderstorm Wind	Las Animas	$7,000	Damaging thunderstorm winds caused 10 power poles to go down, and knocked a semi-trailer on its side on Highway 101.
August 2002	Thunderstorm Wind	Las Animas	$3,000	no account filed
June 2011	Thunderstorm Wind	Las Animas	$1,000	Two power poles were snapped off.
July 1994	Hail	Las Animas	$500	Dime-size hail damaged crops near Las Animas. One farmer reported several rain gages were destroyed by the hail.
July 2025	Hail	Las Animas	-	Report from mPING. Hail measured to 1.25 inches occurred in Bent County.
May 2024	Hail	Las Animas	-	A trained spotter reported hail of 1.5 inches in diameter.
May 2024	Hail	Las Animas	-	A trained spotter reported quarter size hail, with a few bigger stones estimated at 1.5 inches in diameter.
May 2024	Hail	Las Animas	-	A public source reported hail of 1 inch in diameter.
May 2024	Hail	Las Animas	-	A NWS employee reported hail the size of 1.25 inches in diameter.
July 2023	Thunderstorm Wind	Las Animas	-	Estimated Winds.
July 2023	Thunderstorm Wind	Las Animas	-	Window on northside of the house blew out due to wind and hail.
July 2023	Flash Flood	Las Animas	-	Reports of flooding reaching to the doors of homes. Some roads were impassable due to high water.
June 2023	Thunderstorm Wind	Las Animas	-	Small limb damage also reported.
August 2022	Flash Flood	Las Animas	-	Colorado DOT reports flooding on Highway 50 near mile marker 394 (between county road 5.5 and county road 6.25).
July 2022	Heavy Rain	Las Animas	-	Heavy rainfall of 1.5 inches.
June 2022	Tornado (EFU)	Las Animas	-	Storm Chaser showed pictures of tornado via social media.
June 2022	Hail	Las Animas	-	Spotter reported one-inch hail.
June 2022	Hail	Las Animas	-	Local Law Enforcement reported one-inch hail.
June 2022	Tornado (EFU)	Las Animas	-	Initial updrafts of developing thunderstorms interacted with an outflow boundary and produced a landspout tornado, which was on the ground for approximately 10-15 mins. Numerous photos on social media showed a dusty landspout. This preceded the development of a mesocyclonic tornado farther east.
July 2020	Tornado (EFU)	Las Animas	-	Multiple spotters and public reported a tornado moving through Bent County towards the City of Las Animas. No damage reported.
July 2017	Flash Flood	Las Animas	-	Very heavy rain from a thunderstorm produced water in excess of 6 inches on streets in Las Animas and briefly flooded county roads near and south of John Martin Reservoir.
July 2017	Thunderstorm Wind	Las Animas	-	A few trees and many tree limbs were downed in Las Animas.
July 2016	Flash Flood	Las Animas	-	A storm produced flash flooding of arroyos and roadways in a rural area of southwest Bent County.
July 2014	Flood	Las Animas	-	The Purgatoire River briefly went above flood stage east of Las Animas, causing minor agricultural flooding.
July 2014	Flood	Las Animas	-	The Purgatoire River near Las Animas went above flood stage, causing minor agricultural flooding.
July 2014	Flood	Las Animas	-	The Purgatoire River briefly went above flood stage east of Las Animas, causing minor agricultural flooding.
July 2014	Flood	Las Animas	-	The Purgatoire River near Las Animas briefly went above flood stage causing minor agricultural flooding.
July 2011	Thunderstorm Wind	Las Animas	-	No known damage.
April 2010	Tornado (EF0)	Las Animas	-	Tornado occurred over open country and caused no damage.
April 2010	Tornado (EF0)	Las Animas	-	Tornado occurred over open country and caused no damage.
May 2007	Thunderstorm Wind	Las Animas	-	Thunderstorm winds downed several tree branches...some as large as 6 inches in diameter.
July 2007	Tornado (EF0)	Las Animas	-	Bent County sheriff's deputy reported a brief tornado in open country. There was no known damage.
June 2004	Thunderstorm Wind	Las Animas	-	Strong thunderstorm winds caused 12 inch diameter tree limbs to be stripped off trees.
June 2004	Tornado (F0)	Las Animas	-	A tornado occurred over open country with no known damage.
June 2004	Tornado (F0)	Las Animas	-	A tornado occurred over open country with no known damage.
August 2004	Flash Flood	Las Animas	-	Slow moving thunderstorms caused heavy rain which brought flash flooding to highway 194 just east of the Bent-Otero County line.
August 2004	Flash Flood	Las Animas	-	Very heavy rain from a slow moving thunderstorm resulted in water over 6 inches deep to flow over highway 50 on the Bent-Otero County line.
August 2004	Thunderstorm Wind	Las Animas	-	Strong thunderstorm winds knocked power poles down...caused large branches to be broken off trees...and caused a railroad crossing gate to be broken off.
August 2002	Flash Flood	Las Animas	-	Heavy rain from severe thunderstorms flooded areas from extreme northeast Bent county to Mud Creek and Caddoa Creek south of highway 50.
June 2001	Tornado (F0)	Las Animas	-	A tornado occurred over open country for a brief time and caused no known damage.
July 2000	Tornado (F0)	Las Animas	-	A short-lived tornado moved through open country causing no known damage.
August 1997	Thunderstorm Wind	Las Animas	-	A brief damaging wind lifted a 9-foot camper and threw it about 30 feet.
October 1997	Tornado (F0)	Las Animas	-	The same supercell thunderstorm which spawned a tornado in southeast Otero county in the Higbee Valley dropped a brief, weak tornado west southwest of Las Animas in a ranch land area. Grass was laid down, but there was no known property or crop damage. Knowledge of this and other supercell tornadic thunderstorms moving east of La Junta prompted law enforcement to stop an eastbound Amtrak train and evacuate the 300 passengers around 9:00 p.m. The train was allowed to travel on to Chicago around 11:00 p.m.
May 1995	Tornado (F0)	Las Animas	-	Brief touchdown at John Martin Reservoir over land and water, no damage.
June 1995	Thunderstorm Wind	Las Animas	-	Thunderstorm winds of unknown intensity moved through the Las Animas vicinity. Six inch diameter limbs downed.
June 1995	Hail	Las Animas	-	Brief tornado touchdown in open country with no known damage.
July 2023	Hail	Las Animas	-	no account filed
June 2022	Hail	Las Animas	-	no account filed
June 2022	Hail	Las Animas	-	no account filed
June 2018	Thunderstorm Wind	Las Animas	-	no account filed

Every storm recorded in Bent County

Map coverage status

No historic map-sheet match is published for this property yet. That does not mean no map exists. This record needs a coordinate-quality review before it can be joined to a sheet boundary. Browse the county's mapped places while that work is pending.

Listed places nearby

6 within 8 miles

Other National Register properties close enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties to their map sheets.

Property	Distance	Listed
Las Animas Post Office	0.2 miles	2008
Bent County High School	0.6 miles	2010
Boggsville	1.5 miles	1986
Boggsville (Boundary Increase)	1.6 miles	2022
Fort Lyon National Cemetery	1.9 miles	2017
Fort Lyon	4.8 miles	2004

Sources for this property

National Archives record	The nomination case file for reference 76000546 in Record Group 79.
Wikipedia article	Community-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA.
Bent County	All 8 listed properties in this county.

Provenance

Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.