Knox County Courthouse (Knoxville, Illinois)
former courthouse and adjacent in Knoxville, Illinois, USA; now a city hall
The Knox County Courthouse, located on the public square of Knoxville near its associated hall of records, is the former county courthouse of Knox County, Illinois. The courthouse was built in 1840 to replace the county's first courthouse; built in 1831 shortly after the county's organization, it had been outgrown by the end of the decade. Architect John Mandeville gave the building its Greek Revival design. The Hall of Records, which was designed by Charles Ulricson, was added in 1854 to house county records after the courthouse ran out of space for them. The Knox County seat moved to Galesburg in 1873; the courthouse and hall of records subsequently housed the Knoxville city hall and public library respectively until 1978, when the city government moved to the hall and the courthouse became a museum.
The buildings were added to the National Register of Historic Places on February 13, 1992.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Knox County Courthouse (Knoxville, Illinois)” as former courthouse and adjacent in Knoxville, Illinois, USA; now a city hall. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as former courthouse and adjacent in Knoxville, Illinois, USA; now a city hall. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 6, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q23302757. Authority coordinates are 40.908, -90.284. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1840, 1831, 1854 and 1873.
A single description cannot reconcile every naming convention, rebuilding phase or administrative transfer associated with a place. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Knox County Courthouse (Knoxville, Illinois)”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Knox County Courthouse (Knoxville, Illinois) primary sources, Knox County Courthouse (Knoxville, Illinois) archive and Knox research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Knox County Courthouse (Knoxville, Illinois)”?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Knox County Courthouse (Knoxville, Illinois)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.