Colfax County Courthouse, County courthouse in Raton, New Mexico.

The Colfax County Courthouse in Springer is a symmetrical two-story brick building in Second Empire style, a typical New Mexico Territorial courthouse. It has a pitched roof, arched windows and a projecting three-story tower; the courtroom was on the second floor with the judge's chambers behind it, and a single brick jail cell was later added at the back.

The building was constructed as an important example of Second Empire architecture in New Mexico. Its listing on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987 recognized its role in the region's development.

Since 1965 the building has housed a museum devoted to the Santa Fe Trail, the trade route that crossed this part of New Mexico. Visitors see exhibits on the trail's history in the former county courthouse, which residents voted to convert into a museum that year.

The building at 614 Maxwell Avenue now houses a Santa Fe Trail museum, so visits centre on the exhibits rather than county offices. Springer sits on the plains where the railroad arrived in 1881, and the courthouse is a stop for travellers following the Santa Fe Trail route north toward Raton, forty miles away.

In 1897 the county clerk in Springer refused to hand over the county records after the seat moved to Raton, and they were only removed by force. A single brick jail cell was added at the back of the building.