Old Iroquois County Courthouse - Watseka, IL
Posted by: 
adgorn
N 40° 46.494 W 087° 44.153
16T E 437901 N 4514029
The old Iroquois County Courthouse was constructed in 1866, with two additions built in 1881 and 1927.
Waymark Code: WM7PJN
Location: Illinois, United States
Date Posted: 11/18/2009
Views: 3
From (
visit link)
This outstanding former Second Empire courthouse was erected in 1866. It later received side additions in 1881 and 1927. C. B. Leach was its architect and A. G. Mantor was its builder. Today it acts as the Iroquois County Museum as a new courthouse was built at the east edge of town in the 1960s.
Fromhttp://iroquoiscounty.net/museum/history.html
In the early 1960's an Iroquois County resident, Mrs. Katherine Clifton, bequeathed to the county in her will a large sum of money and a site upon which to build a new courthouse. The old courthouse was advertised for sale and fell into disuse. In 1967 during the Centennial Celebration of Watseka, the Iroquois County Historical Society was organized, and circulated petitions throughout the county not to sell the Old Courthouse. The petitions were approved by the County Board of Supervisors, and the Old Courthouse re-opened as a museum that same year.
Today, a visit to the Old Courthouse is a step back in time where you can visit the old County Jail, see re-creations of an old-time back porch, a Victorian parlor, old time general store, post office, one-room schoolhouse and much more.