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Courthouse tours: DeKalb County Courthouse
Courtroom scenes for the 1981 film "Will" about G. Gordon Liddy were filmed in the grand Courtroom 300.When the courthouse was built in 1904, this was the Native American symbol for peace.Word to the wise: This sign is posted each Friday for drug court in Judge Robbin Stuckert's Courtroom 204.
DeKalb County is lucky to possess one of the gems of the Illinois courthouse system. It is rarely mentioned when one asks about the state's top courthouses - perhaps because it has no known ties to Abraham Lincoln - but its ornate detail and impeccable upkeep make it one to remember. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.
Two original details are unique among the state's courthouses. The second floor lobby features four 14K gold-leaf covered rams. No one is 100 percent sure of their significance, but elder courthouse visitors claim they portray agriculture.
The ornate metal bannister that wraps from the first to third floors up the main staircase has another feature from a bygone era. Most courthouse visitors might not even notice, but the bannister's design creates what was then the known as the Native American symbol for peace.
The main Courtroom 300 has not aged a day - a rarity when drop ceilings and common upkeep have stolen original details from many a courthouse. Its beautiful chandeliers, stained glass and original furniture are a sight to behold. Courtroom scenes for the 1981 film "Will" about G. Gordon Liddy were filmed here.
Courtroom 204 does not possess the original character of Courtroom 300 - so it has added its own. A sign on the judge's bench calls out "Show up, be honest and try" to visitors of the drug court each Friday.
Of course all of this has a price tag. The original one was typical of turn of the century courthouses - $137,000. The 1984 renovation came in at $2.5 million and featured what was known locally as some "potty politics." The renovation plan featured the addition of restrooms and critics thought this added unjustly to the cost. The extra toilets were flushed and the plan proceeded.
The local Sycamore Prospectus had this to say shortly after the courthouse's completion.
"There is not a building in the state that is better adapted, more substantially built, or furnished in better taste."
And that still holds true today.
