Formed February 22, 1917 (42nd county)
Carter County (1,415), Ekalaka (401)
The white wood courthouse was built in 1920. The courthouse is on Park and Main streets. Montana State Highway 7 passes five blocks northeast of the site. John Link and Charles Haire provided the Territorial style designs. An addition sits beside the courthouse which features a small tower. Carter County was organized on February 22, 1917 as the 42nd county with Ekalaka as the only county seat. The county’s namesake is Senator Thomas H. Carter. The county seat is named for a Native American maiden.
Carter County government consists of a sheriff and 3 Commissioners. Two District Court Judges serve Carter, Custer, Fallon, Garfield, Powder River, Rosebud, and Treasure counties. The county is in the southeast corner of Montana. South Dakota is on its eastern border and Wyoming is on its southern border. Billings, Montana is west of the county. The county center is 40.8 miles South-Southeast of Ekalaka nearer Capitol. The county is surrounded clockwise by Fallon County and South Dakota and Wyoming and Powder River and Custer counties.
The area of the county is 3340 square miles. It is 15 out of 56 in the state. It ranks 50 out of 56 in population in the state. It has a density of 0.4 persons per square mile making it 54 out of 56 in the state. Carter County has 28.3% of its population in its incorporated areas. United States Highway 212 cuts the southwest corner of the county from Powder River County, west, to Wyoming, south. The county is an overall rectangle with the northeast corner cut away. Ekalaka is in the northern quarter of the county. Ekalaka is the county seat and the largest city since it is the only incorporated city. It is 28.3% of the county population. The county seat is pronounced EE-KA-LAK-A.
Ekalaka
