Stark County is named for General John Stark, who was a revolutionary soldier who won fame at Bunker Hill, Trenton, Princeton and Bennington.
Surrounding County Courthouses:
N – Henry County and Bureau County
E – Bureau County and Marshall County
S – Peoria County
W – Knox County and Henry County
Created: March 2, 1839
County Seat:
Toulon 1841 – present
County Courthouse – Toulon
Location: 130 West Main Street / Washington Street
Built: 1856 – 1857
Style: Greek Revival
Architect: Parker C. Spaulding & Elias Spaulding
Contractor: John Berfield of Knoxville
Description: The building faces north and is a two story colonial white colored wood structure. The rectangular shaped building is located on spacious landscaped grounds in the center of Toulon.. At the north front are four large wood columns rising to the parapet over the entrance. On the hipped roof is a square white colored wood cupola. The west side of the building extends from the main building. In the interior, the first story hallway runs north-south. The County Circuit Court courtroom is located along the south side of the second story. The building houses the County Circuit Court of the 10th Judicial District. On the southwest side is the County Jail built in 1895 and on the west side is the Clerk’s Office.
Note: In 1856, the blueprints for the 1853 Marshall County Courthouse were used to design and construct the second and present courthouse.
See: The 10th Judicial District includes Marshall County, Peoria County, Putnam County and Tazewell County.
History: The county was created in 1839 and Toulon was selected as the county seat in 1841 when the county was organized. The county met at the home of Colonel William Henderson. The first courthouse, a plain wooden structure built to meet present wants, was completed in 1842, and served many important purposes for the county and town, not only as a seat of justice, but sometimes as a church and school house. The old jail was built in 1844, by Ira Ward and was made partly of stone the balance of logs and rough hewn logs. The second and present courthouse was built in 1856 at the cost of $12,000.
County Courthouse – Toulon
County Circuit Court courtroom
County Clerk’s Office – Toulon
Old County Jail – Toulon
Photos taken 2007, 2010 and 2025
Images 12*