[caption id="attachment_3428" align="alignright" width="300" caption="The Historic Courtroom on the second floor of the Grundy County Courthouse has been restored to its original 1912 splendor."][/caption]
Address: 111 E. Washington, Morris
Entrance: Front of the building
Hours: 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
Year built: 1912
Architect: J.W. Royer
Judicial Circuit: 13th (Bureau, LaSalle)
Click here to view the photo tour
View previous courthouse tours
Courthouse tours
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August 14, 2009
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August 6, 2009
[caption id="attachment_2315" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Kane County Courthouse"][/caption] Address: 100 S. Third, Geneva Entrance: Rear of the building Hours: 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Year built: 1892 Material: Red brick, limestone Cost: $195,000 Architect: W.J. Edbrooke, Franklin P. Burnham Judicial Circuit: 16th (DeKalb, Kane, Kendall) Click here to view the photo tour Special thanks to Kane County Court Security Deputy Steve Meeters for assisting with this tour. View previous courthouse tours
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July 24, 2009
[caption id="attachment_2660" align="alignright" width="300" caption="The Illinois Supreme Court building at 200 E. Capitol Ave., Springfield"][/caption] The Illinois Supreme Court building was completed in 1908. The first floor holds the offices for the clerk of the court. The courtroom used by the Illinois Supreme Court and an Appellate Courtroom are on the second floor. This floor also contains a law library. The third floor is closed to the public. It has living quarters that the justices use while they are in session. Address: 200 E. Capitol Avenue, Springfield Year built: 1908 Cost: $450,000 Architect: W. Carbys Zimmerman Click here to view our photo tour
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July 17, 2009
[caption id="attachment_2238" align="alignright" width="250" caption="The Lincoln Courtroom Museum in Beardstown"][/caption] Illinois Lawyer Now recently toured the Lincoln Courtroom Museum in Beardstown, the only circuit courtroom still in use that Abraham Lincoln practiced in and the site of the famous Duff Armstrong "Almanac Trial" in 1858. The Armstrong "Almanac Trial" as history tells it: James Preston Metzker was savagely beaten at about 11 p.m. on Aug. 29, 1857, just outside a Methodist camp meeting near Walker's Grove in Madison County. William Duff Armstrong and James Norris were charged with Metzker's murder. Armstrong was the son of Jack and Hannah Armstrong, Lincoln's dearest friends from his days in New Salem. When Hannah asked Lincoln to defend her son, he could only agree -- and represented the young man without a fee. The trial took place in 1858. The weather was warm and it appeared the cards were stacked against Lincoln's client. After all, Norris had been found guilty the previous year. The state's star witness was Charles Allen, who claimed to have witnessed the murder by the light of the moon. Allen responded to Lincoln's questions by saying the moon was nearly full and high in the sky at 11 p.m. the night of the attack. He insisted the trees to the west of the attack site did not block the moon's light.