Review by Gary M. Lindstrom
History – April 2001 – Colorado Central Magazine
Summit’s Courthouse: Its Past, Pictures and People
By Susan Donaldson
Published in 2000 by Alpenrose Press
ISBN 0-9701017-0-8
IN CELEBRATION of the 90th year of the Summit County Courthouse in Breckenridge, local author Susan Donaldson has written a history of the various county seats of Summit County and some wonderful stories, myths, legends and facts in Summit’s Courthouse: Its Past, Pictures and People.
The book is full of anecdotes about the courthouse and the various people who have occupied the building over the years. The building is almost a cookie-cutter courthouse and its design can be found all over the Midwest and West. What makes this still-occupied courthouse — and this book — so special are the stories of stolen records, prisoners, judges and elected officials over the past century.
Donaldson spent several months searching records and interviewing long-time locals to piece together this account of the seat of government located in a once-powerful mining district that’s now the home of the world’s busiest ski area.
In this short book the author has managed to capture the essence of Summit County government and some of the wackiness of the “Kingdom of Breckenridge.” Donaldson’s insightful history includes tales about prisoners who were once allowed to leave jail to eat lunch at the Gold Pan Saloon, and a coroner who stored dead bodies in a courthouse safe.
This book is good for a short read and will leave a memory of the Summit County Courthouse that will last a lifetime.
— Gary M. Lindstrom Summit County Commissioner