The Crawford County Courthouse is a government building located in Robinson, which is the county seat of Crawford County, Illinois, United States. Finished in 1895, it is the second courthouse built in Robinson and the fifth courthouse in the county's history.
Early history
Crawford County's first settler is believed to have been a man named Lamotte, one of many French people who moved west from Vincennes, Indiana. Later, several families who spoke English settled in the area and founded the town of Palestine around 1809. The Illinois Territory's legislature established Crawford County in 1816, and the county's courts first met near Palestine in 1817. Palestine served as the county seat until 1843, when Robinson won a vote to become the new county seat.
Three different buildings were built as courthouses in Palestine. The first was a brick structure made by local masons in 1819, but it was poorly constructed and suffered severe damage from three lightning strikes. This forced the county to leave the building. After renting rooms in other parts of town, the county built a wooden courthouse in 1830. However, it was burned down the night before it was to be used. A new brick courthouse was built in 1832 and remained in use until Robinson became the county seat. After that, the building was converted into a church.
When the county moved to Robinson, it first used two homes for court meetings. In 1844, a brick courthouse was built in Robinson at a cost of $4,200. Despite several expansions over time, the courthouse became too small by the 1880s. A book published in 1883, titled History of Crawford and Clark counties, Illinois, noted that the courthouse "sadly needs improving with a new one." However, it continued to be used for more than ten years.
Current courthouse
The current Crawford County Courthouse was built in 1895 and 1896. It has Romanesque Revival features, including rounded archways, small round turrets with peaked roofs, and a square bell tower in the middle of the building. A raised stone foundation allows light to enter the basement. Stone belt courses separate the brickwork on each floor. At first, a pitched roof was above two brick walls and rose to a flat part around the tower. Unfortunately, the building kept this shape for only a few years. It was damaged by fire on March 28, 1899. The original design was kept, but after a few years, officials removed the tower and turret peaks. They added a flat roof instead. Today, the building still has much of this design, including the triple Romanesque entrance. However, a third story was added on top of the original two.