It’s rare to come across a modern courthouse that’s nearly as impressive as its predecessor. Fortunately, Champaign County, Illinois, makes the comparison easy. Two fantastic courthouses built a century apart sit about twelve feet from each other in downtown Urbana.
Champaign County was formed in 18331. Its name came from Champaign County, Ohio, which means “plain” in French2. The first courthouse, makeshift and primitive even by pioneer standards3, was a log building hastily completed in 1836. A brick courthouse took its place in 1840.
The area’s third courthouse, a two-story frame building with a belfry, was completed in 18494. Still, like many communities in East Central Illinois, Champaign County was largely unsettled and remote until the railroad arrived.
The Illinois Central connected Cairo to Galena and Chicago. After it was completed in 18565, Champaign County grew an astonishing 450%! The courthouse was remodeled to keep up with the times. Brick was added to cover the wood and give the building an entirely different appearance, and iron beams were installed to add stability6.
Champaign County’s fortunes grew again after the Civil War, when the University of Illinois was founded as Illinois Industrial University in 1867. More people flooded in, and no fewer than 40,000 called the area home by 1890. Nine years later, officials revealed plans to build the county’s fourth courthouse and hired Joseph W. Royer to design it.
Royer was sort of the golden boy of eastern Illinois architecture. Born in Urbana, he graduated from the University of Illinois before becoming Urbana’s city engineer. Just twenty-six when the courthouse was announced, Royer went on to design many of the city’s most prominent buildings as well as the Douglas and Warren County courthouses nearby.
His courthouse in downtown Urbana was completed in 1901 for $150,0007. The Richardson Romanesque structure faces north and rises three full stories above a raised basement. The building features a red sandstone foundation, rounded archways and windows, recessed entry portals, and fifty-five-foot mottled brick walls8.
The courthouse would be imposing if it ended at fifty-five feet, but it doesn’t. Its most prominent feature is the 135-foot clock tower that stretches above its main entrance! Unfortunately, the soaring spire was a magnet for lightning. The tower was struck at least four times, which led to the loss of its steeple in 1930. The building’s compromised belfry followed in 1952.
Although the landmark tower had been dramatically shortened by fifty feet, officials made lemonade. Believe it or not, Joseph Royer was still practicing architecture in 1952! He was pressed into service to design a new parapet for the courthouse that looked as good as could be expected under the circumstances9.
Unfortunately, issues with the courthouse weren’t confined to its clock tower. Time wasn’t kind to the rest of the building, either. In 1996, a study issued by Isaksen Glerum Architects found numerous issues. It was too small and was danger of being outgrown. The layout was poor and insecure. The building didn’t conform to ADA requirements. There was even a significant lack of parking.
The architectural firm presented eight solutions but recommended renovating the existing courthouse and adding a three-story, eleven-courtroom wing to the building’s east. Officials procrastinated until a 1998 report went so far as to declare the building unsafe for public use11!
Fortunately, a quarter-cent sales tax referendum to fund a new courthouse passed on its second attempt in November 199812. Champaign County’s fourth courthouse was completed four years later. Designed by Isaksen Glerum along with Moyer Associates, the building stands just east of its predecessor and is connected by a brick wing.
The new courthouse features a stone foundation, mottled brick walls, and a projecting central entrance. Its hipped roof, gables, and arched windows beautifully echo the scale and design of the original structure. Overall, it’s one of the finest sympathetic additions I’ve encountered over the years.
Officials were pleased with the fifth courthouse. So much so, in fact, that they formed the Citizen’s Committee to Restore the Courthouse Clock and Bell Tower in 2001. The original Seth Thomas clock had already been restored sometime in the 1970s, but the $1.5 million project13 removed the original tower and rebuilt it to its initial design, using labor from local sculptors and craftsmen to help replicate its decorative elements14.
The effort was a success. I’d have never known the tower was a replacement! After the project was concluded, Champaign County won the 2009 Award for Reconstruction from Landmarks Illinois, the state’s historic preservation nonprofit.
I’d have loved to take more photos of the 1901 courthouse and its stunning tower, but I arrived in town at the worst possible time for the sun. Nevertheless, the expansion and restoration of the 1901 Champaign County Courthouse presented a generous gift to the citizens of Urbana and the surrounding communities. The original building was made complete for the first time in more than seventy years! Here’s hoping that its striking modern counterpart will ensure both structures’ viability well into the future.
TL;DR
Champaign County (pop. 205,644, 10102)
Urbana (pop.38,468)
2/102 photographed
Built: 1901/2002
Cost: $150,000 ($5.5 million today)
Architect: Joseph W. Royer
Style: Richardson Romanesque
Courthouse Square: Shelbyville Square
Height: 135 feet
Current Use: County offices and courts
Photographed: 11/7/2020
1 John W. Vance: The Father of Champaign County (n.d.). Urbana Free Library [Urbaba]. WEb. Retrieved May 6, 2024.
2 Deacon, J. “Champaign County”. American Courthouses. 2008. Web. Retrieved May 6 2024.
3 Weiser, D. (2009). Illinois Courthouses. The Donning Company [Virginia Beach]. Book.
4 (See footnote 3).
5 Drury, G. (2021, July 5). Illinois Central Railroad: A history. Classic Trains Magazine. Web. Retrieved May 6, 2024.
6 (See footnote 3).
7 101 E. Main Street (2018, February 13). Champaign County Courthouse. City of Urbana [Urbana]. Web. Retrieved May 6, 2024.
8 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Urbana, Champaign County, Illinois (1909). Sanborn Map Company, Jun. [Map].
9 (See footnote 3).
10 Klepper, D. (1996, July 25). Courthouse plans shock county officials. The Urbana Daily Illini. Pp. 1-3.
11 Riley, S. (1998, August 4). County courthouse needs to be rebuilt. The Urbana Daily Illini. Pp. 1-4.
12 Burchett, J. & Riley, S. (1998, November 4). Sales tax, 911 referendums pass. The Urbana Daily Illini. P. 2.
13 Schenk, M. (2009, August 30). Champaign County Courthouse’s clock tower alive again. The News-Gazette [Champaign]. Web. Retrieved May 6, 2024.
14 Champaign County Courthouse (2009). Award for Reconstruction. Landmarks Illinois [Chicago]. Web. Retrieved May 6, 2024.
That’s an impressive building! And its modern counterpart is far more visually appealing than most of them are.
I agree! I wish the sun had cooperated so I could have gotten more of the old part.