The Henderson County Courthouse is a government building in Oquawka, the county seat of Henderson County, Illinois, United States. Built in 1842 and later expanded, it remains in use as the county's courthouse, despite repeated attempts by other towns to obtain the status of county seat.
Treaties were signed with local Indians as early as 1804, but cruelty on the part of early squatters in the area provoked them to warfare, and not until 1829 could land be sold in what became western Henderson County. [1] : 920 Here a town was platted in 1836 and named Oquawka, [1] : 924 and by 1838 it was prosperous enough to attempt to gain the status of county seat for Warren County. [1] : 926
Henderson County was created out of Warren County in April 1841 by a law that designated also Oquawka the county seat, [1] : 865 and one of the first acts of the original county commission was to accept from commissioner Alexis Phelps a donation of land for county business. [2] (Phelps and others had reserved land for this purpose five years earlier, when founding the town. [1] : 936 ) In October 1841, the county commission first announced plans to build a courthouse, and as the lowest bidder, Phelps was chosen as the contractor for a price of $1,219. [1] : 882 Working with architect Abner Hebbard, [1] : 927 brick mason James Ryason, and a pair of other contractors, he finished the building by the end of 1842. [2]
Oquawka sits twice as far from the county's southern boundary as from the northern, [1] : 911 and for this reason, residents of the southern part of the county repeatedly sought to move the seat closer to their homes. Elections were held in 1859 (seeking to move it to Warren), 1865 (to Gladstone), 1869 (to Biggsville), and 1872 (again to Gladstone), but majorities consistently favored retaining the original location. [1] : 910 As the county has never replaced the original building, it is Illinois' second-oldest active courthouse. [3]
Although Oquawka was not chosen to host any of the Lincoln-Douglas debates in 1858, both men visited at the Henderson County Courthouse during their campaigns; Douglas spoke on October 4, and Lincoln spoke on October 9. [4] Douglas was already familiar with the location, having used the courthouse in the 1840s while a state appeals court judge. [2]
At the time of construction, the courthouse was a simple two-story rectangle, [4] built in the Greek Revival style. [2] Its first floor was originally divided into office spaces for county officials, and a pair of staircases provided access to the large courtroom that occupied the entire second story. Two record vaults occupy the southwestern quarter; one was added after construction, while the other is perhaps original or may have been added later. A door at the rear of the building was removed in the early 1900s to make space for a small room for the judge, and in 1905 this room was expanded. [4] The county sought to make major changes to the building in 1946, but voters rejected the proposed spending, and a smaller-scale renovation project was conducted in 1965. [2]
Outside, the facade features a four-column portico; the columns' original brick exterior was covered with stucco in 1905. [4] A door sits at the center of the facade, surrounded by windows. Above it, the building's roof rises to a gable, and an octagonal cupola with square base sits atop the roof and above the portico. Before wings were added to the sides, three windows pierced each story of the building's sides. [2]
Warren County is a county in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2020 census, it had a population of 16,835. Its county seat is Monmouth.
Henderson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2020 United States Census, it has a population of 6,387. Its county seat is Oquawka.
Oquawka is a village in Henderson County, Illinois, United States. The population was 1,371 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Henderson County.
Illinois Route 164 is a state road in rural western Illinois. It runs from U.S. Route 34 in Gladstone to U.S. Route 34 and Illinois Route 41 in Galesburg. This distance is 35.70 miles (57.45 km).
The Ogle County Courthouse is a National Register of Historic Places listing in the Ogle County, Illinois, county seat of Oregon. The building stands on a public square in the city's downtown commercial district. The current structure was completed in 1891 and was preceded by two other buildings, one of which was destroyed by a group of outlaws. Following the destruction of the courthouse, the county was without a judicial building for a period during the 1840s. The Ogle County Courthouse was designed by Chicago architect George O. Garnsey in the Romanesque Revival style of architecture. The ridged roof is dominated by its wooden cupola which stands out at a distance.
The Jackson County Courthouse, also known as Old Jackson County Courthouse or Bellevue Elementary School, is a historic building and former courthouse for Jackson County, Iowa, United States. It is located in Bellevue and was built in the vernacular Greek Revival style in 1845. It currently serves as a portion of Bellevue Elementary School, the oldest functioning school in the state of Iowa.
The Old Warren County Courthouse Complex is located at the corner of Amherst and Canada streets in Lake George, New York, United States. It is a large brick building erected in five stages from the 1840s to the 1890s. Not all of the stages built are extant.
West Central High School (WCHS) is a public four-year high school located near Biggsville, Illinois, U.S. WCHS is part of West Central Community Unit School District 235, which serves the communities of Oquawka, Gladstone, Biggsville, Gulf Port, Stronghurst, Media, Raritan, Smithshire, and Carman. The campus is two miles (3.2 km) west of Biggsville at the intersection of State Route 94 and US 34, 15 miles (24 km) northeast of Burlington, Iowa, as well as 15 miles (24 km) south west of Monmouth, Illinois, and serves a mixed mostly rural residential community. West Central High School was formed by the consolidation of Union High School and Southern High School in 2005.
The Muscatine County Courthouse in Muscatine, Iowa, United States, was built in 1909. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1981 as a part of the County Courthouses in Iowa Thematic Resource. The courthouse is the third building the county has used for court functions and county administration.
The Alexis Phelps House is a historic home located on the Mississippi River at Oquawka in Henderson County, Illinois, United States. The New England style house was built in 1832-1833 by Alexis Phelps, a fur trader and one of the first settlers of the region. Phelps, who was born in Palmyra, New York, settled on a piece of land known as Yellow Banks, which his brother Stephen had purchased in 1828. Alexis and Stephen Phelps founded Oquawka, which they named for the Native American name for Yellow Banks, in 1836. Stephen A. Douglas, who frequently presided over the Henderson County Circuit Court, stayed in the house during his visits to Oquawka. The house was also rumored to be a stop on the Underground Railroad.
The Adams County Courthouse is a government building in central Quincy, the county seat of Adams County, Illinois, United States. Built in 1950 after a tornado destroyed its predecessor, it is the fourth building to serve as a courthouse for Adams County.
The Hardin County Courthouse is a government building in Elizabethtown, the county seat of Hardin County, Illinois, United States. Built in 1927, it is the fourth building to serve this purpose in Hardin County, following three that were replaced due to fires or fire-related concerns.
The Saline County Courthouse is a government building in Harrisburg, the county seat of Saline County, Illinois, United States. Built in 1967, it is the fifth courthouse to serve the county and the third in Harrisburg.
The Perry County Courthouse is a government building in central Pinckneyville, the county seat of Perry County, Illinois, United States. Built in 1850, it is the third courthouse in the county's history, and it has been twice expanded to serve the county's growing needs.
The DeWitt County Courthouse is a government building in Clinton, the county seat of DeWitt County, Illinois, United States. Completed in 1986, it is the fourth courthouse in the history of DeWitt County.
The Alexander County Courthouse is a government building in central Cairo, the county seat of Alexander County, Illinois, United States. Built in the 1960s, it is the latest in a series of courthouses erected in four towns across Alexander County.
The Brown County Courthouse is a government building in Mount Sterling, the county seat of Brown County, Illinois, United States. Completed in 1868 and rebuilt around 1940, it is the second courthouse in the county's history.
The Jasper County Courthouse is a government building in Newton, the county seat of Jasper County, Illinois, United States. Built in 1876, it is the third courthouse in the county's history.
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The Franklin County Courthouse is a government building located in Benton, Illinois. It took 620 days to complete from start to finish, costing around $13 million for the courthouse itself. A nearby government building also saw renovations so it could house the courtrooms and the Circuit Clerk's office while the courthouse was under construction. That brought the total cost to around $18 million.