Fulton County erected this handsome, neoclassical-style courthouse in 1897-98 using the architectural designs of Charles E. Bell. Bell designed a number of other courthouses throughout the United States including Fulton County's sister courthouse, the Woodford County Courthouse in Eureka, Illinois. The courthouse is the fourth to serve Fulton County.
Fulton County, located in central Illinois southwest of Peoria, is named for Robert Fulton, the first successful builder of steamboats on American waters. The county seat of Lewistown is best known as the source of Spoon River Anthology by Edgar Lee Masters, who lived here.
Lewistown population in 2019 was estimated at 2,146. The estimated population of Fulton County in 2018 was 34,844.
Tags: Lewistown Fulton County Illinois IL Architecture Government Public Building Fulton County Courthouse 100 N. Main St. Architect Charles E. Bell Architectural Style Neoclassical Canon EOS 5D Mark IV
A view of W. Washington St. on the north side of the square across from the Fulton County Courthouse in Lewistown. The large, somewhat deteriorated building on the corner is the former Beadles Opera House, also known as the Beadles Block. Constructed in 1876, the building is mixed use with both commercial and office space.
Lewistown, the county seat, is best known as the source of Spoon River Anthology (1915) by Edgar Lee Masters, who lived there. The anthology is a collection of short, free-verse poems that collectively narrates the epitaphs of the residents of Spoon River, a fictional small town named after the real Spoon River, which runs near Lewistown. In fact, many of the characters in Spoon River Anthology are based upon actual people who lived in the towns of Lewistown and Petersburg. Likewise, many of the places in Spoon River are inspired by real places in the city of Lewistown.
Which brings us back to Beadles Opera House. In real life, Edgar Lee Masters' father had a law office on the second story of this building and, while in his teenage years, Masters could be seen here often. In Spoon River Anthology, Beadles' Opera House is Bindles' Opera House, described as a weather beaten building on the north side of the courthouse square. All I can say is that 105 years after the anthology was published, the building is still standing and it is still as weather beaten as ever!
Lewistown's population in 2019 was estimated at 2,146. The estimated population of Fulton County in 2018 was 34,844.
Tags: Lewistown Fulton County Illinois IL Street View Commercial Architecture Opera House Performing Arts Beadles' Opera House W. Washington St. Spoon River Anthology Edgar Lee Masters Bindles' Opera House Canon EOS 5D Mark IV
The public library in Lewistown is a Carnegie Library that was built in 1906 at an approximate cost of $6,500. The Carnegie grant in the amount of $5,400 that made this project possible is one of the 105 Carnegie grants in various amounts made to Illinois communities between 1900-1916.
Lewistown, the Fulton County seat, is best known as the source of Spoon River Anthology (1915) by Edgar Lee Masters, who lived there from the age of 12 until he was about 25 and moved to Chicago to practice law. The anthology is a collection of short, free-verse poems that collectively narrates the epitaphs of the residents of Spoon River, a fictional small town named after the real Spoon River, which runs near Lewistown. In fact, many of the characters in Spoon River Anthology are based upon actual people who lived in the towns of Lewistown and Petersburg. Likewise, many of the places in Spoon River are inspired by real places in the city of Lewistown.
Many of those who lived in the Spoon River region objected to their portrayal in the anthology. The book was banned from Lewistown schools and libraries until 1974. Even Masters's mother, who sat on the Lewistown library board, voted for the ban. (Masters claimed "My mother disliked [the anthology]; my father adored it."
Despite this, the anthology remained widely read in Lewistown; local historian Kelvin Sampson notes that "Every family in Lewistown probably had a sheet of paper or a notebook hidden away with their copy of the Anthology, saying who was who in town."
Lewistown's population in 2019 was estimated at 2,146. The estimated population of Fulton County in 2018 was 34,844.
Tags: Lewistown Fulton County Illinois IL Architecture Public Building Library Carnegie Library Lewistown Carnegie Public Library 321 W. Lincoln Ave. Libraries and Librarians Spoon River Anthology Edgar Lee Masters Canon EOS 5D Mark IV