The Richland County Courthouse is a government building in Olney, the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...

of Richland County,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. Built in 1914, it is the fourth building to serve as the county's

courthouse A courthouse or court house is a building that is home to a local court of law and often the regional county government as well, although this is not the case in some larger cities. The term is common in North America. In most other English-spe ...

Local history

Civilization reached what is now Richland County in the 1810s. Surveying began in 1818, after the Indians had ceded the region,''Counties of Cumberland, Jasper, and Richland, Illinois : historical and biographical''.

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

: F.A. Battey, 1884. and while the first significant waves of settlers arrived in the same year, a few had come as early as 1815. By 1821, one settler had built a large tavern on the road from

Vincennes Vincennes (, ) is a commune in the Val-de-Marne department in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. It is next to but does not include the Château de Vincennes and Bois de Vincennes, which are attached ...

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

. As settlement in Illinois proceeded north from the

Ohio River The Ohio River is a long river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of Illino ...

, large counties were gradually divided in order to enable residents to be close to their county seats. For this reason,

Lawrence Lawrence may refer to: Education Colleges and universities * Lawrence Technological University, a university in Southfield, Michigan, United States * Lawrence University, a liberal arts university in Appleton, Wisconsin, United States Preparator ...

and

Clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4). Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay par ...

counties were formed out of Edwards County in the 1820s. The western section of Lawrence County and eastern section of Clay County were less populous and more distant from Lawrenceville and

Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

respectively, and as the region grew in population during the 1830s, agitation began for the creation of a new county. The

General Assembly A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company. Specific examples of general assembly include: Churches * General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of presby ...

passed an enabling act in 1841, naming it "Richland County", but providing that the new county be created only if supported by voters in the two existing counties. Support was general, even in the areas not intended to become a part of the new county. Just two weeks after the successful vote, the electors of the new county met to choose a location for the new county seat. Five separate settlements sought the honor, and after strong support favored a pair of locations near each other at the county's center, the final location was chosen was a compromise between these two. A large number of names were suggested for the new town, and a public meeting finally resolved on "Olney", formerly the name of one of the two nearby contenders for county seat.

Previous courthouses

The act enabling the county's creation had provided for the county's first public buildings to be constructed with the proceeds of selling land donated to become the county seat, but because funds for land purchase were unavailable, and because the county's entire tax rolls barely reached $200, the county couldn't afford to build. Beginning in late 1841, officials used a cabin on the Vincennes-St. Louis road, renting for $1 per month and providing a stove to heat the building. The situation was rectified in September 1842, when the newly founded

Methodist Episcopal Church The Methodist Episcopal Church (MEC) was the oldest and largest Methodist denomination in the United States from its founding in 1784 until 1939. It was also the first religious denomination in the US to organize itself on a national basis. In ...

found itself able to build. In exchange for granting the church a

lot Lot or LOT or The Lot or ''similar'' may refer to: Common meanings Areas * Land lot, an area of land * Parking lot, for automobiles *Backlot, in movie production Sets of items *Lot number, in batch production *Lot, a set of goods for sale togethe ...

, the county obtained the right to use the church building for official purposes, and after this building was completed in November, it served as courthouse, school, and church. The building measured , and although built of logs, it survived into the 1880s. This multi-use building being intended as temporary, in 1843 the county arranged for the construction of a dedicated courthouse building.Weiser, Dennis. ''Illinois courthouses: an illustrated history''.

Virginia Beach Virginia Beach is an independent city located on the southeastern coast of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. The population was 459,470 at the 2020 census. Although mostly suburban in character, it is the most populous city ...

: Donning, 2009, 128-129. Intended to be on a side and tall, the two-

story Story or stories may refer to: Common uses * Story, a narrative (an account of imaginary or real people and events) ** Short story, a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting * Story (American English), or storey (British ...

frame building rested on a stone

foundation Foundation may refer to: * Foundation (nonprofit), a type of charitable organization ** Foundation (United States law), a type of charitable organization in the U.S. ** Private foundation, a charitable organization that, while serving a good cause ...

and was completed for about $3,000. A courtroom occupied the lower floor, and county offices the upper. Because the original contractors went out of business, the new courthouse was not completed until 1847. After a quarter century, the county government decided that a third courthouse was needed. A budget of $25,000 was reserved for the construction, architect John C. Cochrane was chosen to design it, and the cornerstone was laid in July 1874. Its overall style was

Italianate The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style drew its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian R ...

, and the plan was a stretched

Greek cross The Christian cross, with or without a figure of Christ included, is the main religious symbol of Christianity. A cross with a figure of Christ affixed to it is termed a ''crucifix'' and the figure is often referred to as the ''corpus'' (La ...

, east to west and north to south. A clock topped a central tower, a

pediment Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds. A pedimen ...

with

oculus Oculus (a term from Latin ''oculus'', meaning 'eye'), may refer to the following Architecture * Oculus (architecture), a circular opening in the centre of a dome or in a wall Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Oculus'' (film), a 2013 American ...

sat above the main entrance, and a

portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cult ...

with twin pillars sheltered the main entrance. The two-

brick walls were pieced with triple rounded arch windows at each end and in each segment of the long sides, and Tuscan-style

pilaster In classical architecture Classical architecture usually denotes architecture which is more or less consciously derived from the principles of Greek and Roman architecture of classical antiquity, or sometimes even more specifically, from the ...

s were placed at the corners. Because many elements of wood in the original design were replaced with stone, the building's construction cost was far higher than expected, slightly surpassing $37,000. Two years after its completion, the new courthouse became the model for the new Jasper County Courthouse in

Newton Newton most commonly refers to: * Isaac Newton (1642–1726/1727), English scientist * Newton (unit), SI unit of force named after Isaac Newton Newton may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Newton'' (film), a 2017 Indian film * Newton ( ...

Current courthouse

Because the early frame courthouse was deemed vulnerable to fire, Richland County constructed a brick building on the courthouse square to house county records and certain offices. Although a similar material was employed for the 1874 courthouse, brick still proved vulnerable: the third courthouse burned in October 1913. County officials obtained the services of

John W. Gaddis John W. Gaddis (December 2, 1858 - September 5, 1931) was a noted architect of Vincennes, Indiana. He designed numerous buildings that are preserved and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. His works include: *Natchez Institute, N ...

for the fourth courthouse, and construction was completed in 1914. The new building is a rectangular three-story Neoclassical stone structure. Pedimented porticos featuring Ionic capitals and public clocks shelter the entrances on the various sides, and the building features a generally flat roof. Above the main entrance, "RICHLAND COUNTY COURT HOUSE" is inscribed on the

architrave In classical architecture, an architrave (; from it, architrave "chief beam", also called an epistyle; from Greek ἐπίστυλον ''epistylon'' "door frame") is the lintel or beam that rests on the capitals of columns. The term can ...

References

External links

Richland County Courts
{{coord, 39, 43, 51, N, 88, 5, 8, W, display=title Government buildings completed in 1914 Buildings and structures in Richland County, Illinois County courthouses in Illinois Neoclassical architecture in Illinois Stone buildings in the United States 1914 establishments in Illinois