Hamilton County Courthouse (Illinois)

Built in 1938, more than forty years after the destruction of the previous courthouse in McLeansboro, it is the third such building to serve the county.

[1]: 258  Local officials soon began working to choose a location as the county seat, and they ultimately approved a piece of land donated by one William McLean, for whom the future city was named.

[1]: 275  Here was built an early courthouse, a log cabin completed by mid-1821.

For nearly half a century, the county operated without a courthouse: the public square housed a combined records office and jail, but most county business was accomplished in nearby rented buildings.

This state of affairs concluded in 1938, when the Public Works Administration erected the present Art Deco brick building.