Built in 1923 (Neoclassical architecture). Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.
From the record
“The Kenosha County Courthouse and Jail is located in Kenosha, Wisconsin in the United States. The site was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.”
Wikipedia article Kenosha County Courthouse and Jail, CC BY-SA 4.0.
One of 25 National Register listings published here for Kenosha County · listed in 1982 · category: Building · built in 1923, Neoclassical architecture.
National Register reference number.82000677- 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.
What happened here
An account from the chapter on Kenosha city. The inset identifies its exact
source book and publication year.
The Hanging of John McCaffrey. - Capital punishment, as is known, is prohibited by statute in Wisconsin. In two cases only, has it been enforced, and one of these occurred in Kenosha County, when John McCaffrey suffered the extreme penalty of the law, for the murder of his wife. The crime was committed on the night of Monday, July 22, 1850.
The Democracy, or, rather, what assumed to be the conservative element inhabiting Kenosha County and vicinity, remained without an "organ," after the demise of the Democrat^ until the close of the war. But when peace again smiled upon the land, and soldiers had beaten their swords into plowshares, and spears into pruning-hooks, it was deemed a fitting time for the revival of "an organ " that should, in a generous spirit, seek the pursuit of a policy, having for its object the restoration of the Republic to her former unity, prosperity and happiness, irrespective of person or party, and as the exponent of sentiments that cherished a Christian spirit, indulging in no malice or venom to further wound the feelings of those who have not been converted by the force of arms, or convinced by the logic of abuse. In such a spirit, and for such an end, was the Kenosha Union established, say the founders of that journal in the initial number, issued June 28, 1866, by " I. W. Webster and George Hutchinson, proprietors,'* through its editorial columns, managed by the former gentleman.
From the date of Mr. Webster's death, until November 1 thereafter, the paper was conducted by A. C. Arveson, Clarence Snyder, local, the editorial department being presided over by the Hon. Volney French. On the Ist of November, the Union was purchased at private sale by J. A. Killeen, who came West from New York City, a short time previous, and settled in Kenosha. He retained the services of Judge French, who was known as editor-in-chief until the spring of 1877, since when, Mr. Killeen has discharged the varied duties himself, and to-day is the owner of an enterprising, newsy, growing weekly, independent in politics and attractive in appearance and contents.
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. The
federal wildfire occurrence database
lists 20 fires within 5 miles of Kenosha County Courthouse and Jail
between 2018 and 2020, burning about 16 acres in total. None started naturally. 1 was recorded as arson.
Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted
here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
Reported cause
Fires
Missing data/not specified/undetermined
9
Smoking
5
Debris and open burning
3
Railroad operations and maintenance
1
Arson/incendiarism
1
Equipment and vehicle use
1
The most recent of
them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service
that recorded it.
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists
2 workings within 5 miles of Kenosha County Courthouse and Jail: 1 plant, 1 producer.
All of them still produce. What was taken out: Vermiculite, Sand and Gravel, Construction. Distance is straight-line from the
map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring
settlement's page as well.
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. The National Weather Service names
Kenosha, the town this property stands in, in 48 storm reports between 1994 and 2025: 15 thunderstorm wind, 14 hail, 7 lightning, 7 flood.
The reports record 1 death. 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.
Several lightning strikes to several buildings caused structural fires and power outages. A large apartment building, known as St. Catherine Commons, was struck by lightning. The resultant fire severely damaged the building, displacing about 125 residents.
A line of severe thunderstorms raced across southern Wisconsin producing winds up to 80 mph and hail up to the size of golf balls. A barn was downed by intense winds near Mt. Sterling, Crawford County. Otherwise minor property damage along with downed trees and power lines took place.
Lightning struck a garage in the city of Kenosha, resulting in a small fire and slight damage. The time is only an estimate, it could have been a hour or two earlier.
A fast moving squall line, originating in Northeast Minnesota, pummled a good part of the eastern two-thirds of Wisconsin with some of the wildest weather seen in 10 years. Feeding on deep tropical moisture, the squall line generated violent winds, hail, lightning, and torrential rainfalls that flooded urban areas. Downed powerlines cut off power to some 140,000 residents at one time or another. In Price County east of Phillips the winds toppled large trees, some which fell on the roofs of homes. Hail up to 1.25 inches in diameter also fell east of Phillips. Large trees were felled west of Tripoli (Oneida County). The powerful winds toppled large trees and/or power lines in Tomahawk, Merrill, and southeast of Merrill, all in Marathon county. Also, two barns were flattened by the intense winds east of Merrill. The violent winds toppled large trees and power lines in Rib Lake (Taylor County). Four inches of rain in one hour resulted in flash flooding which washed out County Highway C south of State Highway 102 near Rib Lake. The extreme winds blew down large trees around Wausau (Marathon County), as well as in Oconto (Oconto County). A lightning strike killed 19 head of cattle near Waupaca (Waupaca County), worth about $30 thousand, as the associated powerful winds blew trees down around Waupaca. Lightning also did some minor fire damage to a home in Hortonville (Outagamie County). Further south, a severe microburst's 75 mph winds did considerable tree and building damage ($160 thousand) in Berlin (Green Lake County). This storm appeared to have developed quickly just north of Berlin, and dumped two inches of rain in just 20 minutes. The storms generated wind gusts to 65 mph as they moved into Winnebago County around Oshkosh. Numerous trees and large limbs were knocked down causing minor damage to 17 homes. Telephone and power lines were also blown down. At the Experimental Aircraft Association museum in Oshkosh a light plane was blown into a window. Lightning strikes did some minor fire damage to a home in Menasha (Winnebago County), and a home in Appleton (Outagamie County). Total damage in Winnebago County was estimated at about $226 thousand. Numerous large tree branches were torn out of trees in Westfield (Marquette County). Powerful winds toppled trees in Ripon (Fond du Lac County) where a home under construction was damaged. Ripon also had urban flooding due to 1.5 inches of rain in less than 30 minutes. Lightning started a fire which damaged a home in Brandon. As the squall line moved south, it's violent winds blew over numerous trees in the Kewauskum/West Bend area, as wells in Germantown, all in Washington County. In this same county, thunderstorm winds blew a barn down north of Allenton. Lightning struck a substation near St. Lawrence, while intense rains of 1.95 inches in less than one hour created urban flooding in West Bend, both in Washington county. In Ozaukee County, urban flooding took place in the Port Washington to Grafton area thanks to 2.25 inches of rain in less than 40 minutes, while lightning damaged a middle school in Port Washington. Further west, the squall line's severe winds toppled large trees in Watertown, and in the city of Jefferson to Fort Atkinson area, all in Jefferson County. Lightning killed eight cows ($11 thousand) on a farm near Cambridge, as well as started a fire which severely damaged a barn northwest of Fort Atkinson, both in Jefferson County. Waukesha County was raked hard as powerful winds toppled many large trees in Butler and Muckwanago, as well as at scattered points in between. Another group of intense wet microbursts tore through Milwaukee County and left a trail of damage over many parts of the the county as winds gusted to at least 60 mph. Hundreds of trees were toppled from River Hills in the north part of Milwaukee County to Oak Creek in the southeast corner. Some schools in the county sustained window damage. Widespread urban flooding was reported throughout the city of Milwaukee. At least 600 basements flooded, as well as numerous underpasses, thanks to rains up to 1.75 inches in 30 minutes. In downtown Milwaukee, the rainfall rate was estimated to be six inches per hour, at one point, although it lasted only a few minutes. Meanwhile, further southwest, violent winds toppled large trees south of Milton (Rock County). Urban flooding was reported in Beloit thanks to the intense rains. Large trees were blown over by powerful winds in Whitewater, around Elkhorn, and in Genoa City, all in Walworth County. A roof was torn off a feeder building in Genoa City, and some siding of a home in Whitewater was ripped off by the thunderstorm winds. The squall line took the shape of a bow echo as it tore through Racine County where hundreds of trees were toppled in the Caledonia to Racine area. Measured gusts at the Racine Yahct Club reached 84 mph as windows were blown out of downtown buildings. Urban flooding occurred in the city of Racine due to the torential rains. A business park in Racine sustained major damage to its buildings. Damage in the City of Racine was estimated at about $100 thousand. A lighting bolt damaged computers in the Racine Department of Transportation Emissions building. As the squall line exited Wisconsin, it's severe winds toppled large trees around a golf course in northeastern Kenosha County.
A strong cold front punched across Wisconsin and affected western and southern counties with numerous severe storms. Some of the storms had torrential rains that left underpasses flooded. A vacant mobile home near Viroqua (Vernon County) was completely destroyed by a downburst. Severe storm winds pushed over large trees in Viroqua and Hillsboro (Vernon County). Dane County was hard hit and sustained about $75,000 in damage to power lines, trees, buildings, and crops. In the Mt. Horeb area (Dane County) a roof was torn off a building, farm equipment overturned, large trees were toppled, and roof shingles and siding on a home were damaged. The area around the Village of Dane (Dane County) also had some roof damage and downed power lines. Two cars were severely damaged in Oregon (Dane County) as large trees fell on them. Locations south of Oregon also had strong winds knock over large trees. The brutal storms packed spotter estimated winds to 70 mph as they rolled through Rock County. A toppled 60-foot tall tree damaged one corner of a Janesville (Rock County) home. Otherwise the storms blew down large trees that did some minor car damage in Evansville (Rock County), tangled power lines, and flipped two small planes on their sides at the Rock County Airport. Over the remainder of southern Wisconsin the severe storms generated powerful winds which blew down large trees in Norwalk (Monroe County); northeast of Eastman (Crawford County); in La Valle, Lake Delton, and Badger (Sauk County); in Richland Center (Richland County); in Castle Rock, Mount Hope, and Fennimore (Grant County); in Ridgeway (Iowa County); southwest of Brooklyn (Green County); in Lake Geneva and Delavan (Walworth County); in Burlington (Racine County); and in the city of Kenosha (Kenosha County). In all, about 17,000 Wisconsin electrical customers lost power for at least a short period of time.
A line of severe thunderstorms raced across southern Wisconsin producing winds up to 80 mph and hail up to the size of golf balls. A barn was downed by intense winds near Mt. Sterling, Crawford County. Otherwise minor property damage along with downed trees and power lines took place.
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.
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.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
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.
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