{"nrhp_refnum":"74002183","name":"Old McHenry County Courthouse","other_names":["Old Courthouse and Jail"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"City Sq.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Woodstock","county":"McHenry County","state":"IL","lat":42.31490609400004,"lon":-88.44831658799995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1974-11-01","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A brick and limestone county courthouse with an attached later jail, on the City Square in Woodstock, McHenry County, Illinois. The courthouse was finished in the winter of 1858 and the jail was built in 1887.","why_significant":"The courthouse is a large, well-designed pre-Civil War Italianate building by Chicago's first architect, J.M. Van Osdel, and one of very few such courthouses left in the Midwest. It survives in a relatively unchanged condition and is the largest structure on the Woodstock square. It served as the seat of county government and law for over a century. The jail is noted for holding Eugene Debs before his trial in the 1890s.","narrative":"Overlooking the public square in Woodstock, Illinois, the old McHenry County Courthouse is a brick building with limestone trim, laid out on a Greek cross plan and topped by a wooden cupola. It was finished in the winter of 1858 to designs by John Mills Van Osdel, described as Chicago's first and most important early architect. Brick pilasters, stone window heads and a stone entrance give it an Italianate character. Later one-story additions filled two corners of the cross, but the exterior is otherwise little changed. A brick jail with Joliet limestone trim was added to the north in 1887 and held labor leader Eugene Debs before his trial in the 1890s. The courthouse is regarded as one of very few elegant pre-Civil War Italianate courthouses remaining in the Midwest. It served as the seat of county government and law for over a century and has since been renovated for shops while keeping its principal interior spaces.","period_of_significance":"19th Century (specific date 1857)","architect_builder":"John Mills Van Osdel (Van Osdel and Baumann) for the courthouse; R.J. Beck, contractor, for the 1887 jail","architectural_style":"Italianate","criteria":[],"status_note":"Condition listed as excellent and altered; the building has been renovated for shops, with the most important interior spaces retained.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:35.511946-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/44/8936/28893644/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/74002183.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/74002183/48fabe31cf-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/74002183/48fabe31cf-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Carldaniel","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:WoodstockILCourtHJail.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Carldaniel</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:WoodstockILCourtHJail.JPG"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"82000399","name":"Woodstock Square Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/illinois/woodstock-square-historic-district-82000399/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28893644","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_McHenry_County_Courthouse","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7084495"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/mchenry-county/old-mchenry-county-courthouse-74002183/"}