Jasper County Courthouse (Illinois)

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[[File:Jasper County Courthouse in Newton.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Facade seen from one side]]

The '''Jasper County Courthouse''' is a government building in [[Newton, Illinois|Newton]], the [[county seat]] of [[Jasper County, Illinois|Jasper County]], [[Illinois]], [[United States]]. Built in 1876, it is the third [[courthouse]] in the county's history.

In 1831, the [[Illinois General Assembly|General Assembly]] divided [[Crawford County, Illinois|Crawford County]] into three counties, due to its inconveniently large size, and the central portion was named "Jasper County".<ref name=history>''Counties of Cumberland, Jasper, and Richland, Illinois : historical and biographical''. [[Chicago]]: F.A. Battey, 1884.</ref> No suitable community existing in the new county's boundaries, the law creating the county also appointed a three-man commission to choose a location for a new [[county seat]], which was to be named "Newton".<ref name=history /> The location chosen was donated by an early settler, Louis W. Jordan, who rightly suspected that donating some of his land to the county would increase the value of the rest of his land.<ref name=weiser>Weiser, Dennis. ''Illinois courthouses: an illustrated history''. [[Virginia Beach, Virginia|Virginia Beach]]: Donning, 2009, 69.</ref> Although the county initially existed on paper only, it was completely organized at the beginning of 1835.<ref name=history /> Louis Jordan's house served as the location of some early government meetings until the county built its first courthouse, a rude log building;<ref name=weiser /> it also served as a church building and schoolhouse, and although the county later sold it, the old courthouse lasted at least into the 1880s.<ref name=history />

Jasper County's first permanent courthouse was a two-[[storey|story]] brick building, measuring on the long sides and on the short.<ref name=history /> Like its predecessor, the second courthouse was periodically used for religious worship, with a Baptist preacher being particularly remembered for his activities there.<ref name= history /> Although it was accepted by the county government in late 1841, poor finances prevented the building's completion, and over the next 35 years, the county was constantly paying for repairs — some of which required donations by civic-minded residents.<ref name=history />

In 1876, the county government finally gave up on the old building and appointed a committee to examine courthouses in nearby counties for use as models. The newly built [[Richland County Courthouse (Illinois)|Richland County Courthouse]] was chosen,<ref name=history /> and after ornamental elements were removed from the design, a contract for $34,000 was issued. At completion, the building possessed a dome, but its structural integrity was compromised while it was being repaired to stop leaks, and it was nearly carried off by an 1880 windstorm.<ref name=history /> Since that time, the [[Neoclassical architecture|Neoclassical]] dome and the central tower on which it sat have been removed, as have been the [[pediment]] above the main entrance and the [[hip roof]] with its chimneys. Otherwise, the building retains much of its original structure: a two-story brick building, cruciform in shape, built on a stone [[foundation (engineering)|foundation]], and entered by climbing steps to a [[portico]]-sheltered main entrance.<ref name=weiser />

==References==


==External links==
*[https://ift.tt/2Ytqb7Q Image gallery]





[[Category:Government buildings completed in 1876]]
[[Category:Brick buildings and structures]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Jasper County, Illinois]]
[[Category:County courthouses in Illinois]]
[[Category:Neoclassical architecture in Illinois]]

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