Lake County is named for Lake Michigan which borders the county on the east side.
Surrounding County Courthouses:
N – Kenosha County, Wisconsin
E – Lake Michigan
S – Cook County
W – McHenry County
Created: March 11, 1839
County Seat:
Libertyville 1839 – 1841
Waukegan 1841 – present
County Courthouse – Waukegan
Location: 301 Washington Street / South County Street
Built: 2015 – 2018
Style: Modern
Architect: Bane Gaiser and AECOM of Los Angeles, California
Contractor: Clark Construction Group of Bethesda, Maryland
Description: The building faces north and is a nine story buff brick, concrete and glass style structure. The north front has a large curved glass section rising to the ninth story. A canopy is located above the second story supported by narrow columns. The roof line is flat. A skywalk on the north side connects to the County Building. In the interior are twelve County Circuit Court courtrooms. The building houses the County Circuit Court of the 19th Judicial Circuit. The engineer was Sysk Hennessy Group.
See: The 19th Judicial Circuit includes McHenry County.
County Building – Waukegan
Location: 18 North County Street / Washington Street
Built: 1968 – 1970
Style: Modern
Architect: Unknown
Contractor: Unknown
Description: The building faces east and is a five story buff colored brick, concrete and glass structure. The building was formerly the Court Annex and Jail. The building was renovated in 1996. The architect was Sutter & Schroeder Architects and the contractor was Sverdrup Corporation.
Daniel & Robinson Architects 1966 – 1968
Built in 1986, the modern building is a ten story concrete structure. The building was completed in 1989. The building is named as the Robert H Babcox Justice Center. The architect was Legal Architects Inc. of Waukegan and Phillips Swayer Associates Inc. of Peoria.
History: The county was created in 1839 and Libertyville was selected as the county seat. The first courthouse was a schoolhouse in Libertyville. In 1841, the county seat was moved to Little Fort (Waukegan). The second courthouse was the Kingston Building, located on the bluff. The third courthouse was built in 1843 to 1845 at a cost of $3,800. In 1853 a small brick building was erected near the courthouse to hold the clerk’s records and files. The courthouse burned on October 21, 1875. The fourth courthouse was built in 1878 on County Street at a cost of $40,000 and court was held at Phoenix Hall on Washington Street until the courthouse was completed. In 1923, an addition to the main courthouse building was built. In 1958, the one large courtroom was divided into two smaller courtrooms. In 1969 to 1970, the fifth courthouse was constructed and the fourth courthouse was torn down. In 1986 a five story Jail/Courts Building (Robert H Babcox Justice Center) was constructed at a cost of $27,000,000 at 20 County Street to the south and included three criminal courtrooms. In 1996, the structure that had been the old jail was reconfigured with six new courtrooms. In September 1998, the main courthouse complex was reconfigured and courtrooms and support facilities were upgraded. Two new courtrooms and several meeting rooms were added to the first floor. The sixth and present County Courthouse was constructed in 2015 to 2018 at a cost of $110,000,000 and the old courthouse became the County Building.
County Courthouse – Waukegan
County Building – Waukegan
Photos taken 2008 and 2025
Images 5