Lake County was separated from Jackson County and Wasco County in 1874. The temporary county seat was in Linkville (now Klamath Falls, Oregon). In June 1876, an election was held to select a permanent county seat. Prior to the election, W. M. Bullard offered to donate along Bullard Creek in the Goose Lake Valley as a site for the county courthouse. In the election, "Bullard Creek" received 120 votes while Linkville got only 88 votes. However, a majority of 384 votes was needed to determine the permanent county seat. Bullard Creek fell short because many voters wrote in names like "Goose Lake", "Goose Lake Valley", "Bullard's ranch", or "Bullard's creek". As a result, a second election was November 1876. Prior to that election, the town of Lakeview was organized at a meeting of Goose Lake Valley residents. The town site they selected was on Bullard Creek. In the second election, the new town site of Lakeview replaced Linkville as Lake County's seat of government. After the election, Bullard donated for the county courthouse as promised. Bullard sold an additional to John A. Moon, who filed a town plat with the state of Oregon, officially creating the town of Lakeview. The Lakeview post office was opened on December 8, 1876.