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at the confluence of the Ohio and
Mississippi had been growing into a significant town. The General Assembly chartered a company to found a town there in 1837 under the name of "Cairo, Illinois", and by 1841 Cairo had two thousand residents. Nearly all the residents abandoned the town following an
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Rivers in 1833, and legislation was quickly passed to enable the seat to move there. County officials ordered the construction of a log courthouse in 1835, but this building burned in 1842, the victim of a fire set by a pair of escaping prisoners. Because Unity sat in the middle of
Alexander
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should be chosen, and
America was designated the seat in April 1819. Alexander oversaw the construction of a brick courthouse. However, America's prosperity was short-lived: an epidemic prompted most of the residents to flee, and while its location along the
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gables and colonnade over the main entrance. Although large, this building deteriorated comparatively rapidly; it was deemed "horribly kept" by an 1883 county history, and some county offices were located in the
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building, long and just one story tall. Much of the facade is brick with numerous windows, although the right end of the facade (as seen from the street) is concrete with no doors or windows.
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several blocks away. The old building nevertheless remained in use until 1963, when it was destroyed and replaced by the present building.
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in 1822. The law creating the county ordered that the courts meet at
Alexander's home in the community of
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from the county's eastern half left it in an inconvenient location, and in 1843 the seat was removed to
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having dominated life in Cairo during the intervening years. The new building was a two-
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National
Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Thebes Courthouse
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1842 flood, but a newly constructed levee protected the site during the
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While towns farther north rotated the honor of county seat, the site of
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from landing, and by 1821 the town was languishing. A new settlement,
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History of
Alexander, Union, and Pulaski counties, Illinois
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51:. Built in the 1960s, it is the latest in a series of
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Buildings and structures in
Alexander County, Illinois
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55:erected in four towns across Alexander County.
16:Local government building in the United States
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260:Illinois courthouses: an illustrated history
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923:1960s architecture in the United States
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71:, an early settler who served in the
63:Alexander County was created out of
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31:is a government building in central
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75:from 1820 to 1824 and was chosen
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125:was built in 1848 for $ 4,400.
938:County courthouses in Illinois
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175:, the current courthouse is a
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29:Alexander County Courthouse
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350:Current county courthouses
100:prevented newly developed
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234:Perrin, William H., ed.
309:Alexander County website
113:County, the creation of
73:House of Representatives
23:Facade, seen from north
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899:37.00556°N 89.17611°W
281:National Park Service
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275:Farrar, William G.
69:William M. Alexander
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140:Great Flood of 1844
92:was convenient for
167:Current courthouse
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258:Weiser, Dennis.
173:Washington Avenue
150:structure in the
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266:: Donning, 2009.
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129:Cairo as seat
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152:Neoclassical
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65:Union County
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902: /
765:Rock Island
171:Located on
154:style with
110:Mississippi
85:county seat
53:courthouses
37:county seat
917:Categories
890:89°10′34″W
860:Williamson
835:Washington
805:Stephenson
700:Montgomery
625:Livingston
575:Jo Daviess
450:Cumberland
183:References
156:pedimented
102:steamboats
90:Ohio River
887:37°0′20″N
865:Winnebago
850:Whiteside
820:Vermilion
770:St. Clair
670:McDonough
565:Jefferson
540:Henderson
485:Effingham
415:Christian
410:Champaign
370:Alexander
177:modernist
144:Civil War
96:, nearby
94:flatboats
870:Woodford
810:Tazewell
785:Schuyler
780:Sangamon
760:Richland
755:Randolph
710:Moultrie
655:Marshall
640:Macoupin
615:Lawrence
590:Kankakee
550:Iroquois
525:Hamilton
510:Gallatin
500:Franklin
445:Crawford
354:Illinois
98:sandbars
83:until a
45:Illinois
745:Pulaski
675:McHenry
645:Madison
610:LaSalle
595:Kendall
580:Johnson
555:Jackson
530:Hancock
490:Fayette
480:Edwards
465:Douglas
430:Clinton
400:Carroll
395:Calhoun
240:Chicago
81:America
77:Speaker
830:Warren
825:Wabash
795:Shelby
775:Saline
750:Putnam
720:Peoria
705:Morgan
695:Monroe
690:Mercer
685:Menard
680:McLean
665:Massac
650:Marion
570:Jersey
560:Jasper
535:Hardin
520:Grundy
515:Greene
505:Fulton
470:DuPage
460:DeWitt
455:DeKalb
390:Bureau
119:Thebes
35:, the
845:White
840:Wayne
815:Union
800:Stark
790:Scott
730:Piatt
725:Perry
660:Mason
635:Macon
630:Logan
545:Henry
475:Edgar
435:Coles
420:Clark
385:Brown
380:Boone
365:Adams
148:story
106:Unity
33:Cairo
855:Will
740:Pope
735:Pike
715:Ogle
605:Lake
600:Knox
585:Kane
495:Ford
440:Cook
425:Clay
405:Cass
375:Bond
27:The
620:Lee
352:in
279:.
262:.
238:.
39:of
919::
247:^
191:^
47:,
43:,
342:e
335:t
328:v
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