The Whiteside County Courthouse is a government building in

Morrison Morrison may refer to: People * Morrison (surname), people with the Scottish surname Morrison * Morrison Heady (1829–1915), American poet * Morrison Mann MacBride (1877–1938), Canadian merchant Places in the United States * Morrison, Colorad ...

, the county seat of

Whiteside County Whiteside County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2010 census, it had a population of 58,498. Its county seat is Morrison. The county is bounded on the west by the Mississippi River. Whiteside County comprises ...

, Illinois, United States. Completed in 1987 to replace a 19th-century predecessor, it is the fourth

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 ...

, in the third community, to serve Whiteside County officials since the county's formation.

History

Growing settlement in northwestern Illinois prompted the legislature to establish Peoria County in 1825 and to separate its northwestern portions as

Jo Daviess County Jo Daviess County () is the northwesternmost county in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2010 census, it had a population of 22,678. Its county seat is Galena. Jo Daviess County is part of the Tri-State Area and is located near ...

two years later. Out of this county's southern portions was formed Whiteside County in 1836, although it temporarily remained attached to the parent county, and full organization required a number of years to complete;Davis, William W. ''History of Whiteside County, Illinois : from its earliest settlement to 1908''. Vol. 1. Chicago: Pioneer, 1908. not until 1852 could the county be divided into townships, for example. By this time, the area was well settled, the first pioneers having arrived more than twenty years prior, and as early as 1858, there was an old-settlers' association in operation. County voters met to choose a county seat in 1839, selecting Lyndon, but

Sterling Sterling may refer to: Common meanings * Sterling silver, a grade of silver * Sterling (currency), the currency of the United Kingdom ** Pound sterling, the primary unit of that currency Places United Kingdom * Stirling, a Scottish city w ...

residents were dissatisfied with this choice; the county commissioners allowed a second vote at which the upstart supplanted Lyndon, and the seat was moved in 1841. Nevertheless, the contest continued: county residents pressured legislators in

Springfield Springfield may refer to: * Springfield (toponym), the place name in general Places and locations Australia * Springfield, New South Wales (Central Coast) * Springfield, New South Wales (Snowy Monaro Regional Council) * Springfield, Queenslan ...

, who over the next four years enacted three separate laws seeking to resolve the question: a commission was appointed to ascertain the best location in 1843, a Lyndon lawsuit seeking to retrieve the seat status was quashed by an 1846 law naming Sterling the seat, and an 1849 act ordered another election whose decision was to be final. Sterling being the victor of this election, Lyndon finally ceased to contend, but in 1857, the residents of Morrison urged the passage of another law to permit yet another election, and their victory in this vote caused the seat to move in 1858.

Previous courthouses

Whiteside County's first courthouse was a simple building constructed on the Lyndon public square, starting in 1840, but as the county seat was removed to Sterling one year later, it saw only a short period of use for its original purpose. Sterling then built a two- story square brick courthouse with a second-floor courtroom, within which several local churches worshipped before completing their buildings. It stood until the late 1870s, unoccupied after the county offices moved to Morrison, but after its demolition the site was redeveloped into a residential neighborhood. The third courthouse was completed in 1865 at a cost of over $14,000, it was a significantly larger building, , with an unusual circular courtroom, it was a two-story brick structure with county offices on the first floor and courtrooms on the second. The style was Italianate, due partly to features such as a domed cupola and doubled brackets under the

eaves The eaves are the edges of the roof which overhang the face of a wall and, normally, project beyond the side of a building. The eaves form an overhang to throw water clear of the walls and may be highly decorated as part of an architectural styl ...

of the shallow roof.Weiser, Dennis. ''Illinois courthouses: an illustrated history''. Virginia Beach: Donning, 2009, 152.

Current courthouse

Designed by Phillips Swager Associates, a Peoria architectural firm,Peoria-based Phillips Swager Associates
'' Chicago Tribune'', 2000-05-07. Accessed 2017-08-02. the current courthouse was constructed between 1982 and 1987. A firmly modernist building, the courthouse features a wall of brick with a continuous

course Course may refer to: Directions or navigation * Course (navigation), the path of travel * Course (orienteering), a series of control points visited by orienteers during a competition, marked with red/white flags in the terrain, and corresponding ...

of windows at the center of each story. A large bay window, the height of the entire floor, projects from the top story atop a column-supported overhang that covers an outdoors walking area on one side of the building.

References

External links

Whiteside County website
{{coord, 41, 48, 37, N, 89, 57, 50, W, display=title Government buildings completed in 1987 Brick buildings and structures Buildings and structures in Whiteside County, Illinois County courthouses in Illinois Modernist architecture in Illinois