Again, I'm playing it a little fast and loose with categorization, but this grouping tackles what I think of as Postmodern buildings. In general, postmodernism rejected the austere and forbidding nature of modernism. Postmodern uses many of the same materials and usually retains the general approach of clean lines, it also introduces some ornamentation and at least attempt to connect to some older or more traditional aspects of design. Some postmodern designs can be quite stunning, but they also (like most of these courthouses) exude unsophistication and almost a pandering to public taste while still trying to be "modern." The result since the 1980s has been a slew of pretty undistinguished building.
For almost all of the new buildings in this category, it is possible to still see the prior 19th century building that usually has been repurposed. Perhaps it is the recurring reminder of the familiarity of the former courthouses that made it seem desirable to ensure that the new buildings were not be too challenging in the face of public preference for the old. (Just for fun, when possible, I'm including a picture of the still-standing previous building)
Mostly, to me, these buildings end up looking like undistinguished commercial buildings.
Effingham County Courthouse
Effingham, Illinois
Visited: January 6, 2021
Built: 2007
Architect: Durrant Group of Dubuque Iowa
The Effingham County Courthouse is constructed of reddish and buff colored brick. The entrance is marked by a glass tower on the corner. The main facade features large glass windows stretching across all three floors. The first floor is recessed under the upper floor that are supported by a series of columns stretching along the sidewalk. the building is located in the commercial district of Effingham with no surrounding grounds of any sort.
This building is attractive enough, but it fails to inspire the viewer with any special lofty purpose or ideals.
The old courthouse still stands at the town square and currently houses a historical museum and some other public services.
Old Effingham County Courthouse, built 1872.
Effingham sits at the intersection of several major highways and at a major rail intersection (of what was the Pennsylvania Railroad and the Illinois Central Railroad). Because of its location it has been variously known as the "Crossroads of Opportunity" or as the "Heart of America." This latter nickname resulted in the high school abandoning its mascot of "Warriors" and are now the "Flaming Hearts."
There is an enormous steel cross standing just beside the interstate, purportedly the tallest cross in the country. It is indeed massive, but in my opinion, lacking in any sort of actual visual appeal.
Effingham is said to have been named after a Lord Effingham who was a British army officer who refused to fight the Americans in the Revolution, but there is also some contradictory evidence that it was named after a George Effingham who as an early surveyor in the area.
Kendall County Courthouse
Yorkville, Illinois
Visited: November 1, 2020
Built: 1996
Architect: Healy, Snyder, Bender & Assoc. and James W Carpenter and Assoc.
The Kendall County Courthouse is a sprawling one-story building of red brick with stone trim. The central portion presents a soaring arched entrance into a glass enclosed lobby. There is a square white wood and glass cupola crowning the roof. The complex sits somewhat out of the town of Yorkville along a highway and surrounded by vast parking lots.
It seems that the central structure pays homage to the previous courthouse which has a similar cupola and sits high on a hill in the center of Yorkville very near the Fox River. It is now used as an events center.
Old Kendall County Courthouse, built 1864. I can see that it would have been difficult to position the new building in the center of Yorkville without having to destroy considerable residential property, but I do feel there is a big loss with so many of these new buildings being positioned on the outskirts of town, rather than as a central element in a structured town setting. Of course this shows my own prejudice, as I can only assume that so many people that live in subdivisions that are completely auto centric probably think the idea of being stuck in a traditional urban grid with central squares is hopelessly outdated.
The old courthouse is really lovely, but even without going inside, it is obvious that it would be inadequate to deal with a region as large and growing as Kendall County.
Kendall County was named for Amos Kendall, Postmaster General under President Andrew Jackson and partner to Samuel Morse.
Clinton County Courthouse
Carlyle, Illinois
Visited: August 16, 2020
Built: 1997
Architect: Kuhlmann Design Group and Philips Swager and Associates
The courthouse is a red brick building with sone trim. It faces north (oddly, away from the main thoroughfare of Carlyle). The entrance is a projecting glass atrium with wings projecting from each side. It sits on a spacious, largely unlandscaped block.
The building is smart and trim but feels oddly sterile. It seems it should have aspired to more or to less, but as it is it combines some features attempting grandeur (soaring central entrance, stone columns) but fails to be convincing at it.
Carlyle sits just to the south of Carlyle Lake, the state's largest lake created by damming up the Kaskaskia River. Carlyle was a major crossing point using the settling of the territory having a ferry from its earliest days. In 1850 a suspension bridge was built that is still operational, although no longer used for automobile traffic. One bit of trivia I just learned is that when the state capital was moved from Kaskaskia to Vandalia in 1824, Carlyle lost out at being the capital by a single vote.
Clinton County was named after DeWitt Clinton, Mayor of New York City and person responsible for the construction of the Erie Canal. So that means two different counties in Illinois are named after the same man: DeWitt County and Clinton County.
McHenry County Courthouse
Woodstock, Illinois
Viewed: February 5, 2021
Built: 1972
Architect: Johnson, Kyle, Seehausen and Assoc. of Rockford
The McHenry County Courthouse is a huge rambling building located amidst parking lots a little way out of the town of Woodstock. The entrance is marked by a four-story rotunda faced in dark red flanked with lighter red brick trim, with lots of windows. The biggest expanse of the remainder of the building is of pale brick with smallish windows and a band or red brick running horizontally at the top of the the second and their floors.
To be honest, I was surprised this building was built in 1972, as it exudes a more modern feel; I would have guessed it went up around 1990. There was an addition put on in 1990, but I don't know if that modified its appearance in any significant way.
Again, it just is a unremarkable building set off by neither strikingly architecture nor position. Woodstock, itself, is a very picturesque old town. If there is any chance that it would be recognized is due to being the filming location for the motion picture Groundhog Day.
The original courthouse is still standing, facing the square and now serves as an art center.
Aside from being old, it really isn't that great of a building either, but it does command one's attention and affection by its hilltop position overlooking the town square.
Woodstock is notable as being "Typewriter City." Mid-twentieth Century, over have the typewriters in the world were built in Woodstock. The Woodstock Typewriter Company closed in 1970. The town maintains and uses an ornate 19th Century opera house.
McHenry County was named for General William McHenry who fought in the War of 1812 and the Black Hawk War.
Union County Courthouse
Jonesboro, Illinois
Visited: September 18, 2020
Built: 2013
Architects: HO+K
Union County boasts one of the state's newest courthouses, and by all reports, the building it replaced was truly horrible. The new building is certainly more functional, but I'm pretty ambivalent about the impact it makes. Again, the architects seemed to want to incorporate some elements of grandeur, but didn't execute the design (perhaps because of budget) to be convining. The asymmetric placement of the tower seems sort of clumsy and unrelated to the columns and portico adjoining it. the lone tiny window on the tower looks lost. I assume it opens into a staircase, but is too small to provide any sort of useful light. The four columns hearken back to classical style, but are absolutely barren of any ornamentation; as a result they look like they might have been created by pouring concrete into a carpet roll set on end.
The windows on the left extension are made slightly interesting by the inserted light shelves.
Perhaps with age and a softening of these surfaces it might someday feel like it belongs here.
Jonesboro is perhaps the least memorable and significant site of the seven Lincoln-Douglas Debates.
Union County was named simply for the federal union of the United States.
There is one more category to go: Modern Courthouses. I probably will state an unpopular opinion when I say that the group of modern courthouses is probably my favorite of all the buildings we saw.
