Old McHenry County Courthouse

	Old McHenry County Courthouse
	U.S. National Register of Historic Places
	The Old McHenry County Courthouse in Woodstock, Illinois. The jail, added in the 1870s, is on the right.
	Interactive map showing the location of Old McHenry County Courthouse
Location	Woodstock, McHenry County, Illinois, United States
Coordinates	42°18′53.57″N 88°26′53.61″W / 42.3148806°N 88.4482250°W
Built	1857
Architect	J.M. Van Osdel
Architectural style	Italianate
NRHP reference No.	74002183
Added to NRHP	November 1, 1974

The Old McHenry County Courthouse, in McHenry County, Illinois, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on November 1, 1974. Once the courthouse in the county seat of McHenry County, Woodstock, today the courthouse is occupied by various private tenants including a restaurant and an art gallery. It is one of the key structures in the Woodstock Square Historic District.

History

The 1857 Italianate Old Courthouse was constructed to closely resemble the 1853 Cook County Courthouse (which was eventually destroyed during the Great Chicago Fire). The structure was designed by John M. Van Osdel, the first licensed architect in Chicago. The adjoining structure, the Sheriff's House and Jail was built in 1887. It was there, in the Sheriff's House and Jail that Eugene Debs was held for his refusal to comply with an injunction during the Pullman Strike. Until 1973 McHenry County government offices were located in the Old Courthouse. When the government moved out, the building was threatened with demolition, as it stood on prime commercial property. On November 1, 1974, it was recognized by the National Park Service on the National Register of Historic Places. Eight years later it was listed as a contributing property to the Woodstock Square Historic District, a 13-acre (5.3 ha) corridor in downtown Woodstock. Today the two buildings house two restaurants, one in each building, and art gallery (in the courthouse), a pottery shop (in the jail building) and the Chester Gould-Dick Tracy Museum.

Chester Gould-Dick Tracy Museum

Chester Gould, creator of Dick Tracy comic strips, was a 50-year Woodstock resident.^[2] The Chester Gould-Dick Tracy Museum features original comic strips and Dick Tracy memorabilia and collectibles including artifacts related to the character's depiction in radio, television and film. The Museum closed its doors in June 2008 and went virtual.^{[citation needed]}

Architecture

The Old McHenry County Courthouse faces the Woodstock public square. The Italianate structure was built out of brick with limestone trim. With four identical, 20-by-44-square-foot (1.9 m² × 4.1 m²) wings around a 44-square-foot (4.1 m²) core, the building resembles a Greek cross. The building stands two stories tall with a brick basement. A cupola is found at the center of the cross. A bay was later added to the southern wing, and small additions were made from the judge's chamber and a vault. The southwest corner has a one-story addition. The jail was originally found in the basement, but was moved to a new building along the north wall in the 1870s.

Notes

^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
^ Visitor's Guide to Historic Woodstock Square, (PDF), City of Woodstock, Tourism, Visitor's Guide, Retrieved January 13, 2007.

External links

Chester Gould-Dick Tracy Museum - official site
U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Old McHenry County Courthouse. Retrieved 2008-05-04.

[nris-1] "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. January 23, 2007.

[2] Visitor's Guide to Historic Woodstock Square, (PDF), City of Woodstock, Tourism, Visitor's Guide, Retrieved January 13, 2007.

[1]

[2]

v t e Municipalities and communities of McHenry County, Illinois, United States
County seat: Woodstock
Cities	Crystal Lake Harvard Marengo McHenry Woodstock	Map of Illinois highlighting McHenry County
Villages	Algonquin‡ Barrington Hills‡ Bull Valley Cary Fox Lake‡ Fox River Grove‡ Greenwood Hampshire‡ Hebron Holiday Hills Huntley‡ Island Lake‡ Johnsburg Lake in the Hills Lakemoor‡ Lakewood McCullom Lake Oakwood Hills Port Barrington‡ Prairie Grove Richmond Ringwood Spring Grove Trout Valley Union Wonder Lake
Townships	Alden Algonquin Burton Chemung Coral Dorr Dunham Grafton Greenwood Hartland Hebron Marengo McHenry Nunda Richmond Riley Seneca
CDPs	Alden Big Foot Prairie Burtons Bridge Chemung Coral Franklinville Harmony Hartland Lawrence Pistakee Highlands Ridgefield Riley Solon Mills
Other communities	Belden Palm Beach‡ Silver Lake Terra Cotta
Footnotes	‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties
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