After the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul, and Pacific Railroad line was completed through this area in 1908, an influx of homesteaders increased demand for county services as Montana’s Progressive Movement also fueled a county splitting craze. A bitter contest followed among Ekalaka, Baker, and Wibaux over which town would become the county seat of newly formed Fallon County. In 1915, the Montana Supreme Court upheld Baker’s election as county seat, and county commissioners moved quickly to establish it as the county’s political center by building a permanent courthouse and county jail. They hired the architectural firm of Link and Haire to design a jail and heating plant for less than $9,000. Built in 1916, the Craftsman style jail reflected the firm’s ability to adapt to smaller buildings and limited budgets, with gable-front porches supported by Doric columns of exposed aggregate. Its first floor served as the sheriff’s residence, with plain woodwork and hardwood floors, while the second floor contained two cells for women in one room and four cells for men in another. Although the cells were removed in 1974, the second-floor windows still retain their original steel bars. The building stands as a representative work of Montana’s homestead era, expressing Craftsman ideals of honesty and simplicity in concrete and stucco, and it became the home of the O’Fallon County Museum in 1980.