Union County Courthouse (Illinois)

Last updated
Front, pictured three months after opening Union County Courthouse in Jonesboro.jpg
Front, pictured three months after opening

The Union County Courthouse is a government building in central Jonesboro, the county seat of Union County, Illinois, United States. Built in 2013, it replaced a brick structure whose core predated the Civil War.

Contents

Early history

Europeans first reached the vicinity of Union County by means of a French expedition under Jolliet and Marquette in 1673; they are unlikely to have landed within Union County's current boundaries, but they are known to have explored the lower end of the Upper Mississippi River. [1] :264 The first settlement, consisting of two families who built cabins near the present site of Jonesboro in 1803, was followed by a second settlement in the American Bottom in 1805, at which time the area was yet part of Johnson County. [1] :266 Hills in the area attracted some settlement in 1811 by refugees from the New Madrid Earthquake seeking stable ground, [1] :283 but even at the end of the War of 1812, the white man was much less numerous than the red in this part of the Illinois Territory. [1] :268 Union County was formed by a law of January 1818, which specified the location at which the county officials should meet before selecting a county seat. [1] :285 Just two months later, the officials accepted the donation of land at the present site of Jonesboro, and a rude log courthouse was quickly erected by one Thomas Cox. Although the frontiersmen advocated for such a simple building, holding that justice could be dispensed equally in primitive buildings and grand, a frame courthouse was built in 1820 to replace the original. [2]

Jonesboro and Anna

Jonesboro flourished into the 1850s, but the construction of the Illinois Central Railroad posed a new challenge: the company's engineers requested a plat map of the community, but none being furnished, they bypassed the county seat by a mile, and the new community of Anna was established between Jonesboro and the railroad line. Improved transportation caused Anna to prosper, [2] and it began to challenge Jonesboro for prominence in Union County. After an unsuccessful attempt to provide for a county-seat vote in 1868 via the state legislature, Anna partisans petitioned the county court for redress in 1870, but their petition was rejected, and the challenge gradually subsided. [1] :316

Architectural history

By the mid-1830s, the frame courthouse of 1820 had become insufficient, and the county government ordered its removal and the construction of a brick replacement on the same lot; [2] the project was completed in 1838 at a cost of $5,000. Although the building was quite fine for the period, it was left altogether unmaintained, and the necessity of constructing a fourth courthouse began to appear before the eyes of the county officials. [1] :360 The General Assembly passed an act in early 1853 permitting Union County to borrow $5,000 for construction (not many years after a similar act had permitted the county to borrow $1,000 to repair the previous building), [1] :317 and the replacement building opened in 1858 at a final cost of $12,000. [1] :360 Two stories tall with a taller central section, the building featured a small tower atop the stepped facade. In 1963, the county expanded the building by adding a two-story stone section to each side. [2] Despite these additions, the county outgrew the building within half a century, forcing some departments to use offices in other buildings, and more than $10 million in bonds was issued in 2012 to enable the construction of a replacement and the demolition of the old building. Its architects were the St. Louis office of HOK. [3] The replacement opened in August 2013. [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Illinois State Capitol</span> State capitol building of the U.S. state of Illinois

The Illinois State Capitol, located in Springfield, Illinois, houses the legislative and executive branches of the government of the U.S. state of Illinois. The current building is the sixth to serve as the capitol building since Illinois was admitted to the United States in 1818. Built in the architectural styles of the French Renaissance and Italianate, it was designed by Cochrane and Garnsey, an architecture and design firm based in Chicago. Ground was broken for the new capitol on March 11, 1868, and the building was completed twenty years later for a total cost of $4.5 million.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brentsville, Virginia</span> Unincorporated community village in Virginia, United States

Brentsville is an unincorporated community village in Prince William County, Virginia, United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wabash County Courthouse (Illinois)</span> Local government building in the United States

The Wabash County Courthouse is a historic governmental building in downtown Mount Carmel, Illinois, United States. Built in the late nineteenth century as the fifth courthouse in Wabash County, it has experienced a series of extensive remodelling projects that have left it with virtually nothing of the original building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kankakee County Courthouse</span> Local government building in the United States

The Kankakee County Courthouse in Courthouse Square is a historic building in Kankakee, Illinois, United States that has been home to the government of Kankakee County since 1912. The current structure, the third county courthouse, took three years to build and is considered a fine example of Beaux-Arts architecture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Randolph County Courthouse (Illinois)</span> Local government building in the United States

The Randolph County Courthouse is a government building in central Chester, the county seat of Randolph County, Illinois, United States. Built in 1972, it is the latest of several buildings to serve as the seat of government in Illinois' oldest county, and the second erected in Chester after the relocation of county government from Kaskaskia in 1847 after a devastating flood.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pulaski County Courthouse (Illinois)</span> Local government building in the United States

The Pulaski County Courthouse is a government building in Mound City, the county seat of Pulaski County, Illinois, United States. Built in 1912 and damaged by the Great Flood of 1937, it remains in use as the county's courthouse.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Williamson County Courthouse (Illinois)</span> Local government building in the United States

The Williamson County Courthouse is a government building in Marion, the county seat of Williamson County, Illinois, United States. Built in 1971, it is the fourth courthouse in Marion's history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Washington County Courthouse (Illinois)</span> Local government building in the United States

The Washington County Courthouse is a government building in central Nashville, the county seat of Washington County, Illinois, United States. It is the fourth building to serve as the courthouse for Washington County, having been built in 1884 after the previous courthouse was destroyed by fire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clinton County Courthouse (Illinois)</span> Local government building in the United States

The Clinton County Courthouse is a government building in Carlyle, the county seat of Clinton County, Illinois, United States. Built in 1999, this new structure is the county's third courthouse; it replaced a building that had been in use since the 1840s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Whiteside County Courthouse</span> Local government building in the United States

The Whiteside County Courthouse is a government building in Morrison, the county seat of Whiteside County, Illinois, United States. Completed in 1987 to replace a 19th-century predecessor, it is the fourth courthouse, in the third community, to serve Whiteside County officials since the county's formation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jefferson County Courthouse (Illinois)</span> Local government building in the United States

The Jefferson County Courthouse is a government building in Mount Vernon, the county seat of Jefferson County, Illinois, United States. Built in 1939 by the federal Works Progress Administration, it is the fifth courthouse to serve Jefferson County.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Schuyler County Courthouse (Illinois)</span> Local government building in the United States

The Schuyler County Courthouse is a government building in Rushville, the county seat of Schuyler County, Illinois, United States. Completed in 1882, it is the third courthouse in the county's history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pope County Courthouse (Illinois)</span> Local government building in the United States

The Pope County Courthouse is a government building in Golconda, the county seat of Pope County, Illinois, United States. The county's third courthouse, it has remained in operation since the early 1870s, making it one of Illinois' oldest buildings currently still used as a courthouse.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Perry County Courthouse (Illinois)</span> Local government building in the United States

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fayette County Courthouse (Illinois)</span> Local government building in the United States

The Fayette County Courthouse is a government building in Vandalia, the county seat of Fayette County, Illinois, United States. Converted from a residence in the 1930s, it succeeded a former state capitol as the courthouse for Fayette County.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alexander County Courthouse (Illinois)</span> Local government building in the United States

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Macon County Courthouse (Illinois)</span> Local government building in the United States

The Macon County Courthouse is a government building in Decatur, the county seat of Macon County, Illinois, United States. Completed in 1940, it is the fourth courthouse in the county's history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. Clair County Courthouse (Illinois)</span> Local government building in the United States

The St. Clair County Courthouse is a government building in Belleville, the county seat of St. Clair County, Illinois, United States. Built in 1976, it is the fifth courthouse in the history of the county, and one of two that still stands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richland County Courthouse (Illinois)</span> Local government building in the United States

The Richland County Courthouse is a government building in Olney, the county seat of Richland County, Illinois, United States. Built in 1914, it is the fourth building to serve as the county's courthouse.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Franklin County Courthouse (Illinois)</span> Building

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.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Perrin, William H., ed. History of Alexander, Union, and Pulaski counties, Illinois. Chicago: Baskin, 1883.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Weiser, Dennis. Illinois courthouses: an illustrated history. Virginia Beach: Donning, 2009, 144.
  3. Stewart, Brent. "After 154 years...Union County will get modern courthouse, The Southern Illinoisan , 2012-05-31. Accessed 2017-08-02.
  4. Malkovich, Becky. "Union County welcomes new courthouse", The Southern Illinoisan , 2013-08-25. Accessed 2017-08-02.

37°27′10″N89°16′18″W / 37.45278°N 89.27167°W / 37.45278; -89.27167