Woodstock Square Historic District

Woodstock's town square and the blocks around it form the historic heart of this northern Illinois county seat. The district covers about 13 acres and 73 buildings, including the 1857 Italianate courthouse designed by John M. Van Osdel, the 1887 jail, the 1889 Romanesque opera house, a 1906 high school now serving as city hall, and a 1931 post office. Around them stand two- and three-story brick commercial blocks, mostly Italianate-derived, with a Queen Anne block and plainer buildings from the 1910s and 1920s. A department store was added in 1928. Woodstock grew to serve nearby farms rather than as a regional center, and little development pressure meant buildings tended to survive except where fire removed them. The commercial area is essentially as complete as it was in 1912. The nomination values the buildings chiefly as a cohesive group, with recent restorations reversing many mid-century remodellings. The square retains brick-paved streets and a park replanted after a 1967 tornado.