We define a family of combinatorial objects, which we call Baxter posets. We prove that Baxter posets are counted by the Baxter numbers by showing that they are the adjacency posets of diagonal rectangulations. Given a diagonal rectangulation, we describe the cover relations in the associated Baxter poset. Given a Baxter poset, we describe a method for obtaining the associated Baxter permutation and the associated twisted Baxter permutation.