The Gallatin County Courthouse is a government building in Shawneetown, the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

of Gallatin County,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Built in 1939, it is at least the third Shawneetown building to serve as the county courthouse, but the only one following Shawneetown's complete relocation to avoid flooding on the

Ohio River The Ohio River () is a river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing in a southwesterly direction from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to its river mouth, mouth on the Mississippi Riv ...

. Gallatin County's first settler, Michael Sprinkle, established himself circa 1800 at the later site of Shawneetown.''History of Gallatin, Saline, Hamilton, Franklin, and Williamson counties, Illinois: from the earliest time to the present, together with sundry and interesting biographical sketches, notes, reminiscences, etc., etc.''

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

: Goodspeed, 1887. Other houses were first built at the site in 1804, and the town quickly prospered because of its proximity to the Great Salt Spring; even a federal

land office The General Land Office (GLO) was an independent agency of the United States government responsible for public domain lands in the United States. It was created in 1812 to take over functions previously conducted by the United States Department ...

opened in the city in 1814. By this time, Gallatin County was two years old, having been established by

territorial A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, belonging or connected to a particular country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually a geographic area which has not been granted the powers of self-government, ...

governor

Ninian Edwards Ninian Edwards (March 17, 1775July 20, 1833) was an American political figure who was prominent in Illinois. He served as the first and only governor of the Illinois Territory from 1809 to until the territory earned statehood in 1818. He was then ...

in a September 1812 proclamation; Shawneetown was named the county seat from the beginning. The county court first met in May 1813, using a residence as a courthouse. Land was donated for courthouse construction in late 1815, but a state law ordered the county seat's removal to

Equality Equality generally refers to the fact of being equal, of having the same value. In specific contexts, equality may refer to: Society * Egalitarianism, a trend of thought that favors equality for all people ** Political egalitarianism, in which ...

in 1827. Shawneetown again sought the county seat title twenty years later, and a contentious election ensued; the Legislature intervened in 1851, enacting a law providing for the union of Gallatin County with Saline County and for the permanent removal of the seat to Equality, but a constitutionally mandated referendum prevented the law from taking effect. A permanent courthouse was erected in Shawneetown in 1857, two stories tall with a tower topping the facade.Weiser, Dennis. ''Illinois courthouses: an illustrated history''.

Virginia Beach Virginia Beach (colloquially VB) is the List of cities in Virginia, most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. The city is located on the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay in southeaster ...

: Donning, 2009, 53. From its earliest years, Shawneetown suffered from

floods, among the worst being those of 1832, 1847, 1853, and 1858, but the devastation of the flood of 1859 convinced local residents of the necessity of some means of flood control. The following years saw several

levee A levee ( or ), dike (American English), dyke (British English; see American and British English spelling differences#Miscellaneous spelling differences, spelling differences), embankment, floodbank, or stop bank is an elevated ridge, natural ...

s constructed, each of which was destroyed by a flood and replaced with a larger and firmer structure. However, nothing could compare with the

Great Flood of 1937 The Ohio River flood of 1937 took place in late January and February 1937. With damage stretching from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to Cairo, Illinois, 385 people died, one million people were left homeless and property losses reached $500 million ...

: the city was so profoundly affected by that year's floods, which struck in January,"Shawneetown ready to move to high ground", ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...

'', 1937-07-07, 14. that by February the city fathers were determined to relocate the entire city out of the floodplain."Shawneetown to move out of flood path", ''

'', 1937-02-24, 13. State aid was given to purchase land in the center of the county, and the two-year process of building a new

planned community A planned community, planned city, planned town, or planned settlement is any community that was carefully planned from its inception and is typically constructed on previously undeveloped land. This contrasts with settlements that evolve ...

began by July. The courthouse at "Old" Shawneetown was destroyed, and assistance from the WPA enabled the 1939 completion of the new courthouse in the center of "New" Shawneetown. The 1939

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...

courthouse remains in use by the Gallatin County government. Built of brick, it features a seven-part facade: three recessed sections of

glass block Glass brick, also known as glass block, is an architectural element made from glass. The appearance of glass blocks can vary in color, size, texture and form. Glass bricks provide visual obscuration while admitting light. The modern glass block ...

, with an entrance in the center section, are separated by wide

pilaster In architecture, a pilaster is both a load-bearing section of thickened wall or column integrated into a wall, and a purely decorative element in classical architecture which gives the appearance of a supporting column and articulates an ext ...

s, while a brick section forms the ends of each side of the facade. The roof rises to a

gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...

with an extremely shallow slope, being nearly flat.

References

{{coord, 37, 43, 1, N, 88, 11, 11, W, display=title Government buildings completed in 1939 Art Deco architecture in Illinois Brick buildings and structures in Illinois Buildings and structures in Gallatin County, Illinois County courthouses in Illinois Works Progress Administration in Illinois