Tazewell County is named for Lyttelton W. Tazewell, who was a United States Senator from Virginia.
Surrounding County Courthouses:
N – Peoria County and Woodford County
E – Woodford County and McLean County
S – Logan County and Mason County
W – Fulton County and Peoria County
Created: January 31, 1827
County Seat:
Mackinaw 1827 – 1831
Pekin 1831 – 1836
Tremon 1836 – 1850
Pekin 1850 – present
County Courthouse – Pekin
Location: 342 Court Street / South Capital Street
Built: 1914 – 1915
Style: Classical Revival
Architect: Deal & Ginzie
Contractor: English Brothers of Champaign
Description: The building faces north and is a three story gray colored stone structure. The first story is horizontal gray colored stone. The rectangular shaped building is located on spacious landscaped grounds in the center of Pekin. The entrances on each side of the building have decorative arches with a stone eagles on the top. The center section extends from the building and has four square stone dividing pillars between the recessed windows. Around the roofline is a stone balustrade. In the interior is a large rectangular atrium rising to the top of the third story with stained glass skylight. There are wide white colored grand marble staircases, marble walls and Italian-imported white colored marble bannisters surround the atrium. There are three County Circuit courtrooms on the second story and on the third story. The large courtroom is located northwest side of the third story. The building houses the County Circuit Court of the 10th Judicial District.
See: The contractor, English Brothers of Champaign constructed courthouses in Clay County, Jackson County and Madison County.
County Justice Center Annex – Pekin
Location: 15 South Capital Street / Court Street
Built: 2024 – 2027
Style: Modern
Architect: Wold Architects
Contractor: P J Hoerr Construction
Description: The building faces east and is a four story brick, glass and concrete structure. The building will house three courtrooms with additional space on the fourth story for three more courtrooms.
County Justice Center – Pekin
Location: 101 South Capital Street / St. Mary Street
Built: 2002 – 2003
Style: Modern
Architect: Phillips, Swager Associates Inc. of Peoria
Contractor: River City Construction of East Peoria
Description: The building faces east and is a glass, red colored brick and concrete structure. The building has a glass paneled entrance on the east side
See: The architect Phillips, Swager Associates Inc. and the contractor River City Construction also designed and constructed the Justice Center in Rock Island County. The architect Phillips, Swager Associates Inc. designed the courthouse in LaSalle County.
See: The 10th Judicial District includes Marshall County, Peoria County, Putnam County and Stark County.
History: The county was created in 1827 and Mackinaw was selected as the county seat. The first courthouse was a log building 24 feet by 18 feet built by Amasa Stout in Mackinaw in 1827 for $125. Improvements were made in 1830 but the county seat was moved to Pekin where the court was located in the old Doolittle School at the corner of Elizabeth Street and Second Street which served as the second courthouse. In 1836, the county seat was moved to Tremont. The third courthouse was erected as a temporary courthouse in 1836 at a cost of $1,150. The fourth courthouse, a two story brick structure was built i837 to 1839 at a cost of $14,450. Then in 1850, the county seat was moved back to Pekin and the fifth courthouse was built in 1849 to 1850 at a cost of $8,000. In 1895, the fourth courthouse was razed. The sixth and present courthouse was constructed in 1914 to 1915 at a cost of $212,964 and the fifth courthouse was demolished in 1914. The County Justice Center was constructed in 2002 to 2003. The County Justice Center Annex is being constructed in 2025 to 2027 at a cost of $44,000,000.
County Courthouse – Pekin
County Circuit Court courtroom
County Circuit Court small courtroom
County Justice Center – Pekin
Photos taken 2007 and 2025
Images 18*