The Osage County Courthouse was not that bad even though my photograph of it turned out horrible. It's almost like sunlight can be an issue when it comes to photography or something. I also realized that my feelings about it were influenced by the other courthouses I had seen on the trip, many of which … Continue reading 982. Linn, Osage County (MO043) →

Holy Monkey! Would you look at that beautiful beast of a courthouse! It was striking as I crossed the bridge over the Gasconade River and saw it overlooking from atop the bluff. It was even moreso as I stood at the foot of it, glancing up the hill, considering all the stairs I would be … Continue reading 981. Hermann, Gasconade County (MO042) →

The Montgomery County Courthouse, built in 1953, was respectable, dare I say nice. Considering most of the courthouses I'd seen on the trip, it was definitely in the upper percentile. I was thrown for a minute because there was another building a block away from it on a corner of two major thoroughfares (if one … Continue reading 980. Montgomery City, Montgomery County (MO041) →

I happened upon a photo of the courthouse as I was figuring out exactly where I needed to go and knew that I would not be enthused by it. Once I actually reached it, my expectations were fulfilled. I got what the were trying to do with it, attempting a throwback feel, but it was … Continue reading 979. Warrenton, Warren County (MO040) →

Figuring out the courthouse in St. Charles was a bit of a nightmare.  Two buildings showed up on the map as the courthouse, both across from one another and St. Charles City Hall, which was the county clerk works from.  However, I ended up choosing a third building on the final corner because it had … Continue reading 978. St. Charles, St. Charles County (MO039) →

St. Louis County was the opposite case from the City.  When we arrived the day before, my daughter and I went to the “courthouse,” but didn’t find a cache in the county, while in the City we found a cache but didn’t hit City Hall.  We resolved all that after returning from Cahokia Mounds, but … Continue reading 977. Clayton, St. Louis County (MO038) →

For my third independent city, I made it to St. Louis. I originally wasn't entirely enthused about it. It's not one of those cities that you find yourself dreaming about going to. I was pleasantly surprised, dare I say impressed, by it though. It felt like being in an East Coast city in the middle … Continue reading 976. City Of St. Louis (MO037) →

Unfortunately, Saint Clair County doesn’t have a courthouse.  I had hoped it would considering the one in Edwardsville, but I just had to content myself with a county building.  For a few minutes, I didn’t think I had the right building, but the county ballot box was a pretty good indication that I was in … Continue reading 975. Belleville, Saint Clair County (IL010) →

Welcome back to Illinois, folks!  I was greeted back to the state by a gorgeous chonker of a courthouse!  It was such a nice departure from the many disappointing courthouses of the day before.  I also noted that Edwardsville was the nicest Illinois town I had ever seen in sunlight.  All the others had been … Continue reading 974. Edwardsville, Madison County (IL009) →

Finally!  Franklin County had a nice piece of classical revival if ever there was one!  I couldn’t help but look at Ben himself, seated before it in statue form with his rakish purple bow, smugly enjoying how cool his courthouse is…  After driving around for a bit like we were the Keystone Cops, we went … Continue reading 973. Union, Franklin County (MO036) →