{"nrhp_refnum":"98001354","name":"Kendall County Courthouse","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"109 W. Ridge St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Yorkville","county":"Kendall County","state":"IL","lat":41.640418683000064,"lon":-88.44810205799996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1998-11-12","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Politics/Government"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A brick and limestone Italianate county courthouse at 109 West Ridge Street in Yorkville, Illinois, built in 1864 and rebuilt in 1887 after a fire, with one-story wings added in 1958.","why_significant":"The nomination presents the courthouse as significant under Criterion A in the area of Politics/Government, as the seat of Kendall County government from its 1887 reconstruction through 1948. The county chose to rebuild after the fire rather than dissolve, and the building kept its historic integrity, including an unaltered second-floor courtroom.","narrative":"Standing on a hilltop square above the Fox River in Yorkville, this cross-shaped Italianate courthouse served as the seat of Kendall County government. The original building dates to 1864. A fire left only the brick and limestone walls, and in 1887 the county rebuilt it using the surviving walls, with Chicago architect Henry Hebard redesigning the interior. Residents had briefly considered dissolving the county rather than pay for reconstruction. The building has beveled limestone quoins, clustered arches at the entrance, bracketed cornices, and walnut staircases. A dome was removed in 1920, and one-story brick wings were added in 1958. The second-floor courtroom, abandoned in 1959, was never remodeled and keeps its original seating and woodwork. The building is now vacant, with deteriorated windows and steps. It is recognized for its role in local government between 1887 and 1948 and for retaining much of its architectural integrity despite later changes.","period_of_significance":"1887-1948","architect_builder":"Hebard, Henry, Architect; Charles Sunberg and Company (general contractors, Chicago)","architectural_style":"Late Victorian/Italianate","criteria":["A"],"status_note":"The building is currently vacant, and many windows and the concrete steps are in poor condition.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:37.736289-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/68/8932/28893268/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/98001354.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/98001354/166d4d255f-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/98001354/166d4d255f-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"IvoShandor","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Yorkville_IL_Kendall_County_Courthouse4.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">IvoShandor</a>, <a href=\"http://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:Yorkville_IL_Kendall_County_Courthouse4.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28893268","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kendall_County_Courthouse_(Illinois)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q12060982"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/kendall-county/kendall-county-courthouse-98001354/"}