Greek revival architecture was a style of building that was very popular in Europe and North America during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. This was triggered in part by the exploration and discovery of Ancient Greek culture and archeology of the ruins. There was a desire to recreate the society and the nobility and social ideas of Greece and its philosophy.
Greek revival buildings are characterized by clean lines, geometric ornamentation at cornice, triangular pediments, simple roof lines, and columns. Think Greek temple. The Parthenon is a good prototype, although it is important to note that these architectural features were often applied to quite modest buildings.
The Greek Revival courthouses we found are among the earliest structures still in use. I think this is primarily due to to chance. Most counties started out with Greek Revival buildings but chose at some time to replace those buildings with larger, different styled buildings.
For many counties, they simply outgrew the limited space in these limited buildings due to increased demand by growing population. By and large, the four counties represented here are among the smallest and poorest counties in the state, and probably had neither the pressure nor the resources to invest in a newer, grander building.
The second reason is just a matter of luck or perhaps better stewardship. It is amazing to note how for almost every county, the earlier courthouse almost always burned to the ground. For some reason, these all survived in more or less their original form.
Some of these buildings are places where Abraham Lincoln actually walked.
Stark County Courthouse
Toulon, Illinois
Visited: July 19, 2020
Erected; 1857
Architect: John Berfield of Knoxville
The Stark County Courthouse is an absolutely lovely exemplar of a small town courthouse and of a Greek Revival building. It sits on a large central grassy square in the center of the village of Toulon. It is rare in that it is constructed primarily of white painted wood. There are four tall wooden Doric columns holding up a simple triangular pediment. On the roof is a modest white cupola.
On the grounds are a Civil War cannon, a stone veterans monument, the old jail, and a historical plaque about Lincoln's appearance here in 1858. After the Lincoln Douglas Debates held around the state, each candidate appeared individually at the courthouse to address enthusiastic crowds. This building was only a few months old and this was just two years before Lincoln left for Washington to serve as President.
Toulon is a sleepy village of 1,200 people in a county with a total population of slightly less than 6,000. Very little exists in the storefronts around the courthouse square. My father lived in Toulon for a short in the late 1920s.
Stark County was named for Colonel John Stark, a Revolutionary War known as the "Hero of Bennington."
Brown County Courthouse
Mount Sterling, Illinois
Visited: October 10, 2020
Erected: 1868
Architects: David House
The Brown County Courthouse is a two story brick structure with four tall white columns topped by a triangular pediment. The current configuration is similar but not identical to its original plan. The building was nearly destroyed by a fire and rebuilt in 1940. The columns are original and the plan of the exterior. The original building had a cupola which was not rebuilt.
Strictly speaking, this is not exactly a Greek Revival building; the windows are certainly more in line with an Italianate design. But the most significant element in the structure are the bold columns that harken to the earlier style, and so I'm including it here (as you will see, it bears very little in common with the Italianate buildings we'll discover later.
The courthouse sits on a plot of land just off the main street through town; as you turn off the main highway the courthouse is centered in a commanding spot facing the town. There is a nice little park just behind the courthouse; it is the only courthouse I remember with picnic tables and a niftily outfitted playground on its grounds.
Mount Sterling itself is an enigma. It is a small town (population just over 2,000) in a small county (population just under 7,000) in the vast rural area of Western Illinois known fondly as Forgottonia. I was surprised by the up-to-date condition and thriving nature of the town. There has clearly been a successful effort to revitalize the 2-3 block business district, with new sidewalks and lighting, refurbished storefronts, an upscale coffee shop, and a very interesting grocery store called Dorothy's.
Mount Sterling is the home of DOT foods, a large grocery distribution business, and it is clear that the company wants to maintain a good environment for their employees. Dorothy is the "Dot" or DOT foods and the grocery store makes special bulk foods available for purchase for its employees (and for the general public).
The day we were there, a women's clothing store was having "Mamalama" day sale, and so they had a farmer bring in to gentle alpacas (I know...not llamas) for petting and photo ops. Sweetness and Leo were two fabulously irresistible animals.
Mount Sterling would be another place one could imagine living, except for it being so remote.
Brown County was named for Jacob Brown, a soldier in the War of 1812.
Putnam County Courthouse
Hennepin, Illinois
Visited: February 6, 2021
Erected: 1838
Architect: Gorham & Durley
This is the oldest courthouse still in use in Illinois. It is a classic Greek Revival building, with Doric columns, triangular pediment, and clean rectangular lines. It sits on a very large grassy plot, facing a very large city park. The building is striking in its bold simplicity.
Opposite the park is the Hazel Marie Boyle Memorial Plaza--an idyllic little landscaped public garden with a small sculpture. Again, an uncharacteristically sophisticated space for such a small town. (Subsequent research indicates Ms. Boyle was involved in women's healthcare as there are a number of Hazel Marie Boyle women's clinics spread across communities along the Illinois River Valley stretching over to Peru.
Hennepin is another unusual community. It is situated on bluffs above the Illinois River. There really is no business district to speak of, rather just a few assorted businesses spread throughout the residential grid. It is exceptionally small (2010 population of 757) but somehow gives the feeling of a thriving bedroom community...of what larger community is unclear as there is no significant larger city anywhere nearby. It is one of the few downstate communities where we saw active new construction of housing.
The county-wide population is only 6,000 and Putnam County is the smallest county in the state in terms of area. The only obvious industry is an extremely large grain elevator across the river in Bureau County. There was exceptionally high truck traffic and it must be a major location for loading grain onto barges to be moved down the Illinois River.
It is often the seemingly irrelevant things one encounters that make the longest lasting impression. The Hennepin Park had the finest swinging park bench I've ever encountered.
Henderson County Courthouse
Oquawka, Illinois
Viewed: October 11, 2020
Erected: 1842
Architect: Abner Hebbard
The Henderson County Courthouse may be the only county in Illinois that is still using its first and only courthouse (although it was added to in 1901 and again in 1965). Built in 1842, it was well-established when Abraham Lincoln came here to give a stump speech in 1858. (Reportedly, Lincoln had spent significant time in Oquawka early in his life where is is said to have been acquainted with Jefferson Davis who was serving in the army and stationed here.)
Except for being built of red brick, this building is almost identical to the courthouse in external features as the Stark County Courthouse in Toulon. We arrived in Oquawka at dusk and the area around the courthouse was basically deserted except for a couple of cats. I would have a much better impression of this example had it been in another community.
Oquawka is another small town (population about 1100) in a very remote part of the state. The town sits right on a bend in the Mississippi although you would hardly know it. It was established as a significant port but was bypassed by the railroad and its importance pretty much evaporated. It still seems to be a spot for recreational boating as the state highway runs directly INTO the river, to accommodate getting craft into the water. It also seemed like a center of recreational drinking as the only business establishments I remember seeing were well-populated taverns.
Oquawka is connected with an unusual said story. In 1972, the Clark and Walter Circus came to town with its star attraction, a 29-year-old elephant named Norma Jean. Norma Jean's keeper, named Possum Red, had tied the elephant to the lone tree in the city park with a metal chain. During the night a storm rolled through town, lightning struck the tree, the charge traveled through the chain, and poor Norma Jean dropped dead.
In the morning, Possum Red and the whole circus had left town, leaving the town to deal with the three-ton elephant in its park. They buried the beast and a local entrepreneur collected money and built a memorial to the animal, which turned into something of a roadside attraction after a documentary about the animal aired on Showtime. The promoter has since died and it seems Oquawkans are slowly forgetting about the incident.
Without Norma Jean and without insurance, the Clark and Walter Circus folded the next year. It's unclear what happened to Possum Red.
Next up, the courthouses in the related but grander Classical Revival style.
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