The Lake County Courthouse was constructed in 1954 to replace the courthouse built in the early-1900s. Lake County was established on October 24, 1874. It was created from the southern part of Wasco County and the eastern part of Jackson County. It was named because of the numerous large lakes that are entirely or partly within its borders.
Lake County is situated in south central Oregon.
The western boundary was changed with the creation of Klamath County in 1882. It regained some area when the southwestern part of Grant County was annexed in 1885. It currently has 8,275 square miles. Lake County is bounded on the north by Deschutes County, on the east by Harney County, on the south by the State of California, and on the west by Klamath County. When the Legislative Assembly created Lake County, it temporarily located the county seat at Linkville until the voters selected a permanent site.