St. Clair County Courthouse (Illinois)

Frenchmen settled in the Mississippi River basin at the end of the seventeenth century, founding towns such as Kaskaskia and Cahokia with missions to local Indians.

[1]: 18  This period ended during the American Revolution, as George Rogers Clark led Virginia troops to conquer the whole region north of the Ohio River.

A grand staircase provided access from the street, and the entrance was sheltered by a pedimented porch supported by two-story Corinthian columns.

[5]: 139 As St. Clair County's population continued to grow into the 1960s, the Civil War-era courthouse in turn became too small, and another building was needed.

Architects Hellmuth, Obata + Kassabaum included elements such as a pool at the center of the building and a glass-covered bridge providing access to a parking garage across one of the surrounding streets.