Mt. Vernon, IL
Cut from some “fairly new tulip wood” picked up in Edgar County, the 1957 woodblock featured the Fourth District Appellate Courthouse located in the center of Mt. Vernon, IL.
Built around 1857 in the Greek Revival style, the Courthouse hosted lawyer Abraham Lincoln before he became the President of the United States. Lincoln argued multiple cases at the Courthouse, including a tax case where he represented Illinois Central Railroad. Local legend holds that it took three weeks for the Courthouse’s twin wrought iron stairways to be brought to Mt. Vernon from St. Louis by ox-drawn cart.
Fred and Betty Turner were unable to locate the architect of this building, and, indeed, the Department of Interior records they examined in 1957 listed the builders as ‘unknown.’ The Turners’ full research on the Courthouse is accessible in their Christmas 1957 note, which was enclosed inside the card.
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