The Cass County Courthouse is the main government building and courthouse for Cass County, Illinois. The court sessions there handle cases in the 8th circuit of Illinois judicial district number 4. The courthouse is located at 100 East Springfield Street in the county seat of Virginia.

History

The current courthouse, the third courthouse used by Cass County, was built between 1872 and 1874 to complete the move of the county seat from Beardstown to Virginia. The original part of the courthouse is an Italianate-style building with a Mansard roof, a porte-cochère, and narrow, arched windows.

Cass County was created in 1837, and in 1839, the county chose Virginia as its county seat. In the 1840s, economic activity in the county focused on steamboat travel along the Illinois River. In 1843, the county seat moved to Beardstown, a river port that had a brick courthouse often used by Abraham Lincoln. This Beardstown courthouse was the second courthouse built for Cass County and still exists today.

The construction of the Springfield and Illinois South Eastern Railway in 1871, which connected Virginia and passed through the county, caused a major change in transportation, reducing reliance on riverboats. Because Beardstown might resist moving the county seat back to Virginia, leaders in Virginia started building a "city hall" in 1872. During construction, the city hall became the county courthouse. The former "city hall" has remained the county courthouse since 2025. Additional buildings were added to the original Italianate structure in 1891, 1913, and 1939.