A view of the Montgomery County Courthouse, located on the Courthouse Square at the north end of Hillsboro's business district. While the courthouse was originally built in 1833–35, it did not attain its current form until an extensive remodeling in 1868–71.
Chicago Architect Gurdon P. Randall designed the remodeled courthouse in the Second Empire style, about the same time and in the same style he designed the Morgan County Courthouse in Jacksonville, Illinois (see photo in first comment). The courthouse's design features two towers: a square tower enclosing a staircase at the southwest corner, and a tower with a mansard roof at the southeast corner. The courthouse's cornice, which runs along the roof line and the bottom of the mansard roof, features decorative brackets. Since the renovated courthouse reopened, it has continuously served as the seat of county government functions.
The Montgomery County Courthouse was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1994.
Hillsboro is the county seat of Montgomery County. This south central Illinois city is located 50 miles south of the Illinois State Capitol in Springfield, and 65 miles northeast of St. Louis, Missouri. Health care and social assistance, public administration, and finance and insurance are Hillsboro's largest industries. The population of Hillsboro at the 2020 Census was 5,808, and the population of Montgomery County was 28,288.
Tags: Hillsboro Montgomery County South Central Illinois IL Street View Architecture Public Buildings Government Buildings Courthouse Square Architect Gurdon P. Randall Architectural Style Second Empire Listed National Register Of Historic Places NRHP Reference # 94001266 Canon EOS 5D Mark IV
Looking toward the northeast at the Montgomery County Courthouse, located on the Courthouse Square on the north end of Hillsboro's business district. While the courthouse was originally built in 1833–35, it did not attain its current form until an extensive remodeling in 1868–71. The Montgomery County Courthouse was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1994.
Chicago Architect Gurdon P. Randall designed the remodeled courthouse in the Second Empire style, about the same time and in the same style he designed the Morgan County Courthouse in Jacksonville, Illinois (see photo in first comment). The courthouse's design features two towers: a square tower enclosing a staircase at the southwest corner, and a tower with a mansard roof at the southeast corner. The courthouse's cornice, which runs along the roof line and the bottom of the mansard roof, features decorative brackets. Since the renovated courthouse reopened, it has continuously served as the seat of county government functions.
Hillsboro is the county seat of Montgomery County. This south central Illinois city is located 50 miles south of the Illinois State Capitol in Springfield, and 65 miles northeast of St. Louis, Missouri. Health care and social assistance, public administration, and finance and insurance are Hillsboro's largest industries. The population of Hillsboro at the 2020 Census was 5,808, and the population of Montgomery County was 28,288.
Tags: Hillsboro Montgomery County South Central Illinois IL Street View Architecture Public Buildings Government Buildings Courthouse Square Architect Gurdon P. Randall Architectural Style Second Empire Listed National Register Of Historic Places NRHP Reference # 94001266 Canon EOS 5D Mark IV
Hillsboro's Orpheum Theatre opened as the 600 seat capacity Fellis Theatre in the 1920’s. It operated as a vaudeville house with a combination of live acts and movies. It was renamed Orpheum Theatre in 1929. By the early-1940’s it was operated by the Frisina Amusement Co. It ran continuously until 2000 and closed for about two years. In 2002, new seats and DTS stereo was added in addition to marquee restoration.
A new operator took over in 2003 and the theatre is more vibrant than ever with almost a cult following of regular customers from as far away as St. Louis and Springfield, IL. The balcony was converted to a second auditorium in the early-1980’s and is still that way.
Hillsboro is the seat of Montgomery County. This south central Illinois city is located 50 miles south of the Illinois State Capitol in Springfield, and 65 miles northeast of St. Louis, Missouri. Health care and social assistance, public administration, and finance and insurance are Hillsboro's largest industries. The population of Hillsboro at the 2020 Census was 5,808, and the population of Montgomery County was 28,288.
Tags: Hillsboro Seat Montgomery County South Central Illinois IL Street View Architecture Vaudeville Cinema Movies Motion Pictures Marquee Fellis Theatre Orpheum Theatre 316 S. Main St. Canon EOS 5D Mark IV
A view of the west side of S. Main St. two blocks south of the Montgomery County Courthouse. Seen on the left is the old Orpheum Theatre that we visited in my previous post. In this photo we'll focus on the Corner Block building which, you have already guessed, is the very large building on the northwest corner of S. Main and Wood St.
This large, Dutch Colonial Revival style building was constructed in 1894. An architectural study of Hillsboro's business district in 2015 called the building "eclectic in respect to its exterior ornamentation, freely combining elements of Queen Anne, Romanesque, and Dutch Colonial Revival styles." The study goes on to say the Corner Block's "most notable feature is its huge gambrel roof (the defining feature of Dutch Colonial Revival) which stands out so prominently in a district primarily populated with flat-roofed buildings." (1)
Hillsboro is the seat of Montgomery County. This south central Illinois city is located 50 miles south of the Illinois State Capitol in Springfield, and 65 miles northeast of St. Louis, Missouri. Health care and social assistance, public administration, and finance and insurance are Hillsboro's largest industries. The population of Hillsboro at the 2020 Census was 5,808, and the population of Montgomery County was 28,288.
Source: (1) An Architectural Survey Of The Central Business District, Hillsboro, Illinois. Prepared by Fever River Research, Springfield, Illinois. July 2015. DRAFT.
Tags: Hillsboro Seat Montgomery County South Central Illinois IL Street View S. Main St. Architecture Corner Block Building 320-324 S. Main St. Architectural Style Dutch Colonial Revival Architectural Elements Queen Anne Romanesque Canon EOS 5D Mark IV
A view of the 100 block of E. Wood St. (left) and 400 block of S. Main St. (right) in downtown Hillsboro. In the center of the frame is the old Hillsboro Opera House, now repurposed as a craft beer brewery known as the Opera House Brewing Company.
Completed in 1886, the Opera House stands catty-corner from the Corner Block Building shown in my previous post. The Opera House is primarily a Romanesque Revival-style building with Queen Anne-style influences. Although the building has been remodeled, the original architectural style is still readily apparent. The upper floor of the Opera House also served as a meeting hall for the local lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows (IOOF) beginning in 1922.
In the 19th-century, many theaters were given the name "opera house." Opera was viewed as a more respectable art form than theater; calling a local theater an "opera house" therefore served to elevate it and overcome objections from those who found the theater morally objectionable.
But most entertainment in opera houses was not high opera. Typically the musical productions were based on popular music of the day, and ranged from plays performed by stock companies, to vaudeville, minstrel shows, specialty acts, and lyceum courses. Given the variety and more down to earth programming, it is easy to see why opera houses were generally more popular than opera.
Hillsboro is the seat of Montgomery County. This south central Illinois city is located 50 miles south of the Illinois State Capitol in Springfield, and 65 miles northeast of St. Louis, Missouri. Health care and social assistance, public administration, and finance and insurance are Hillsboro's largest industries. The population of Hillsboro at the 2020 Census was 5,808, and the population of Montgomery County was 28,288.
Tags: Hillsboro Seat Montgomery County South Central Illinois IL Small Town Street View S. Main St. E. Wood St. Architecture Opera House Architectural Style Romanesque Revival Queen Anne Repurpose Reuse Opera House Brewing Company 405 S. Main St. Canon EOS 5D Mark IV