Carter County is named for Thomas Henry Carter, who was a United States Senator from Montana.
Surrounding County Courthouses:
N – Fallon County
E – Harding County, South Dakota and Butte County, South Dakota
S – Crook County, Wyoming
W – Powder River County and Custer County
Created: February 22, 1917
County Seat:
Ekalaka 1917 – present
County Courthouse – Ekalaka
Location: 214 Park Street / South Main Street
Built: 1919 – 1920
Style: Territorial
Architect: John Link and Charles Haire of Billings
Contractor: Lantis Rickard Lumber of Ekalaka
Description: The building faces north and is a two story white colored wood frame structure. The building is located on spacious landscaped grounds in the center of Ekalaka. There is a one story projection at the central entrance on the north side. Above the entrance on the second story is a large window. On the center of the roof is a square cupola with smaller cupola at the top. In the interior, the County District Court courtroom is located along the south side of the second story. The building houses the County District Court of the 16th Judicial District and County Justice Court. The supervising architect was John Thompson. An addition was constructed on the west side in 2014. The architect was Stevenson Design of Miles City and the contractor was Oswood Construction Company of Great Falls.
Note: The cost of construction, including materials and manpower was approximately $18,000. The fixtures, which included office equipment and vaults were purchased from Billings Stationary & Office Company for about $1,400.00. The lighting contract was with L F Bruggemann for a cost of $600.00.
See: The courthouse is one of two wood courthouses in Montana and the other wood courthouse is in Daniels County. In Nebraska there are two wood courthouses located in Blaine County and Frontier County.
See: The architect, John G Link of Montana ( in association with Charles S Haire and others ) designed courthouses in Montana in Big Horn County, Custer County, Dawson County, Granite County, McCone County, Musselshell County, Richland County, Rosebud County, Sheridan County and Silver Bow County; in Oregon in Jackson County and in Wyoming in Park County, Sheridan County and Washakie County.
See: The 16th Judicial District includes Custer County, Fallon County, Garfield County, Powder River County, Rosebud County and Treasure County.
History: The county was created in 1917 and Ekalaka was selected as the county seat. The first and only courthouse was constructed in 1919 to 1920.
County Courthouse – Ekalaka
County District Court courtroom
County Courthouse before addition constructed
Photos taken 2009 and 2023
Images 20*