Shelby County Courthouse (Illinois)
Shelby County Courthouse | |
Second Empire | |
| Part of | Shelbyville Historic District (ID76000729[1]) |
|---|---|
| Added to NRHP | December 22, 1976 |
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.
First courthouse
Shelby County was created by an 1827 law that provided for a temporary county seat at the home of one Barnet Bone. The same law provided for the creation of a commission to choose a location for a new county seat and directed that it be named "Shelbyville".
Second courthouse
In 1832, county officials paid $1,094 for the construction of a later courthouse. A two-story square measuring 40 feet (12 m) on each side, it contained a first-story courtroom with office space for county government on the second story.[2]: 57 A cupola was added in 1837,[2]: 58 built on a square base that sat at the joint of the four parts of the building's hip roof. Three windows pierced each side of the building on each story.[2]: Plate facing 56 This courthouse served Shelby County well for more than thirty years, but gradually it too became too small to house all of the county officials, and efforts to replace it began in 1864.[2]: 58
Third courthouse
Periodically through the 1860s and 1870s, county officials tried to find money to erect a new courthouse, but all attempts proved abortive until 1879, when $70,000 was appropriated and a special tax levied on real and personal property countywide. The original plans called for it to measure 110 by 76 feet (34 m × 23 m), with county offices placed on the first floor and court-related rooms on the second. Among the interior features were
Preservation
Before the current courthouse's completion, local officials hoped that it would be one of Illinois' foremost courthouses,[2]: 59 and an 1881 county history stated the following:
The citizens of Shelby county [sic] may well feel proud of this elegant and valuable structure. Alike is it creditable to the foresight and energy of the men who inaugurated its construction; and it will remain as a monument to their enterprise years after they have passed away.[2]: 59
The 1881 courthouse has continued to be used into the 21st century.[5] It is a key component of the Shelbyville Historic District,[4] which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.[1]
References
- ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. November 2, 2013.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Combined history of Shelby and Moultrie counties, Illinois : with illustrations descriptive of their scenery and biographical sketches of some of their prominent men and pioneers. Philadelphia: Brink, McDonough, and Co., 1881.
- ^ a b Weiser, Dennis. Illinois courthouses: an illustrated history. Virginia Beach: Donning, 2009, 137.
- ^ a b Wagner, Robert. National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Shelbyville Historic District. National Park Service, 1976-05-27, 7.
- ^ Fourth Judicial Circuit, Illinois Courts of Appeals, n.d. Accessed 2019-02-08.