Bayfield County was created in 1845 by the Wisconsin Territorial legislature from St. Croix County. Bayfield is one of the counties that has been renamed: the original name of the county was La Pointe County, and it covered land which is now in Wisconsin and in Minnesota. When Wisconsin became a state, the Minnesota portion of the county was eventually incorporated in the Minnesota Territory, and the remainder became a county in new state of Wisconsin. The boundaries of La Pointe County were changed in 1849 and the county was organized in 1850. La Pointe was divided in 1854 to create Douglas County and again in 1860 to create Ashland County. The county was renamed Bayfield County in 1866 in honor of Admiral Henry Bayfield of the Royal Navy who surveyed Lake Superior. This is another case of a county being named for someone who was still alive; Bayfield died in 1885. After a few more border tweaks, Bayfield County reached its present form in 1870.
The county seat is the City of Washburn. The city is named after Wisconsin Governor Cadwallader Washburn, who also had Washburn County named after him. Obviously Governor Washburn made quite an impression on people! The settlement was founded in 1883 and Washburn became the county seat in 1892; I’m not sure where the county seat was before that.
The Bayfield County courthouse is located at 117 East 5th Street in Washburn. Construction started in 1894 and it was completed in 1896. It was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.