{"nrhp_refnum":"78001118","name":"Coles County Courthouse","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Charleston Public Sq.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Charleston","county":"Coles County","state":"IL","lat":39.49472772200005,"lon":-88.17461045499994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1978-11-28","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Politics/Government","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A three-and-one-half-story stone county courthouse in the center of the public square in Charleston, Coles County, Illinois, built in 1898 and designed by Chicago architect Cornelius W. Rapp.","why_significant":"The nomination calls it the best example of Richardsonian Romanesque style in east central Illinois. It has served as the seat of county government and courts since 1898, on a site used for such purposes since 1835. The site is also linked to the Matson Slave Case of 1847 and the Charleston Riot of 1864.","narrative":"Coles County Courthouse is a large, roughly square, three-and-one-half-story building standing in the middle of the public square in downtown Charleston, Illinois. Completed in 1898 to designs by Chicago architect Cornelius W. Rapp, it has rock-faced brown stone walls from quarries on the Embarras River, with lighter Bedford stone used for lintels, stringcourses and arches. Pyramid-topped corner pavilions, gabled centers on each facade, arcaded entrance porches and a tall central tower define its Richardsonian Romanesque look, described as the best example of that style in east central Illinois. The building has housed most county offices and the court system since 1898, on ground used for county purposes since 1835. The site is also tied to two Civil War-era episodes: the 1847 Matson Slave Case, which allowed a slave's wife and four children to become free, and the deadly Charleston Riot of March 28, 1864. Later changes include aluminum windows and new gutters.","period_of_significance":"1898","architect_builder":"Architect C. W. (Cornelius W.) Rapp; builders S. Coehring and R.R. Fuller","architectural_style":"Richardsonian Romanesque","criteria":[],"status_note":"Occupied and in use as the county seat of government, housing most county offices and the county court system; some window and roof alterations noted.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:35.326068-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/0/8919/28891900/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/78001118.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/78001118/56e25be988-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/78001118/56e25be988-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"jrmyers","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Coles_County_Courthouse_2012-10-31_12-22-11.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">jrmyers</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:Coles_County_Courthouse_2012-10-31_12-22-11.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28891900","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coles_County_Courthouse","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5144650"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/coles-county/coles-county-courthouse-78001118/"}