Presiding Commissioner Samuel West
Associate Judge J.D. Wimsatt
Associate Judge John J March
Clerk S.T. Broaddus
The contractors for the courthouse which was built with Carthage Stone, were Bartlett and Kling of Galesburg, Illinois. The excavation began during July 1901; the cornerstone was laid on October 10, 1901 and the court accepted the completed building in July 1902. Theo Lacaff was chosen as the Superintendent of the construction project. According to records for material and labor the project cost $49,749.22.
D.A. Braden was the highest bidder on all of the electric light fixtures, sockets, etc for the amount of $335.03.
McKibben Merchants Company was the highest bidder for all curtains for 62 windows in the amount of $75.00.
Theo J Day was the highest bidder for the concrete sidewalks for the four courthouse entrances for .17 cents per cubic foot.
The courthouse used coal heat until recent years when a new heating system was put in. Back in 1902 David Reese won the bid on 2500 bushel of coal for 11 cents per bushel.
A.B. Cunningham was paid $14.00 to move all the books to the new courthouse. He was also paid $40.00 to move the safe, desks, etc.
Bruce Looney was paid $4.00 to cover the lintel over windows.
Back in 1902 Pierce Allen provided insurance for the courthouse at a rate of $.70 per hundred for $10,000 for fire insurance and $.50 per hundred for $10,000 for tornado insurance.
The benches in the courthouse lobbies are the original benches that were used in the Magistrate courtroom.
Some of the major changes in the courthouse would be the addition of bathrooms on the 2nd floor in 1983, new windows and doors in 1989, the new heating system in 1991 which the first year they still used steam heat and then 1992 went to hot water heat, new air conditioning in 1993, the restrooms in the basement were redone in 1994, a new roof in 1995-1996, new lowered ceilings in 1996, the new and much needed elevator was installed in 2001 that runs from the basement to the attic. The original tile floor was stripped and waxed in 2001 and the hardwood floors on the 3rd floor and all stairways were stripped and refinished in 2002 to bring them back to their original beauty.
The courthouse was placed on the Register of Historic Places on June 28, 2001. A lot of hard work and dedication went into this effort to make this accomplishment possible. - Courtesy of Marlene Wainscott
