{"nrhp_refnum":"78001203","name":"Metamora Courthouse","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"113 E. Partridge St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Metamora","county":"Woodford County","state":"IL","lat":40.79184378100007,"lon":-89.36249930599996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1978-03-30","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Law","Politics/Government","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story brick Classic Revival courthouse at 113 East Partridge Street on the public square in Metamora, Woodford County, Illinois, built in 1845 by a local contractor for $4,400.","why_significant":"It served as the Woodford County judicial seat from 1845 to 1894 and as a court building on the old 8th Judicial Circuit, of which it is one of only two surviving court structures. Abraham Lincoln, Judge Davis Davis and other noted lawyers and judges worked there. It is also an example of Greek-inspired civic architecture built from local materials.","narrative":"Built in 1845 on the public square in Metamora, Illinois, this forty-by-fifty-foot brick courthouse served as the seat of Woodford County justice until the county seat moved to Eureka in 1894. It also hosted the traveling court of the old 8th Judicial Circuit. Its Greek temple-inspired design features a gabled roof, a full-width portico with four wooden Ionic columns, brick pilasters, and a large wooden cupola. Local materials were used throughout, including kiln-fired brick, locally milled timber and hand-split shingles. Abraham Lincoln practiced here as a circuit lawyer, and the building is tied to the 1857 case of Melissa Goings. Judge Davis Davis, Adlai E. Stevenson and Robert Ingersoll also appeared in its courtroom. Side wings added in 1884 were removed during restoration in the 1920s, and later work has returned the interior toward its original form. Today it operates as a museum with pioneer-era exhibits downstairs and the courtroom upstairs.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"David Irving (builder/architect)","architectural_style":"Classic Revival (Greek temple-inspired)","criteria":[],"status_note":"Restored toward its original appearance and currently used as a museum, with the second-floor courtroom displayed as in the days of the 8th Judicial Circuit.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:34.495001-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/37/8944/28894437/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/78001203.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/78001203/b8332b2c67-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/78001203/b8332b2c67-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"ProfDEH","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Metamora-Courthouse-008.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">ProfDEH</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Metamora-Courthouse-008.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28894437","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metamora_Courthouse_State_Historic_Site","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6823000"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/woodford-county/metamora-courthouse-78001203/"}