Edwards County

US States / H-L / Illinois / Edwards County
Edwards

Edwards County is named for Ninian Edwards, who was a Governor of the Illinois Territory from 1809 to 1818 and Governor of the State of Illinois from 1826 to 1830.

 

Surrounding County Courthouses: 

N – Richland County 

E – Wabash County

S – White County

W – Wayne County

 

Created:  November 28, 1814                                                    Map of Illinois highlighting Edwards County

County Seat:

Palmyra  1814 – 1821

Albion     1821 – present

 

County Courthouse – Albion

 

Location:  50 East Main Street / North 4th Street

Built:  1888 – 1889

Style:  Georgian Revival

Architect:  McDonald Brothers of Louisville, Kentucky

Contractor:  Joseph Harris and Sons.

 

Description: The building faces south and  is a three story red colored brick structure. The building is located on landscaped grounds in the center of Albion. The south front  has a small portico supported by two columns. The center front extends from the main building and rises to the third story. The east and west sides are two story and the main building behind rises to three stories. On the center of the roof is a square white colored cupola with clock and steep roof. The building houses the County Circuit Court of the 2nd Judicial Circuit. The architect was McDonald Brothers of Louisville, Kentucky and the contractor was Joseph Harris and Sons. Only a small section of the 1853 building remains consisting of a portion of the wall in the southwest corner. In 1940, an addition was built on the east side. On the north side is a new addition built in 1996 to 1997 and houses the courtroom. The architect was Garrison-Jones Architects Inc. of Carbondale and the contractor was Floyde Black Construction of Mount Vernon. The clock tower was restored in 2007 and 2008. On the east side is the old Sheriff’s Residence.

 

Note:  The bricks were made locally by Mr Bassett, the foundation is of stone quarried locally. The brick work, stone setting, and plastering were done mostly by local workmen supervised by W T Burrell, a local man. The interior woodwork was done by local labor. The tin and sheet‐iron work was done by George Weave, another local artisan.

 

See:  The 2nd Judicial District includes Crawford County, Franklin County, Gallatin CountyHamilton County, Hardin County, Jefferson CountyLawrence County, Richland County, Wabash CountyWayne County and White County.

 

History : The county was created in 1814 and Palmyra, along the Wabash River, was selected as the county seat. In 1814, the house of Gervase Hazleton was rented by the county as the first courthouse. The county seat was moved to Albion in 1824. The second courthouse was a two story brick structure built in 1825 at a cost of $3,000. The third courthouse was built by Elias Weaver of Harmonie in 1852 at a cost of $3,600. The fourth and present courthouse was constructed in 1887 to 1888 at a cost of $8,345 using the foundation of the 1852 courthouse. During construction, the Court met in the Opera House and the previous courthouse was razed. The 1940 addition was built at a cost of $32,000.

 

 

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County Courthouse – Albion

 

 

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Old county Sheriff’s Residence – Albion

Photos taken 2008 and 2012