Livingston County Courthouse
About this property
The Livingston County Courthouse, located at 110 North Main Street in Pontiac, Illinois, is the historic county courthouse serving Livingston County, Illinois. It is the meeting place of the elected county board, and contains offices for the county. Despite its name, it is no longer the county's working courthouse; in 2011 the county's judicial functions moved to a nearby new building complex, the Livingston County Law and Justice Center. The current Livingston County Courthouse is the third building to carry that name. Construction on the present-day courthouse began in late 1874 and was completed late the next year. The courthouse was built after fire consumed the second Livingston County Courthouse on July 4, 1874. The plan for the courthouse was selected from a slate of ten candidate plans. The County Board of Supervisors noted at the time that the selected plan "cost more money (but) it was the only one which for size, fire-proof qualities, and solidity would answer the purpose, and was indeed, in the matter of taste and elegance, much in advance of any other." However, the author of the 1915 The County Archives of the State of Illinois called the building "hardly fireproof". The courthouse clock tower was installed in 1892. The Courthouse served as the county's primary judicial center until 2011, when the Law and Justice Center opened across the street. The historic Courthouse currently houses county offices that are not court-related. John C. Cochrane, a Chicago architect designed the Livingston County Courthouse in Second Empire style. The building is symmetrical and rectangular, standing two stories tall. Each of its four corners features a tower and there is also a central clock tower topping the building. Some architectural elements found on the structure include: quoins, cornices, a mansard roof, modillions, belt courses and patterned roof tiles. From the basement to the eaves the building stands 55 feet tall and the clock tower sits at 70 feet above the basement. The Livingston County Courthouse was added to the National Register of Historic Places on November 19, 1986. It was added because it met criteria for inclusion in the areas of politics and government as well as architecture. The building was the seat of judicial activity in Livingston County, Illinois from 1875 until the 21st century, and it is a locally excellent example of Second Empire style.
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Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).
Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Everything a full report reveals about Livingston County Courthouse
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Questions about this property
When was Livingston County Courthouse listed on the National Register?
Livingston County Courthouse was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on November 19, 1986.
What type of historic resource is Livingston County Courthouse?
Livingston County Courthouse is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.
What is the period of significance for Livingston County Courthouse?
The period of significance for Livingston County Courthouse is recorded as the industrial era.
Can I research the history near Livingston County Courthouse?
Yes. Aubrey Research reports search National Register listings, battlefield records, land patents, and other primary historical sources within any radius of a US address. A report for an address near Livingston County Courthouse will include this listing and all other historical records in the area.
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