A view of the historic Coles County Courthouse as seen looking toward the southwest from the historic square in the eastern Illinois city of Charleston. Built in 1898 in the Richardsonian Romanesque style, the courthouse houses most of Coles County administrative offices as well as its courts.
The building's exterior is faced in brown stone from the Embarras River, a 195-mile-long tributary of the Wabash River in southeastern Illinois. Bedford stone is used for several architectural details.
The corners of the building feature pavilions topped by pyramids, and a clock tower topped with a pyramid is situated atop the center of the courthouse. The four main entrances, located on each side of the building, feature an arcaded porch with recessed doors.
The courthouse was designed by Chicago architect C. W. Rapp. Prior to designing the Coles County Courthouse, C. W. designed Altgeld Hall at the University of Illinois (one of the five Altgeld’s Castles) and Wheeler Hall at Southern Illinois University.
Rapp was an independent practitioner until 1906, when he formed a partnership with his younger brother, George L. Rapp. The Rapp brothers were among a group of highly influential American theatre architects. The office designed over 400 theatres, including the Chicago Theatre (1921), Bismarck Hotel and Theatre (1926) and Oriental Theater (1926) in Chicago, and the Paramount Theaters in New York City (1926) and Aurora, Illinois (1931).
The Coles County Courthouse was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. As of the 2020 census, the population of Coles County was 46,863. Charleston, the county seat, is also the home of Eastern Illinois University.
Sources:
Coles County Courthouse, Wikipedia
Coles County, Illinois, Wikipedia
Rapp & Rapp, Wikipedia
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