{"nrhp_refnum":"75000663","name":"Old Iroquois County Courthouse","other_names":["Iroquois County Museum"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Cherry St. at 2nd St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Watseka","county":"Iroquois County","state":"IL","lat":40.77441209300008,"lon":-87.73566264099998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1975-06-13","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Politics/Government","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story brick Italianate former county courthouse at Cherry Street and Second Street in Watseka, Iroquois County, Illinois, built in 1866 to designs by C. B. Leach with A. C. Mantor as contractor. It is now the Iroquois County Museum.","why_significant":"The building served as the seat of Iroquois County government for 98 years, until a new courthouse opened in 1964. When the county planned to demolish it, citizen protests saved it, and the Iroquois County Historical Society restored it and adapted it as a community museum and meeting space.","narrative":"Built in 1866, the old Iroquois County Courthouse in Watseka is a two-story Italianate building of red brick on a limestone basement, designed by C. B. Leach and built by contractor A. C. Mantor. It housed the county jail and sheriff's quarters in the basement, offices on the first floor, and the courtroom above. A rear addition came in 1881, a second addition in 1927, and the original octagonal tower was rebuilt in square form, with a heavy copper dome later replaced by a mansard top. The courthouse served as the seat of county government for 98 years. After a new courthouse opened in 1964, officials planned demolition, but public protest stopped it. The building stood empty for two years and suffered some vandalism before the Iroquois County Historical Society formed, leased it, and restored it. It now serves as a museum, a genealogical records center, a chapel, and a community meeting place.","period_of_significance":"1866","architect_builder":"C. B. Leach (architect); A. C. Mantor (contractor)","architectural_style":"Italianate","criteria":[],"status_note":"Occupied and in use as the Iroquois County Museum, in good condition; run by the historical society under a 99-year lease and staffed by volunteers.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:35.167667-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/0/8930/28893000/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/75000663.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/75000663/3a1893336e-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/75000663/3a1893336e-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Calvin Beale","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Old_Iroquois_County_Courthouse.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Calvin Beale</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Old_Iroquois_County_Courthouse.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"100012297","name":"Watseka Downtown Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/illinois/watseka-downtown-historic-district-100012297/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28893000","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Iroquois_County_Courthouse","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q15263806"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/iroquois-county/old-iroquois-county-courthouse-75000663/"}