{"nrhp_refnum":"85002837","name":"Tazewell County Courthouse","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Court St. between Capitol and Fourth Sts.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Pekin","county":"Tazewell County","state":"IL","lat":40.56919964300005,"lon":-89.64782995899998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1985-11-14","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A three-story limestone-clad county courthouse on Court Street between Capitol and Fourth Streets in Pekin, Tazewell County, Illinois, built in 1914 to designs by Deal and Ginzel, Architects of Lincoln, Illinois.","why_significant":"The nomination presents it as the best and grandest example of Beaux Arts principles in Tazewell County and the best work of the small architectural firm Deal and Ginzel. It broke with the contemporary trend of modeling courthouses as small versions of state or federal capitols with cruciform plans, towers or domes. It also reflects the growth of Pekin at the turn of the century and is the focal point of downtown.","narrative":"Pekin's county courthouse occupies the center of Courthouse Block and was completed in 1914 at a cost of $212,964. It replaced a smaller 1848 courthouse and was designed by the Lincoln, Illinois firm of Deal and Ginzel, built largely of local limestone, brick and wood. The symmetrical limestone building has a raised base, columned pavilions of simplified Tuscan order on the upper stories, and a balustraded cornice. Four entrances lead to a central lobby with a skylit atrium, marble floors and wainscot, and twin marble staircases. The third-floor courtroom keeps its original woodwork, light fixtures and painted frieze. Its significance rests on its Beaux Arts design, which avoided the domed, cruciform capitol models common in Illinois courthouses of the period. It is described as the finest Beaux Arts public building in Tazewell County and the best work of its architects. A ramp and replacement windows are the main exterior changes, and office interiors have been remodeled.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Deal and Ginzel, Architects, Lincoln, Illinois (L.M. Deal, Supt.); English Brothers, Contractors, Champaign, Illinois (W. Crowley, Supt.)","architectural_style":"Beaux Arts classicism","criteria":[],"status_note":"Occupied and in public use as a courthouse and county offices; condition marked altered, with offices remodeled, a ramp added and windows replaced in the early 1970s.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:35.080852-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/82/8941/28894182/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/85002837.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/85002837/e0958fe0bf-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/85002837/e0958fe0bf-1600.webp","licence":"CC0","author":"Ammodramus","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tazewell_County,_Illinois_courthouse_from_SW_2.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Ammodramus</a>, <a href=\"http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/deed.en\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tazewell_County,_Illinois_courthouse_from_SW_2.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28894182","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tazewell_County_Courthouse_(Illinois)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q23302978"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/tazewell-county/tazewell-county-courthouse-85002837/"}