Since we've been discussing the restoration of the 1896 Courthouse, it makes sense to learn about the architectural gem we have in our community. 

The 1896 Courthouse has some serious architectural street cred. An architectural firm headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, was the designer. This firm, Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge, had a Chicago office that contributed to the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago. This architectrual firm exists today. The firm designed the Art Institute of Chicago Building on Michigan Avenue, the inner quad of Stanford University, the Harvard Medical School, and the Chicago Public Library (now the Chicago Cultural Center), just to name a few.

The 1896 Courthouse is Neo-Classical in design, made of limestone, and features a granite foundation. A large dome defines the cross-axis of the gable roof with pedimented ends. A flagpole sits atop the dome. There is a set of clockworks in the space between the tiled roof and the interior ceiling, but the exterior clocks have not worked for a long time. The building also has a hidden spiral staircase going from the second floor up to the third floor on the west side of the building.