McHenry County was established in 1836, and at that time the county’s territory included the current McHenry County as well as all of what is now Lake County. The small village of McHenry was chosen as the county seat for the new county. Three years later, in 1839, McHenry County was divided in two, the eastern half became Lake County, the western half remained McHenry County.

The village of McHenry, now on the eastern border of the new boundaries of McHenry County, remained the county seat until 1843 when an election was held to select a more centrally located county seat. Several locations were on the ballot including ‘Centerville’ which was unsettled land located in the very center of McHenry County. Centerville existed only on paper, having been laid out by Alvin Judd and officially recorded by George Dean. The election was held and Centerville was selected as the new location for the county seat. Soon after, Centerville’s name was changed to Woodstock, named after Woodstock, Vermont.

The first courthouse, constructed of wood, was built approximately where the Sentinel Monument is now located in the Woodstock Square Park. The sheriff’s office, living quarters, and jail were on the first floor, while the courtroom occupied the second floor. In addition to legal proceedings, the courtroom was used for political meetings, religious services, social occasions, and school classes. By the mid-1850s, the courthouse proved to be too small for the rapidly growing county and a new, larger courthouse was needed.

The County Board of Supervisors adopted a resolution in 1855 providing that if the village of Woodstock donated land on the western side of the square to the County for the construction of a new courthouse the County would donate the original courthouse and two acres of land to the Town of Woodstock. The original courthouse building burned to the ground in July, 1858.

John Van Osdel was hired to design the new courthouse. Van Osdel went on to design the original Palmer House in Chicago, the Illinois Executive Mansion in Springfield, and other notable buildings in Chicago and the Midwest.

At an original cost of $47,000, the new courthouse was built of brick to mitigate the risk of fire and was completed in 1858. In the mid-1880s, the need for a new jail become apparent and in 1887 the Sheriff’s Residence and Jail was built just to the north of the courthouse.

As the county grew over the years, multiple interior alterations were made to both the courthouse and the sheriff’s jail and residence. The most notable exterior alterations were made to courthouse building with additions to the north in 1904 and to the south in 1905.

In 1972, McHenry County court services, jail, and all other county offices were moved to the new McHenry County Government Center on the north side of Woodstock and the old courthouse and sheriff’s jail and residence were sold at auction. The successful bidders were Woodstock residents Bev and Cliff Ganschow, who wanted to save the buildings from demolition and ensure that they remained a key feature on the Woodstock Square.

The Ganschows successfully applied to have the buildings listed as landmarks on the National Register of Historic Places. In the 1980s and 1990s the building was known as the “Old Court House Arts Center” and tenants included an art gallery, radio studio, restaurant and museum space, the former Chester Gould/Dick Tracy Museum.

The buildings changed hands several times and ultimately ended up in the hands of a Chicago-based real estate trust. In 2010 the trust donated the now dilapidated buildings to the City of Woodstock in exchange for the City absorbing the costs associated with the building including the unpaid back taxes, liens, and other legal fees.

A professional assessment of the buildings’ conditions was conducted by historic preservation architects and an outline of essential repairs, and estimated costs, was provided to the City. With the intention of selling the buildings for private use the City of Woodstock invested in critical structural repairs to both buildings in 2011-2013. At the same time the City sought requests for proposals from entrepreneurs and developers. However, the extent of restoration that still remained, became a difficult investment proposition for interested parties.

A more recent study was conducted resulting in a public/private partnership that allowed the attainment of over $3 million in historic tax credits to be used for restoration of the Old Courthouse and Sheriff’s Residence and Jail buildings and the current complete renovation was undertaken by the City.

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