Whiteside County Courthouse

Whiteside County Courthouse
Whiteside County Courthouse
	View of entrance to the courthouse
General information
Location	200 E Knox St, Morrison, Illinois
Coordinates	41°48′37″N89°57′50″W / 41.81014°N 89.96389°W
Opened	1987

Last updated November 03, 2024

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.

History

Growing settlement in northwestern Illinois prompted the legislature to establish Peoria County in 1825 and to separate its northwestern portions as Jo Daviess County two years later. Out of this county's southern portions was formed Whiteside County in 1836, although it temporarily remained attached to the parent county, and full organization required a number of years to complete;^[1]^: 16 not until 1852 could the county be divided into townships, for example. By this time, the area was well settled, the first pioneers having arrived more than twenty years prior,^[1]^: 17 and as early as 1858, there was an old-settlers' association in operation.^[1]^: 22

County voters met to choose a county seat in 1839, selecting Lyndon, but Sterling residents were dissatisfied with this choice; the county commissioners allowed a second vote at which the upstart supplanted Lyndon, and the seat was moved in 1841.^[1]^: 29 Nevertheless, the contest continued: county residents pressured legislators in Springfield, who over the next four years enacted three separate laws seeking to resolve the question: a commission was appointed to ascertain the best location in 1843, a Lyndon lawsuit seeking to retrieve the seat status was quashed by an 1846 law naming Sterling the seat,^[1]^: 30 and an 1849 act ordered another election whose decision was to be final. Sterling being the victor of this election, Lyndon finally ceased to contend, but in 1857, the residents of Morrison urged the passage of another law to permit yet another election, and their victory in this vote caused the seat to move in 1858.^[1]^: 31

Previous courthouses

Whiteside County's first courthouse was a simple building constructed on the Lyndon public square, starting in 1840, but as the county seat was removed to Sterling one year later, it saw only a short period of use for its original purpose.^[1]^: 29 Sterling then built a two-story square brick courthouse with a second-floor courtroom, within which several local churches worshipped before completing their buildings. It stood until the late 1870s, unoccupied after the county offices moved to Morrison,^[1]^: 31 but after its demolition the site was redeveloped into a residential neighborhood.^[1]^: 32 The third courthouse was completed in 1865 at a cost of over $14,000 (equivalent to $278,661in 2023), it was a significantly larger building, 85 by 55 feet (26 m × 17 m), with an unusual circular courtroom,^[1]^: 306 it was a two-story brick structure with county offices on the first floor and courtrooms on the second.^[1]^: 307 The style was Italianate, due partly to features such as a domed cupola and doubled brackets under the eaves of the shallow roof.^[2]

Current courthouse

Designed by Phillips Swager Associates,^[2] a Peoria architectural firm,^[3] the current courthouse was constructed between 1982 and 1987. A firmly modernist building, the courthouse features a wall of brick with a continuous course of windows at the center of each story. A large bay window, the height of the entire floor, projects from the top story atop a column-supported overhang that covers an outdoors walking area on one side of the building.^[2]

Related Research Articles

Whiteside County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2020 census, it had a population of 55,691. Its county seat is Morrison. The county is bounded on the west by the Mississippi River. Whiteside County comprises the Sterling, IL Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is also included in the Dixon-Sterling, IL Combined Statistical Area. U.S. President Ronald Reagan was born in 1911 in the Whiteside County community of Tampico.

The DeKalb County Courthouse is located in the county seat of DeKalb County, Illinois, U.S., the city of Sycamore. The Classical Revival structure sits on a square facing Illinois Route 64 as it passes through the city. The current courthouse was constructed in 1905 amid controversy over where the courthouse and thus, ultimately, the county seat would be located. The current building is the third structure to bear the name "DeKalb County Courthouse." DeKalb County's Courthouse still serves as the county's primary judicial center and is a contributing property to the Sycamore Historic District. The district joined the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. As the county's primary courthouse for over 100 years, the site has been host to many trials, including prominent murder cases.

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 Fulton County Courthouse, built in 1870, is a historic courthouse building located in Wauseon, Ohio. On May 7, 1973, it was added to the National Register.

The Courthouse of Crawford County, Ohio, is a landmark of the county seat, Bucyrus, Ohio. The courthouse was built in 1854 on East Mansfield Street by architect Harlan Jones and was added to the National Register of Historic Places on 1985-02-28 as a part of the Bucyrus Commercial Historic District.

The William Augustus Bootle Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse, also and formerly known as Old U.S. Post Office and Federal Building, is a courthouse in Macon, Georgia of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Georgia. Completed in 1908, it initially served as a courthouse of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Georgia, until the creation of the Middle District in 1926. It was individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) in 1972 as "Old U.S. Post Office and Federal Building", and also is included in the NRHP-listed Macon Historic District. It was renamed in honor of district court judge William Augustus Bootle in 1998.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elbert P. Tuttle United States Court of Appeals Building</span> United States historic place

The Elbert P. Tuttle U.S. Court of Appeals Building, also known as U.S. Post Office and Courthouse, is a historic Renaissance Revival style courthouse located in the Fairlie-Poplar district of Downtown Atlanta in Fulton County, Georgia. It is the courthouse for the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.

The Marshall County Courthouse is located in Marshalltown, Iowa, United States. The current building was completed in 1886 to replace an earlier building. The courthouse is a dominant landmark in downtown Marshalltown. It was individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972. In 2002 it was listed as a contributing property in the Marshalltown Downtown Historic District. It is the third building the county has used for a courthouse and county business.

The Scott County Courthouse in Davenport, Iowa, United States was built from 1955 to 1956 and extensively renovated over a ten-year period between 1998 and 2009. It is the third building the county has used for court functions and county administration. It is part of a larger county complex that includes the county jail, administration building and juvenile detention facility. In 2020 the courthouse was included as a contributing property in the Davenport Downtown Commercial Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Perry County Courthouse is a historic government building in the city of New Lexington, Ohio, United States. Built near the end of the nineteenth century after the end of a county seat war, it is the fifth courthouse to serve Perry County, and it has been named a historic site because of its imposing architecture.

The Rockingham County Courthouse is a historic courthouse located at Wentworth, Rockingham County, North Carolina. It was designed by Frank P. Milburn and built in 1907. It is a Classical Revival style red brick building that consists of a three-story hipped roofed main block flanked by later added two-story flat roofed wings. It features a low and broad polygonal cupola atop the Spanish red tile roof. The 1907 courthouse, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979, now houses the Museum and Archives of Rockingham County.

The Old McDonald County Courthouse is a National Register of Historic Places listed building located at 400 N. Main Street in Pineville, Missouri, the county seat of McDonald County, Missouri. It is situated in the center of Pineville's town square and served as the county's courthouse from 1871 until 1978, when a new courthouse was constructed two blocks north of the square. The structure underwent a significant restoration from 2010 to 2015 and is currently operated as a museum by the McDonald County Historical Society. It is designed in the American Foursquare style and was featured in the 1939 film Jesse James, which starred Tyrone Power as the titular outlaw and Henry Fonda as his brother Frank James. It is one of three sites in the county on the National Register of Historic Places, which also includes the Powell Bridge in the rural community of Powell, Missouri.

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.

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.

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 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.

The Shelby County Courthouse is a government building in Shelbyville, the county seat of Shelby County, Illinois, United States. Completed in 1881, it is the third courthouse in the county's history.

The Morrison County Courthouse is a historic courthouse in Little Falls, Minnesota. The building was completed in 1890 or 1891 and still serves as the county courthouse today. The courthouse was added to the National Register of Historic Places on December 5, 1978, due to its Richardsonian Romanesque architectural style and the fact that it is made completely of local material.

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.

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 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Davis, William W. History of Whiteside County, Illinois : from its earliest settlement to 1908. Vol. 1. Chicago: Pioneer, 1908.
1 2 3 Weiser, Dennis. Illinois courthouses: an illustrated history. Virginia Beach: Donning, 2009, 152.
↑ "Peoria-based Phillips Swager Associates, Chicago Tribune , 2000-05-07. Accessed 2017-08-02.

External links

Whiteside County website

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[book-1] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Davis, William W. History of Whiteside County, Illinois : from its earliest settlement to 1908. Vol. 1. Chicago: Pioneer, 1908.

[weiser-2] 1 2 3 Weiser, Dennis. Illinois courthouses: an illustrated history. Virginia Beach: Donning, 2009, 152.

[3] "Peoria-based Phillips Swager Associates, Chicago Tribune , 2000-05-07. Accessed 2017-08-02.

[1]

[2]

[3]