Kendall County Courthouse

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1998.

From the record

“The Kendall County Courthouse is a former courthouse in Yorkville, Kendall County, Illinois, United States. The original building was completed in 1864 but was later destroyed by fire.”
Wikipedia article Kendall County Courthouse (Illinois), CC BY-SA 4.0.

One of 10 National Register listings published here for Kendall County · listed in 1998 · category: Building.

Sources: the Wikipedia article · the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service

The listing

What is counted as historic. The nomination lists 1 building as contributing to the listing.
Address. 109 W. Ridge St., Yorkville, 60560
When was it listed? November 1998
Category. building
Township. Kendall township
Architectural style. Italianate architecture
National Register reference number. 98001354 - the number the National Park Service assigned this property when it was listed, and the key its nomination file is catalogued under at the National Archives.

The ground it stands on

166 words

This property stands in Kendall Township. History of Kendall County, Illinois, from the Earliest Discoveries to the Present Time, published 1877 gives that township a chapter of its own.

The chapter covers the township.

Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.

Read the whole chapter on Kendall Township - 166 words on its settlement, mills, schools and churches.

Mines and quarries near this property

4 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 4 workings within 5 miles of Kendall County Courthouse: 2 past producers, 2 producers. 2 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Stone. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Site	Commodity	Status
Kendall Co. Hwy. Dept. Pit	Stone	Past Producer
Fox Ridge Stone	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Producer
Kendall County Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Producer
Plano Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer

Every working recorded in Kendall County

Storms near this property

60 of 64 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Yorkville, the town this property stands in, in 64 storm reports between 1993 and 2026: 39 thunderstorm wind, 17 hail, 3 tornado, 3 flash flood. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

When	Event	Place named	Harm	What the report says
June 2007	Thunderstorm Wind	Yorkville	$5,000	A gazebo was blown over. Estimated winds to 65 mph.
June 2010	Thunderstorm Wind	Yorkville	$2,000	Numerous tree limbs and power lines were blown down along Route 47.
June 2009	Thunderstorm Wind	Yorkville	$1,000	Numerous trees and power lines were blown down. People were trapped in cars due to the fallen trees and power lines.
June 2009	Thunderstorm Wind	Yorkville	$1,000	Numerous trees and power lines were blown down.
March 2026	Hail	Yorkville	-	A photo showed hail measuring one inch in diameter.
March 2025	Tornado (EF0)	Yorkville	-	A tornado developed near the intersection of Illinois Route 47 and Bonnie Lane and quickly moved east-northeast across a residential area of Yorkville. Wind speeds quickly increased to around 80 mph causing the removal of shingles, fascia trim, and some siding from several homes along Kingsmill St. A fence was also heavily damaged. Winds likely then eased somewhat as the tornado continued east-northeast causing some additional shingle damage as well as damaging several trees as it approached Illinois Route 126. The tornado continued across mainly open land along Illinois Route 71 before crossing Hilltop Road and causing additional shingle and trim damage to several homes in another residential subdivision. The tornado then dissipated near or just northeast of Reservation Road with straight line winds continuing downstream.
July 2025	Thunderstorm Wind	Yorkville	-	Multiple trees were blown down on the south side of Yorkville.
August 2025	Flash Flood	Yorkville	-	Street flooding was reported on the southeast side of Yorkville with at least six inches of standing water. A few other mPing reports of street flooding came out of the Yorkville and Oswego areas.
July 2024	Thunderstorm Wind	Yorkville	-	A tree was blown down near Route 47 and Hydraulic Avenue.
July 2024	Thunderstorm Wind	Yorkville	-	A private weather station measured a wind gust to 69 mph.
April 2023	Hail	Yorkville	-	Quarter size hail was reported near Route 71 and Route 47.
April 2023	Hail	Yorkville	-	Dime to quarter size hail was reported near Route 34 and Game Farm Road.
July 2023	Thunderstorm Wind	Yorkville	-	A large tree was snapped at the base along with several branches down in Yorkville. Time and wind speed were estimated using radar.
May 2023	Thunderstorm Wind	Yorkville	-	Pictures received from the public showed multiple large tree limbs down near Yorkville High School. Time was estimated based on radar.
March 2022	Thunderstorm Wind	Yorkville	-	Westbound Van Emmon Street was blocked near Benjamin Street due to a tree that was blown down.
March 2022	Thunderstorm Wind	Yorkville	-	Power lines were blown down across Route 34 at Tuma Road, blocking portions of the road.
November 2022	Thunderstorm Wind	Yorkville	-	A photo shared on social media showed siding that had been torn off of a house.
August 2022	Thunderstorm Wind	Yorkville	-	A couple of trees were blown down.
August 2022	Thunderstorm Wind	Yorkville	-	Large trees were blown down along Route 71, east of Winding Creek Road.
August 2020	Thunderstorm Wind	Yorkville	-	Several trees and large tree limbs were blown down.
August 2020	Tornado (EF1)	Yorkville	-	A tornado with peak winds of 105 mph touched down near Walsh Drive, just north of Route 71. A pergola was destroyed, siding was ripped off a house and parts of a fence and a tree were thrown over a road. Eyewitness accounts indicated the debris was lifted and twirled. The tornado continued moving east southeast producing damage to trees along Route 126. The most significant damage was found east of Schlapp Road along Wheeler Road where trees were mangled, a farm building was destroyed with debris deposited in a nearby field and a large grain bin was bent inward. Wood panels were thrown into the ground leaving scour marks in the grass. Six utility poles were snapped along Ridge Road and a 1000-1500 pound auger was moved about 50 feet. This is where the tornado likely reached peak intensity. The tornado continued southeast crossing into Will County just south of Renwick Road.
August 2020	Thunderstorm Wind	Yorkville	-	Trees, tree limbs and power lines were blown down in Yorkville.
May 2019	Thunderstorm Wind	Yorkville	-	The windshield of a car was smashed by a tree that fell on it.
May 2019	Thunderstorm Wind	Yorkville	-	A six foot diameter tree was uprooted.
August 2012	Flash Flood	Yorkville	-	One to two feet of water covered parts of Route 126 near Yorkville.
June 2010	Thunderstorm Wind	Yorkville	-	A trained spotter measured a wind gust to 83 mph.
June 2010	Thunderstorm Wind	Yorkville	-	A large tree was blown down near Route 126 and Minkler Road.
June 2010	Thunderstorm Wind	Yorkville	-	Eight to twelve inch diameter trees were blown down.
June 2010	Thunderstorm Wind	Yorkville	-	Trees with diameters up to 16 inches were snapped and uprooted.
June 2008	Thunderstorm Wind	Yorkville	-	One tree was blown down near Route 126 and Crooked Creek Road.
July 2007	Thunderstorm Wind	Yorkville	-	Numerous trees blown down near Route 47 and Kennedy.
August 2007	Flood	Yorkville	-	Water on many roadways across the county.
October 2006	Flood	Yorkville	-	Six inches of standing water reported all over Plano. Standing water reported in streets in Yorkville, where 2.00 inches of rain was measured.
October 2006	Thunderstorm Wind	Yorkville	-	A large tree was blown down blocking Fox Road.
May 2005	Thunderstorm Wind	Yorkville	-	A utility pole and numerous oak trees were blown down near Walker and Schlapp Roads.
March 2005	Hail	Yorkville	-	Quarter sized hail reported at the intersection of Rt. 47 and Newark Rd.
May 2005	Thunderstorm Wind	Yorkville	-	Railroad gates were blown down near Eldmain Road and Route 34.
May 2004	Thunderstorm Wind	Yorkville	-	Trees and tree limbs were blown down at the Kendall County Government Center at the intersection of Route 34 and Cannonball Road.
May 2004	Thunderstorm Wind	Yorkville	-	Power lines were blown down at the intersection of Newark Road and Route 47.
May 2004	Thunderstorm Wind	Yorkville	-	Trees were blown down at the intersection of Route 47 and Route 126.
May 2004	Flash Flood	Yorkville	-	Roads were flooded.
May 2004	Hail	Yorkville	-	There were several reports of hail 3/4 inch and larger from in and around Yorkville. The largest was golfball size at the intersection of Route 126 and 71.
July 2004	Thunderstorm Wind	Yorkville	-	Power lines knocked down on Winding Creek and Oak Creek Rds, near Rt. 71 between Yorkville and Oswego.
July 2003	Tornado (F0)	Yorkville	-	A weak tornado touchdown near the Hideaway Lake Camp near Yorkville in Kendall county. The main line of thunderstorms had already moved east of the area when a small thunderstorm developed near Yorkville and quickly interacted with a lake breeze moving west through the same area. This interaction helped to form a circulation which spun up as a weak tornado. Numerous trees were damaged and some were blown down. Damage occurred to several trailers and campers from the falling trees and tree limbs. The tornado appeared to skip along the ground with the strongest winds staying aloft affecting mainly the trees. The tornado lasted about two minutes.
May 1998	Thunderstorm Wind	Yorkville	-	Strong winds blew a tree down on to HIghway 71.
May 1997	Thunderstorm Wind	Yorkville	-	Thunderstorm winds caused damage at a farm southeast of Yorkville. A semi-trailer was blown over, windows were broken and shingles peeled off a barn, and trees and limbs were blown down.
April 1995	Hail	Yorkville	-	Spotters reported marble-size hail covering the ground two inches deep at Route 47 and 126 in Yorkville.
August 1993	Thunderstorm Wind	Yorkville	-	A spotter reported wind gusts to 65 mph.
March 2026	Hail	Yorkville	-	no account filed
June 2024	Hail	Yorkville	-	no account filed
April 2023	Hail	Yorkville	-	no account filed
April 2023	Hail	Yorkville	-	no account filed
July 2016	Thunderstorm Wind	Yorkville	-	no account filed
August 2011	Hail	Yorkville	-	no account filed
March 2005	Hail	Yorkville	-	no account filed
May 2004	Hail	Yorkville	-	no account filed
July 2004	Hail	Yorkville	-	no account filed
May 2003	Thunderstorm Wind	Yorkville	-	no account filed
July 2003	Thunderstorm Wind	Yorkville	-	no account filed
July 2003	Hail	Yorkville	-	no account filed

Every storm recorded in Kendall County

Map coverage status

No historic map-sheet match is published for this property yet. That does not mean no map exists. This record needs a coordinate-quality review before it can be joined to a sheet boundary. Browse the county's mapped places while that work is pending.

Listed places nearby

6 within 8 miles

Other National Register properties close enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties to their map sheets.

Property	Distance	Listed
Yorkville School	0.5 miles	1995
Bristol Congregational Church	1.5 miles	2016
Farnsworth House	4.5 miles	2004
Lewis Steward House	4.5 miles	2003
Albert H. Sears House	4.6 miles	1987
Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints	4.7 miles	1990

Sources for this property

National Archives record	The nomination case file for reference 98001354 in Record Group 79.
Wikipedia article	Community-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA.
Kendall County	All 10 listed properties in this county.

Provenance

Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.