Marion County Courthouse

The Marion County Courthouse is a government building in Salem, the county seat of Marion County, Illinois, United States. Built in 1910, it is the fourth courthouse in the county's history.

Marion County was formed in 1823 from what had been the northern part of Jefferson County, and the land now occupied by central Salem was donated for the express purpose of founding a county seat, with a lot reserved for courthouse construction. At the second meeting of the county court, a contract was signed with Aaron Hicks to build a courthouse at a cost of $499. Measuring 20 by 30 feet , this 1½-story log building was pierced with two doors but no windows, and its interior was partitioned into two. The upper half story served as a jail to hold those awaiting trial. Hicks finished the building within nine months, and it served until 1837. After the county stopped using it, the courthouse became a church building for local Methodists, and local Baptists also used the building for several years.

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