{"nrhp_refnum":"73000705","name":"Appellate Court, 5th District","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"14th and Main Sts.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Mount Vernon","county":"Jefferson County","state":"IL","lat":38.32657495600006,"lon":-88.90207932499999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1973-07-02","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Politics/Government","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A Greek Revival courthouse at 14th and Main Streets in Mount Vernon, Jefferson County, Illinois, begun in 1854 and owned by the State of Illinois. It houses the Appellate Court for the 5th District.","why_significant":"Built after the 1848 constitution placed a division of the Supreme Court in Mount Vernon, it housed both the Supreme and Appellate courts until 1887. It also served as an emergency hospital under Clara Barton after the 1888 tornado. The Historic American Buildings Survey recorded it for its exceptional historic and architectural interest.","narrative":"Standing at 14th and Main Streets in Mount Vernon, this Greek Revival courthouse was begun in 1854 with a $6,000 state appropriation, after Illinois's 1848 constitution placed the Southern or First Division of the Supreme Court in the city. A further $10,000 was needed to complete the original plan, and the architect is unknown. The building began as a rectangle and became a Greek cross plan with north and south wings added in 1874. It is painted brick with pilaster strips, a wood cornice, paired Ionic columns in wood and a double curved cast-iron stairway made in St. Louis. Upstairs are the courtroom, clerk's office, conference room and library. The Supreme Court and the appellate court shared the building until 1887, when the Supreme Court moved to Springfield. After the tornado of February 19, 1888, it served as an emergency hospital supervised by Clara Barton. The Historic American Buildings Survey documented it in 1934.","period_of_significance":"19th Century; specific date 1854","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Greek Revival","criteria":[],"status_note":"Listed as occupied, in excellent condition, altered, on its original site, in government use.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:35.532796-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/39/8930/28893039/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/73000705.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/73000705/81879a68e0-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/73000705/81879a68e0-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 2.5","author":"Robert Lawton","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:5th_District_Appellate_Court.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Robert Lawton</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 2.5</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:5th_District_Appellate_Court.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28893039","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5th_District_Appellate_Court","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4641280"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/jefferson-county/appellate-court-5th-district-73000705/"}