[2] The county was founded in 1861 and is named for James McNair Baker, a judge and Confederate Senator.

It was named for James McNair Baker, a judge and Confederate senator.

[3] In 1864 the Battle of Olustee was fought near Lake City in Baker County.

[4] Much of the area was originally covered with pine flatwoods and cypress swamps, as was Columbia County to the west.

[5] The extreme northern part of the county lies within the Okefenokee Swamp and its federally protected areas.

No passenger trains stop anywhere in Baker County, but Amtrak's Sunset Limited served the Tallahassee Subdivision until Hurricane Katrina ravaged the Gulf Coast in 2005.

The other major railroad line in the county is Norfolk Southern Railway's Valdosta District, which spans northwest to southeast from the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge at the Georgia State Line, north of the Columbia-Baker County Line, through Baxter at a bridge over the Saint Mary's River which cuts through the "Georgia Bend" and eventually leads to the Jacksonville Terminal.

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 28,259 people, 8,828 households, and 6,448 families residing in the county.

[21] The Baker County Sheriff's Office is headquartered in Macclenny, Florida.

[22] As of September 1, 2020, Baker County has a Republican majority, with a Democratic minority.

[23] Baker County is home to a Walmart distribution center,[25][26] several small manufacturing businesses, and Acreage Holdings, a cannabis cultivation facility.