Lake of the Woods County is named for the large lake to the north called “Lake of the Woods”.
Surrounding County and Canada Courthouses:
N – Manitoba, Canada and Ontario, Canada
E – Ontario, Canada and Koochiching County
S – Beltrami County
W – Roseau County and Manitoba, Canada
Created: November 22, 1922 
County Seat:
Baudette 1923 – present
County Government Center – Courthouse – Baudette
Location: 206 8th Avenue / 1st Street SE
Built: 2000 – 2001
Style: Modern
Architect: Widseth-Smith Nolting and Associates Inc. of Alexandra
Contractor: Kraus-Anderson Construction Company of Bemidji
Description: The building faces west and is a single story light buff colored brick and concrete structure. The building is located on spacious landscaped grounds on the east side of the center of Baudette and incorporates the county court and government offices. The building was completed on August 22, 2001 and is called the “Lake of the Woods County Government Center”. The west entrance has glass panels at the peaked roof. The upper part of the building has gray colored siding. The center of the building has a large open area. The roof line is flat except for the peaked center section. The building houses the County District Court of the 9th Judicial District.
See: The 9th Judicial District includes Aitkin County, Beltrami County, Cass County, Clearwater County, Crow Wing County, Hubbard County, Itasca County, Kittson County, Koochiching County, Mahnomen County, Marshall County, Norman County, Pennington County, Polk County, Red Lake County and Roseau County.
History: The county was created in 1922 and Baudette was selected as the county seat. Before 1922 as part of Beltrami County, the court met in the Masonic Hall and high school in Baudette until 1906 when a school building was renovated at a cost of $56,000. The building was destroyed by a forest fire in 1910. The first courthouse was rebuilt in 1910 by C E Wierske. An addition was constructed in 1954. In 2003, the county bought the adjacent former North Star Electric Company building to build the Government Center North, which houses additional government offices.
County Government Center – Courthouse – Baudette
County Government Center North – Baudette
Photos taken 2007, 2008 and 2010