Johnson County is named for Richard M Johnson, who fought in the Indian Wars and the War of 1812 and was late Vice President of the United States from 1837 to 1841.
Surrounding County Courthouses:
E – Pope County
S – Massac County and Pulaski County
W – Union County
Created: September 14, 1812
County Seat:
John Bradshaw home 1812 – 1814
Elvira 1814 – 1818
Vienna 1818 – present
Old County Courthouse (closed) – Vienna
Location: 401 Court Street / South 4th Street
Built: 1868 – 1870
Style: Italianate
Architect: Joseph Frick
Contractor: Joseph Frick and later, Luellen Niles Wickwire of Cairo
Description: The building faces south and is a two story square red colored brick structure. The building is located on the landscaped grounds of the Courthouse Square in the center of Vienna. The south entrance has an arched doorway. The windows have stone trim around the tops. The center upper east windows have a small pediment at the roof line. On the center of the roof is a white colored wood octagonal cupola with clock and windows and small square cupola at the top. In the interior are the original plaster ceilings and archways. The wide hallway runs north-south with wooden stairs at the south end. On the second story, the large courtroom is located on the southeast side. The building presently stands empty and is closed to the public
Note: Before the actual beginning of the new courthouse, Joseph Frick sold the contract to the partnership of Charles I Ham and Isaac N Pearce. Ham was not a local person but Pearce was. A.J Kuykendall, Frick’s attorney, was also involved in the partnership of Ham and Pearce. None of these gentlemen were the actual builders – that fell to Mr. L N Wickwire of Cairo to complete the courthouse.
See: National Register of Historic Places – Johnson County Courthouse
County Administrative and Courts Building – Vienna
Location: 115 North 6th Street / West Vine Street
Built: 2022 – 2024
Style: Modern
Architect: Architechniques Ltd. of Herrin
Contractor: Samron Midwest Construction of Murphysboro
Description: The building faces east and is a two story red colored brick and concrete structure. The building is located on the landscaped grounds in the center of Vienna to the northwest of the courthouse. The roof line is flat. In the interior are two County Circuit Court courtrooms. The building houses the County Circuit Court of the 1st Judicial Circuit.
See: The 1st Judicial Circuit includes Alexander County, Jackson County, Massac County, Pope County, Pulaski County, Saline County, Union County and Williamson County.
History: The county was created in 1812 and the first court met at the John Bradshaw home. Elvira was selected as the county seat in 1814. The county seat was moved to Vienna in 1818 where the first courthouse erected was a log structure. The second courthouse was another log structure built in 1827. The third courthouse was a brick structure built in 1839. The fourth and present courthouse was constructed in 1868 to 1870 at a cost of $40,800. The County Administrative and Courts Building was constructed in 2022 to 2024 at a cost of $14,000,000.
County Administrative and Courts Building – Vienna
Old County Courthouse – Vienna
Photos taken 2008 and 2024
Images 9