Perry County is named for Oliver Hazard Perry, who was a naval office in the War of 1812 and won a decisive naval victory at the Battle of Lake Erie.
Surrounding County Courthouses:
N – Randolph County, Illinois and Jackson County, Illinois
E – Jackson County, Illinois and Union County, Illinois
S – Cape Girardeau County and Bollinger County
W – Madison County and Ste. Genevieve County
Created: November 16, 1820
County Seat:
Perryville 1821 – present
County Courthouse – Perryville
Location: 15 West Sainte Maries Street / North Jackson Street
Built: 1904 – 1905
Style: Romanesque Revival
Architect: John W Gaddis of Vincennes, Indiana
Contractor: Caldwell and Drake of Columbus, Indiana.
Description: The building faces north and is a two story red colored brick, stone and concrete structure. The building located on the spacious landscaped grounds of the Courthouse Square in the center of Perryville. The building is 65 feet by 92 feet. At each entrance is a small white colored wood portico on the first story. The center sections rise to a hipped roof line. On the center of the roof is a high square clock tower with peaked roof. There are horizontal bands of stone. In the interior, the floors have green and white colored hexagonal tiles and the plaster walls are painted white. In the center is an open light-well extending into the second story with illuminated skylight above. The east entrance has the staircase with original newel post and which ascends to the second story. The former courtroom is located on the west side of the second story and is now used for storage. Above the second story is a small attic.
See: The architect, John W Gaddis of Vincennes, Indiana also designed courthouses in Illinois in Crawford County and Wayne County, in Indiana in Clay County, Huntington County and Putnam County.
See: National Register of Historic Places – Perry County Courthouse
County Joint Justice Center – Perryville
Location: 400 West St Joseph Street
Built: 2023 – 2025
Style: Modern
Architect: Dille Pollard Architecture of Cape Girardeau
Contractor: Zoellner Construction Company Inc. of Perryville
Description: The building faces south and is a two story red colored brick, glass and concrete structure. The building located on spacious landscaped grounds to the west of the center of Perryville. The south front has a central glassed entrance with large window on the second story. The roof line is flat. In the interior is a large atrium extending up to the second story which has the large window on the south side. There are two County Circuit Court courtrooms located on the north side of the second story. The building houses the County Circuit Court of the 32nd Judicial Circuit.
See: The 32nd Judicial Circuit includes Bollinger County and Cape Girardeau County.
History: The county was created in 1821 and Perryville was selected as the county seat in 1822 when the county was organized. The first courthouse was a rented two story log structure. The second courthouse was built by Thomas Hayden in 1826 at a cost of $1,486.25. The third courthouse was built under the supervision of John R Layton in 1861 at a cost of $8,000. The cost of construction of the fourth and present courthouse in 1904 to 1905 was $31,819. The County Justice Center was constructed in 2023 to 2025 at a cost of $28,000,000.
County Courthouse – Perryville
Former courtroom entrance
County Joint Justice Center – Perryville
County Circuit Court courtroom
Photos taken 2009 and 2026
Images 19*