Since Graham County's formation in 1881, its courthouse had been relocated four times, occupying an adobe structure in Safford, two sites in Solomonville, and the Rig's Building on Main Street after the county seat returned to Safford. A fifth site was offered by the D.E. Welker estate at what was then I and Tenth Streets, and in December 1915 the Board of Supervisors accepted the site and approved plans by Architects Lecher & Kibble of Phoenix. The cost was estimated at $44,000, and Ludgerding and Eagan, the low bidders among eleven competitors, received the $40,400 contract on March 10, 1916. Work began immediately, with the contractors burning 300,000 red brick for the interior and additional public sale, while medium mottled pressed brick from El Paso was used for the exterior. The building was completed in six months and dedicated with much fanfare on Labor Day, September 6, 1916. This neo-classical building features a symmetrical facade centered on a pediment, stands as a visual terminus of Safford's principal commercial street, and has a two-story, flat-roofed form resting on a raised concrete basement that lifts the main floor seven feet above grade. Doric columns are flanked by brick piers, the interior included vaults for several departments, and a flight of steps leads to the recessed front entry at the portico. The south and north sides originally had center bay entries; the south was later closed for mechanical space and the north was modified. In 1978, the west entry was altered by demolition of an unadorned two-story ell that had housed the jail. Elevator access and interior renovation were added in 1995, county offices moved to a new facility in October 1996, and the court system then took over the entire space. The building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.