Tiny Casey, Illinois, calls itself the “Small Town with a Big Heart.” The city is home to the world’s largest collection of, well, the world’s largest items. I-70 is awash with ads for enormous wind chimes, gargantuan golf tees, and ridiculous rocking chairs! As a matter of fact, the biggest gavel in the known universe sits twenty miles northeast at the Clark County Courthouse.
I got a good chuckle at Illinois’ Douglas County Courthouse, which featured a sign that barked directions to its four-legged constituents. I also laugh at random places that stake their claim on some gimmick. Clark County, Illinois, didn’t get into the big-things trade until much later, but the county has an intriguing history before its jump toward the “bigger-than” bandwagon.
Clark County was formed in 1819 and was whittled down to its present size in 18301. A commission named the speculative community of Aurora as the county seat, but it never saw a courthouse. The first, a log cabin, was built at McClure’s Bluff on the banks of the Wabash River in 18252. Unfortunately, McClure’s Bluff was nowhere near the center of the county or the burgeoning National Road, an early superhighway connecting Cumberland, Maryland, and Vandalia, Illinois3.
Officials circulated a petition to move the courthouse closer to commerce, and the town of Marshall was named the next county seat in 18374. The first brick courthouse there was a federal-style building5 erected in 1839. A larger Second Empire structure replaced it in 18876. Unfortunately, it was ruined in a fire fifteen years later.
Commissioners quickly hired the firm of Fuller and Hawkes to design a new courthouse. Completed in 1904, the two-story structure faces northeast and rises from a stone basement. Flanking bays project out from the center like a fat letter H. Arched windows with brick headers and keystones punctuate the horizontally coursed brick of the first story.
I was sad to see several of the building’s windows filled or covered with panels. I didn’t notice as much new brick on the second story, but most of the window arches were covered there, too. The recessed central bay on the northeast side of the courthouse features a portico topped with an intact Palladian window, but the southwest side is simpler.
The entire structure makes textural use of brick quoins up to the roofline, where heavy modillions -ornate brackets- support a complex, hipped roof. Above that, the building’s topped by a two-tiered cupola that rises seventy-five feet above downtown Marshall7. It’s a real landmark!
The cupola is my third favorite part of the Clark County Courthouse. Marshall’s water tower overshadows it if driving in from the south, but the next-tallest building downtown rises a paltry three stories; forty feet if I’m being generous. The belfry features Palladian-inspired arches8, four clock faces topped by gold finials, and a shingled dome with a matching topper.
Naturally, most courthouses with belfries or towers feature hidden means to access them. One common arrangement is a series of spiral stairs or ladders that lead to a hatch near the top. The Clark County Courthouse is different. Besides the cupola, my second favorite feature is the open metal stair that leads to it from the roof! I’ve never seen one so exposed. If you’re curious, I counted twenty steps.
With a gun to my head, I’d admit that the unusual outdoor staircase was my favorite feature of the Clark County Courthouse. Unfortunately, that would discount the world’s largest gavel! Crafted from red oak by Jim Bolin of Casey, the mallet has stood under the building’s front porch since 2018. At 36” wide, 61” tall, and more than 16 feet long, it was named the world’s largest by Guinness World Records in 20199.
Officially, the gavel is dedicated to the past, present, and future judges of Clark County, but a commemorative plaque on the front features an Abraham Lincoln quote. Lincoln practiced law at the county’s 1839 courthouse in an 1850 trial but never served as a judge. Nevertheless, he’s said to have made several lifelong friends in town10.
My only photo of the world’s largest gavel was taken from afar. Other visitors have described it as in serious need of the world’s largest can of Lemon Pledge11! I’ve only been to six courthouses in Illinois, but whether you’re into world records or Italian Renaissance Revival architecture, the Clark County Courthouse marks a unique entry into the Prairie State’s portfolio.
TL;DR
Clark County (pop. 15,467, 71/102)
Marshall (pop. 3,911)
5/102 photographed
Built: 1904
Cost: $60,000 ($2.1 million today)
Architect: Fuller and Hawkes
Style: Georgian Revival and Italianate
Courthouse Square: Shelbyville Square
Height: 147 feet
Current Use: County offices and courts
Photographed: 11/7/2020
Sources Cited
1 Hebert, M. H. (1997). Illinois County Boundaries 1790 – Present. Web. Retrieved April 17, 2024.
2 Perrin, W. H. (1883). History of Crawford and Clark Counties, Illinois. O.L. Baskin [Chicago]. Book.
3 Grey, J. (2009, April 23). The National Road in Maryland. Down The Road. Web. Retrieved April 17, 2024.
4 (See footnote 2).
5 National Register of Historic Places, Marshall Business Historic District, Marshall, Clark County, Illinois, National Register # 13000183.
6 Wesier, D. (2009). Illinois Courthouses: an illustrated history. The Donning Company [Virginia Beach]. Book.
7 (1912) Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Marshall, Clark County, Illinois. Sanborn Map Company, Feb. [Map] Web. Retrieved April 18, 2024.
8 (See footnote 5).
9 World’s Largest Wooden Gavel, world record set in Marshall, Illinois (2024, January 29). World Record Academy. Web. Retrieved April 19, 2024.
10 World’s Largest Gavel (n.d.). City of Marshall [Marshall]. Web. Retrieved April 19, 2024.
11 Gassmann, M. (2021, September 10). World’s Largest Gavel. Roadside America. Web. Retrieved April 19, 2024.
