"The McLean County Courthouse housed the McLean County Circuit Court from 1900-1976. The building itself was designed by William Reeves and John M. Baillie of the Peoria firm Reeves and Bailey. The original construction was completed in 1900 at a cost of $461,640. Shortly after its completion, a fire destroyed many of the buildings in the square and the courthouse. The courthouse was rebuilt in 1903 as before following the fire. The rebuild was executed through the designs of several local architects, George Miller, Paul Moratz and A.L. Pillsbury.
In the 1980s the McLean County Historical Society moved to put its museum in the Old Courthouse. Today the museum operates out of the courthouse building as it has since 1990. Until 1990, general county offices were still housed in the courthouse though the courts had moved to new facilities a few blocks away. In 2002 McLean County approved $1.2 million for renovation following a historic structures report. Other funding came through a Public Museum Capital Grant from the Illinois State Museum, a division of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. The project included restoration of the 100-year old courthouse dome. Original copper was salvaged and reused and the clock restored to working order. On December 24, 2004 the tower bell was rang for the first time in nearly fifty years. The dome was restored from its oxidized copper green to the original copper color. The reflective dome can be seen for miles.
On October 15, 2006 the Landmark Preservation Council of Illinois presented the "Outstanding Restoration" award to McLean County for its efforts to restore the dome of the old courthouse." - Wikipedia