Postville Courthouse/Logan County Courthouse - Lincoln, IL
Posted by: NorStar
N 40° 08.808 W 089° 22.845
16T E 297205 N 4446768
The building currently at this location is a replica of the courthouse that stood there, which now stands in Ford's Greenfield Village in Dearborn, MI.
Waymark Code: WMJ4J9
Location: Illinois, United States
Date Posted: 09/22/2013
Views: 6
In Lincoln, along 5th Street, is the Postville Courthouse Historic Site.
The courthouse is located on the north side of the road, about two blocks east from Postville Park.
The building is a wooden structure that is two stories tall and has a peaked roof. There is a pair of chimneys, one at either end. The door is off-center. The inside (seen through the windows) is plain and appears to have been as it was in the mid-1800s.
The building standing at this location is not the actual building, but a replica of the building that stood there. The original was moved to Deaborn, MI, where it is part of Ford's Greenfield Village, which is a museum of buildings around the country.
I have been to Greenfield Village, but it was many years ago, and I don't recall seeing the Postville Courthouse - there called the Logan County Courthouse. So, I can't attest to how accurate the replica was made to the original. However, I suspect that they are very close.
The web site for Greenfield Village has a map of their property. It is located roughly in the center of the museum grounds. The description from the map states that Lincoln tried cases here, about once or twice a year. As he traveled, people got to know him.
At the time, the city of Postville existed. Where the park is today was the center of that town. Since then, another city, Lincoln, was established, and eventually absorbed Postville. Lincoln is now the county seat. The courthouse was built in 1840. In 1929, Henry Ford bought the building and the land it was on for $8,000 and dismantled it, shipped it to Dearborn, MI and reassembled it in his Greenfield Village. The lot was given back to Postville to be made into a park. Postville then gave it to the state of Illinois in 1953. Around 1956, the replica was built by the state. Today, it is a museum, where tours are offered.
Other Source:
Legends-of-America.com (IL-lincoln)
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visit link)