United States Department of the Interior National Park ......wraps around the entire sheriff’s...

NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018

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United States Department of the Interior

National Park Service

National Register of Historic Places Registration Form

This form is for use in nominating or requesting determinations for individual properties and districts. See instructions in National Register Bulletin, How to Complete the National Register of Historic Places Registration Form. If any item does not apply to the property being documented, enter "N/A" for "not applicable." For functions, architectural classification, materials, and areas of significance, enter only categories and subcategories from the instructions. Place additional certification comments, entries, and narrative items on continuation sheets if needed (NPS Form 10-900a).

1. Name of Property

historic name Old Kendall County Sheriff’s Residence and Jail

other names/site number

Name of Multiple Property Listing N/A

(Enter "N/A" if property is not part of a multiple property listing)

2. Location

street & number 111 W. Madison Street not for publication

city or town Yorkville vicinity

state Illinois county Kendall zip code 60560

3. State/Federal Agency Certification

As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended,

I hereby certify that this nomination request for determination of eligibility meets the documentation standards for registering properties in the National Register of Historic Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60.

In my opinion, the property meets does not meet the National Register Criteria. I recommend that this property be considered significant at the following level(s) of significance: national statewide local

Applicable National Register Criteria: A B C D

Signature of certifying official/Title: Deputy State Historic Preservation Officer Date

Illinois Department of Natural Resources - SHPO State or Federal agency/bureau or Tribal Government

In my opinion, the property meets does not meet the National Register criteria.

Signature of commenting official Date

Title State or Federal agency/bureau or Tribal Government

4. National Park Service Certification

I hereby certify that this property is:

entered in the National Register determined eligible for the National Register

determined not eligible for the National Register removed from the National Register

other (explain:)

Signature of the Keeper Date of Action

United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018

Old Kendall County Sheriff’s Residence and Jail

Kendall, Illinois

Name of Property County and State

2

5. Classification

Ownership of Property (Check as many boxes as apply.)

Category of Property (Check only one box.)

Number of Resources within Property (Do not include previously listed resources in the count.)

Contributing Noncontributing

x private x building(s) 1 1 buildings

public - Local district site

public - State site structure

public - Federal structure object

object 1 1 Total

Number of contributing resources previously listed in the National Register

N/A

6. Function or Use

Historic Functions

(Enter categories from instructions.)

Current Functions


Government/ correctional facility Vacant/Not in Use

Domestic/sheriff’s residence

Government/government offices

7. Description

Architectural Classification

(Enter categories from instructions.) Materials


Late Victorian/ Queen Ann foundation: Limestone

walls: Brick

roof: Asphalt

other:


Old Kendall County Sheriff’s Residence and Jail

Kendall, Illinois

Name of Property County and State

3

Narrative Description

(Describe the historic and current physical appearance and condition of the property. Describe contributing and noncontributing resources if applicable. Begin with a summary paragraph that briefly describes the general characteristics of the property, such as its location, type, style, method of construction, setting, size, and significant features. Indicate whether the property has historic integrity).

Summary Paragraph

The Old Kendall County Sheriff’s Residence and Jail is located at 111 West Madison Street in Yorkville,

Kendall County, Illinois. The late Victorian, Queen Anne style brick building occupies Lots 1 and 2 in Block 28 in the

original Village of Yorkville. The sheriff’s residence and jail are directly across Madison Street from the Historic

Kendall County Courthouse, which was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1998. The building sits

on the military crest of the hill rising off the southern bank of the Fox River, three blocks from the river. It is one

block south and one block west of Yorkville, Illinois’ downtown business district. The nominated property contains

one contributing building and one non-contributing building. The contributing building is the Sheriff’s Residence

and Jail built in 1892-1893 and was put into service in August of 1893. The non-contributing building is a garage

built in 1959, which replaced a garage built on the same site in 1914. Despite being abandoned and neglected for

twenty-six years, the Old Kendall County Sheriff’s Residence and Jail is in remarkably good condition.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Narrative Description

South Elevation

The sheriff’s residence is a stately Queen Ann Victorian brick structure with three gabled ends on the west,

south and east sides of the building. The jail is attached to the rear (north side) of the structure. The building has

a crossed shaped or cruciform footprint. On the southern elevation from foundation to the top of the gable, the

building is approximately thirty-seven feet tall.

One course of Joliet limestone foundation block is visible on the south side of the building, above it sits

one course of bricks laid in a common bond pattern. Then the brick pattern changes to a running bond pattern for

the next thirty-six rows. The brick pattern for the next three courses changes to create a decorative band that

wraps around the entire sheriff’s residence. The first row of the decorative brick work is a running bond row that

projects half a brick’s width proud of the courses below. The middle course is formed by alternating bricks laid in

a soldier and sailor configuration. The sailor bricks are recessed forming a pattern that looks like a ladder laid on

its side. The last row of the design is a running bond row that sits half a brick’s width proud of the bricks above it.

This band of decorative brickwork aligns with the base of the semicircular or roman arches on all the windows on

the first floor, as well as the entryway.

The first floor has three tall windows topped by a decorative arch detail. The window on the right (west)

sits thirteen feet back of the two windows on the gable end. The windows sit on a thick white limestone sill which

is placed low on the building. There are only nine courses of brick between the foundation block and the

windowsills. The windows are wooden, single pained, double hung windows in a one over one design. Aluminum

storm window cover the wood framed windows. The dimensions of the first-floor windows are six and a half (6.5)

feet tall by two feet wide. Topping each window on the first floor (and the entryway door) is a semicircular or


Old Kendall County Sheriff’s

Residence and Jail

Kendall, Illinois Name of Property County and State

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roman arch made of brick. Within the curve of the arch is a decorative embossed tin medallion in a sunburst (or a

half daisy) design.

The porch structure on the right was originally enclosed, but the walls have been removed. Just four

skinny posts remain to hold up the roof structure. The porch roof slopes to the east (right) creating a right triangle

shape which is covered with white scalloped shingles. The facia is covered with five rows of white clapboards.

Portions of the facia are rotted, but the porch roof structure remains in good condition. A modern glass and

aluminum light fixture is mounted to the facia. The main entrance to the sheriff’s residence is boarded up. Behind

the chipboard that covers the door is a front door that is badly damaged due to vandalism. The bottom half of the

door looks as if it was cut with a saw and then kicked in. The glass on the top half is broken and only shards

remain. Originally the seal of the Kendall County Sheriff’s office adorned the glass on the entryway door.

On the second floor of the sheriff’s residence, the tall narrow windows are the same size as the windows

on the first floor. The second-floor windows also sit directly above the ones on the first floor. Six courses of bricks

separate the top of the arch on the first-floor windows and the sill of the second-floor windows. The windows

differ only in the style of the arch. On the second floor the windows have a segmental arch. The band of

decorative alternating soldier/sailor brick design repeats on the second story. On this floor, the segmental arches

connect with the decorative band of brick work. With the smaller arch, there is no embossed metal decoration, an

arch shaped piece of painted wood fills the space between the top of the window and the arched brickwork.

Between the second floor and the attic gable is a wide galvanized iron frieze and cornice. The frieze and

cornice, like the decorative brickwork wraps around the entire sheriff’s residence. The frieze has thick corbels that

hold up the trough in which the buildings gutters sit. The center section of the frieze has five corbels, one on each

corner and three corbels evenly spaced in the center. On the right (east) and left (west) sides of the frieze, there

are three corbels, one on each corner and one in the center.

The gable end of the attic or third floor forms an equilateral triangle shape. In the center is a fluted brick

chimney. On both sides of the chimney are double hung, one over one windows. Above the windows are

decorative embossed tin medallions. The medallions have the same sunburst (or daisy) design as the arches on

the first-floor windows. The medallions on the attic floor are a right triangle shape. The body of the gable end is

covered in a weathered grey scalloped style shingles, most of which are in good shape. To either side of the

gable, the roof shingles over the east and west gables are visible. The new asphalt shingles are a dark green color

East Elevation

The sheriff’s residence and jail is built into the military crest of the hill rising from the southern bank of the

fox river in Yorkville. As a result, the visible Joliet limestone foundation block ranges from one visible block on the

left of the east side of the building, to eight and half (8.5) courses on the right. On the far left, the porch sits on a

concrete slab which is in good condition. Two basement windows are set into the foundation block. These

windows align with the first- floor windows above them. A water spigot is mounted in the frame of the basement

window on the right. Moving along the foundation level to the right (north), the jail and sheriff’s office section of

the building is set back four and a half (4.5) feet from the sheriff’s residence.

Much of the limestone block in the corner where the jail and sheriff’s office meets the residence was

replaced with thin pieces of stacked limestone, which appears to have been installed without any mortar. This



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anomaly in the uniform running bond pattern of the foundation bock occurred when the steps and porch that led

to the sheriff’s office and jail entrance on the east side of the building were removed, and the doorway was

removed and bricked over. The exterior entrance to the basement sits to the right of where the porch once stood.

This entrance has been boarded up along with the rest of the windows and doors on the structure.

Four posts hold up the porch roof on the first floor of the east side of the sheriff’s residence. The roof of

the porch slopes to the east. The dark green asphalt shingles on the sheriff’s residence are the same as on the roof

of the porch. The facia is covered in white clapboards. Beneath the porch is a tall window that matches the other

first floor windows. The decorative brick work continues around the building from the south elevation. The

window is topped with a semicircular brick arch that sits atop the decorative masonry design. Like the other first

floor windows, a decorative sunburst embossed tin medallion sit with the arch.

The gable end of the building sits seven and a half (7.5) feet proud of the back wall of the porch. On the

east side of the sheriff’s residence, the two first floor windows on the gable end are not identical. Both windows

are the same height, but not the same width. The window to the right (north) is twice as wide as one to the left.

Even with the white chip board covering the windows, the decorative flute detail on the mutton that divides the

double window is visible. This fluted detail matches the detail on the chimneys. The decorative brickwork

continues around the sheriff’s residence. The semicircular or roman style arches top the windows on the gable

end, resting on the alternating soldier/sailor masonry design.

The jail and sheriff’s office are approximately thirty-five and half (35.5) feet wide and twenty-five and

three fourths (25.75) feet tall, it sits four and a half (4.5) feet back from the sheriff’s residence. The brick masons

who bricked over the entrance to the jail and sheriff’s office on the east side of the building did a good job of

blending the brick work. In the corner where the jail meets the sheriff’s residence, there is a faint outline of an

arched entryway that appears to be bricked over. On the north facing section of the gable end, the decorative

brick design abruptly stops where the outline of an arch begins.

Going from left to right, the first of the first of the three windows on the east side of the jail sits directly above the

basement entrance. This window is tall and narrow like the windows on the sheriff’s residence but is much

simpler. The window is topped with segmental arch brickwork without the embossed tin decorative inset. The

window is boarded up, but beneath the white chipboard, the window is covered with narrowly spaced vertical iron

bars and three horizontal iron bars. The limestone sill is the exact width of the window and does not extend

beyond the window like the limestone sills on the sheriff’s residence windows. To the right are two windows

covered in iron mesh cages. These cages project further from the building on the bottom than they do on the top,

allowing for the opening of casement windows for ventilation. These two windows covered in the cages do not

have any brick arches. Just below these windows are narrow strips of cast iron bolted to the building.

On the second floor of the sheriff’s residence, the sill of the window on the left sits on top of the porch roof. This

window is identical to the other second floor windows on the sheriff’s residence. On the second floor the

decorative alternating soldier/sailor brickwork pattern flows into the segmental arches above the second-floor

windows. The gable section of the second floor has two matching windows that align with the windows on the

first floor. There are three black iron bolts protruding from the brick in between the windows. The bolts are

stacked on top of one another.

The brickwork on the east side of the sheriff’s residence follows the same pattern/design as on the south

elevation. One row of common bond brick above the limestone block, then thirty-six rows of brick laid in a



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running bond pattern. Above that the masons laid the next three courses in the alternating soldier/sailor pattern

that looks like a ladder laying on its side. The running bond pattern returns for the next forty-seven rows, then the

decorative band of bricks pattern repeats on the second floor. Above that are four more rows of the running bond

pattern. In all there are ninety-four courses of brick on the sheriff’s residence.

The first of the two windows on the east side of the second floor of the jail does not line up with the window

below it on the first floor. The window is mounted to the left. This window has a segmental arch on top. The

second window on the second-floor lines up with the middle window on the first floor. Oddly, this window does

not have an arch made of brick on top. Beneath the chipboard that covers the windows, the window on the left

has closely spaced vertical iron bars and two horizontal bars. The window on the right has a grid pattern of iron

bars with a metal mesh screen on top. An electrical conduit is mounted to the building and run from the

basement entrance to the top of the jail, and across the building to the far right (north) corner where a modern

glass and aluminum light fixture is mounted.

The brick work on the jail and sheriff’s office portion of the building is simpler than that of the sheriff’s residence.

The first row of bricks that sit on top the Joliet limestone block foundation are laid in a common bond pattern.

The next sixty-four courses are laid in a running bond pattern. The last three courses of brick at the top of the

building have the same decorative alternating soldier/sailor pattern as the sheriff’s residence, except the

soldier/sailor bricks are shorter, creating a narrower design.

Above the second floor of the sheriff’s residence, a galvanized iron frieze and cornice continues to wrap around

the top of the sheriff’s residence. On the right side over the porch there are four corbels, one on each corner and

two in the middle. On the gable end, there are five corbels. One on each corner and three in the middle.

The new dark green roof shingles over the southern elevation’s gable are visible on the eastern side of the

building. The gable end of the attic on the east side of the building is identical to the southern elevation. The

triangular shape of the attic is bisected by the fluted brick chimney. Two boarded up windows sit on either side of

the chimney. Decorative starburst designed embossed tin panels fill the triangular space above the windows. The

body of the gable is covered in grey scalloped shaped shingles, several of which are missing or damaged.

The roof of the jail is flat and is not visible from this elevation. A grey galvanized metal frieze and cornice top the

jail structure. It is a far simpler structure than that of the sheriff’s residence. The frieze although the same width,

contains no corbels. The cornice is a much simpler structure, it is roughly half the height of that on the sheriff’s

residence. A tall narrow chimney rises from the center of the roof. It is supported by guide wires attached to a

metal collar around the chimney. The top of the chimney has sustained some damage, several bricks are missing.

North Elevation

On the north side of the building, the rear of the jail is the dominate visible structure. Portions of the gable

ends of the east and west sides of the sheriff’s residence and the parts of the roof can be seen if viewed some

distance from the building.

Eight courses of Joliet limestone block make up the jail’s foundation, which rises seven and three quarters

(7.75) feet above the ground on this side of the building. The foundation block is laid in a running bond pattern.

Two courses from the top of the limestone block are two black iron square bolts sitting on top of a black iron

washer, about the diameter of a soda can.



Residence and Jail


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The body of the jail on the north side has no windows. The rear of the jail is twenty-five and three

quarters (25.75) feet tall, twenty-six feet wide, and is composed of sixty-eight rows of bricks. The brick is laid in a

running bond pattern, except for the first course over the limestone block which runs in a common bond pattern.

The last here rows of brick under the frieze and cornice repeat the decorative band of alternating soldier/sailor

brick design seen on the east side of the building. A rusted galvanized metal down spout runs along the left (east)

corner of the building from the roof to the ground.

There are sixteen narrow rectangular cast iron pieces bolted to the building with square nuts. The first row

has seven iron pieces bolted on the building on the third and fourth course of bricks. The second row has nine

iron pieces bolted on the eleventh and twelfth rows of brick. Onn the left and right corners at the top of the jail

are modern glass and aluminum light fixtures mounted on long aluminum arms. A conduit for power runs

between the lights, mounted just beneath the decorative brick work.

A frieze and cornice identical to that on the east side of the building tops the north side of the jail. On this

elevation it looks as if the frieze was once painted white, traces of paint remain in sections. A chimney held in

place by guide wires, rise from the center of the jail’s flat roof.

West Elevation

From left to right, twenty feet the limestone foundation block is visible. The foundation decreases from

eight courses to five courses as the hill rises to the south. A sidewalk, the floor of the former sally port between

the sheriff’s residence the garage, covers the foundation leaving only about one fourth of a foundation block

visible to the west gable end. When the sidewalk ends on the north end, there is a four-and one-half (4.5) foot

drop to the lawn below. On the west side of the south gable end, which sits seven and one half (7.5) feet back

from the west gable end, one course of foundation block is visible.

The first floor of the jail has miss-matched windows. The window to the left is covered by a metal mesh

cage that extends further from the building at the bottom than it does from the top. This window is like the cage

covered windows on the jail’s east side. The window on the right side of the first floor is more of a vent than a

window. Within the space a window once occupied is a black metal plate that surrounds aluminum jalousie style

ventilation louvres. There is no decorative brickwork over these windows. To the right of these windows a metal

box with an electrical outlet is mounted to the brick. Next to the outlet is a classic steel bar jail door. The door is

topped with segmental style arched brickwork. Within the space between the top of the door and the arch are

decorative metal bars that line up with the bars on the steel bar jail door. The center bricks in the segmental arch

have been damaged by the installation of an electrical box for a lighting fixture, the light is missing. Behind the

steel bar door, in the same door frame is a black security door with a Judas hole mounted at eye level. To the right

of the steel bar jail door is a boarded-up window with a segmental brickwork arch on top. This window has a vent

pipe mounted to the wood covering the window.

Moving left to right along the first floor of the western elevation, the sheriff’s residence sits four and one

half (4.5) feet proud of the jail and sheriff’s office. On the left side of the gable end is a door to the kitchen. The

original Victorian door has been replaced with a plywood door. On top of the door frame is a semicircular arch in

the brick work which sit atop the decorative soldier/sailor masonry detail that wraps around the first floor of the

sheriff’s residence. The decorative sunburst embossed metal piece that sits in the arch above the door on all the

windows and the main entry door on the sheriff’s residence is missing from the kitchen door. In its place is a scrap

piece of white wainscoting. Two matching windows sit on the gable end of the west side of the building. These



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windows have broken and missing glass and have been covered by black plastic. Both windows are topped by a

semicircular brick arch with the sunburst design embossed metal piece sitting within the arch. The window on the

far right on the first floor of the west side of the building sits seven and one half (7.5) feet back of the gable end. It

is identical to the windows on the gable end. A narrow vertical strip of wood it mounted to the building to the

right of the window. To the right of the window is the building’s electric utility meter, mounted to a galvanized

metal tube that runs vertical from the ground to the second floor. At top of the tube, power lines run across

Madison street to a utility pole.

On the second floor of the jail is a boarded-up window on the left or north side. To its right is a second

aluminum jalousie style ventilation louvre, mounted in a black metal frame. Both windows align vertically with the

windows below the on the first floor. These two windows do not have arched brick work details. The next two

windows to the right of the jalousie window are boarded up. These windows are topped with a segmental arch

brick work. The window over the steel bar door on the first floor does not line up with the door, it is set a few

inches to the right. The window to it’s left aligns with the first floor under it. Pieces of the aluminum flashing from

the former sally port remain adhered to the building under the second-floor windowsills.

On the second floor of the west side of the sheriff’s residence, the original window on the right of the

gable end has been altered. This widow was converted into a door for access to the former sally port. A wooden

frame of two by fours surround the door. A scrap piece of carpet remains attached to the threshold. A black

metal security door sits in the door frame. Thankfully, the decorative masonry work above the window, the

alternating soldier/sailor brick detail that wrap around the second floor of the sheriff’s residence and the

segmental arch were untouched when the window was converted to a door. To the right of the door on the gable

end is a window identical to the other second floor windows on the sheriff’s residence. The west side of the south

gable end has no window on the second floor of the west elevation. On the second floor where the south and

west gable end meet, a wood two by four is mounted to the corner. A second two by four is attached vertically to

the brick on the second-floor gable end. Above it a piece of aluminum flashing hands off the building.

At the top of the jail and sheriff’ office portion of the building, the shorter decorative alternating

soldier/sailor brick detail continues to wrap around from the north side of the building. It is placed directly below

the galvanized iron frieze and cornice, which also continues to wrap around the jail from the north. The new

asphalt shingles on the flat roof of the jail are not visible from the eastern elevation. The chimney in the center of

the roof of the jail is missing some bricks on the top.

The frieze, cornice and third floor gable end on the east side of the sheriff’s residence were never covered

by or altered by the former sally port. The frieze on the gable end has five corbels, one on each corner, three in

the middle. To the right of the gable end, the frieze on the west side of the south gable end has four corbels. One

on each corner and two in the middle. The cornice which arises from the frieze, continues around the sheriff’s

residence. The gable end third floor or attic is in the shape of an equilateral triangle. The body of the triangle is

covered with weathered gray scalloped cedar shingles. A fluted chimney in the center bisects the gable, on both

sides are windows. Over the windows are the same decorative embossed tin medallions as appear on the south

and east gable ends.

The brick work pattern on the west elevation is the same as on the other elevations of the building. On

difference on the west side of the building is that by being encapsulated by the sally port for forty years, the



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9

tuckpointing is in much better condition. The damage to the masonry where the sally port connected to the

building is minimal and can be easily corrected.

Interior

First Floor

Vestibule - Entering the building from the main entrance off the porch on the south side of the building,

you enter a vestibule. The vestibule is well lit with a window on the east (right side). A radiator sits under the

window. The front door to the sheriff’s residence has been damaged by vandalism. The glass on the top of the

door is broken and the lower half was damaged with a saw and kicked in. The door leading out of the vestibule,

into the residence is original to the building. The door has four raised panels, two long panels over two shorter

panels.

South Hallway – Leading out of the vestibule, the hallway opens into the parlor, or front room to the

south. To the north is a door frame (the door has been removed) to the dining room. The north wall of the

hallway has been altered. The baseboard and the door frame have a narrow simple trim, unlike the thicker

baseboard and doorway frame on the south wall that has the original Victorian detailing. Further proof that the

north wall of the hallway has been altered, is a poorly repaired patch of flooring at the doorway, and the wall

around the door frame is made of drywall, not plaster. Continuing west down the hallway to the west is the

staircase to the second floor. The staircase is enclosed except for the bottom three steps which also appear to be

altered. The quarter round trim appears to have been pieced together and is not consistent. The bottom three

steps replaced the wide curving landing and newel post which removed in the 1970’s. The steps are pine with

anti-slip strips glued to each tread. At the end of the hallway is the doorway to the kitchen.

Front Parlor - A wide doorway leads into the parlor or front room, with thick wood trim and rosette details

on the upper corners. The same rosette details are on the four windows in the parlor. The ten-inch-thick

baseboards and the window detailing are all original to the building and retain the Victorian era character of the

residence. All this trim has been painted in a putty color. The front parlor is spacious, thirteen by seventeen in

area with a room height of ten foot seven inches. Four tall windows, one to the east, two to the south, and one to

the west make the room feel bright and airy. The wood floors in the front parlor were once painted, but most of

the paint has worn away to reveal maple flooring in good condition. Under the window to the west is a short

radiator. Between the two windows on the south wall is a plastered over fireplace and chimney. There are no

sconces or ceiling light fixture in the parlor.

Kitchen - The remnants of five different patterns of wallpaper is the only clue that the kitchen was once a

kitchen. Cabinets, plumbing fixtures and appliances have all been removed. Along the north wall of the kitchen,

holes in the floor are the only remnant of the plumbing pipes that led to the kitchen sink. Along the west wall

much of the plaster is missing where cabinets were removed, leaving behind the lath structure, over which

horizontal boards have been nailed. Through the lath, the firebox of the original fireplace is visible. There is a

short piece of pipe extruding from the chimney stack where the stove was vented. The vinyl flooring has missing

patches and older layers of linoleum tiles are visible. There are three windows in the kitchen, one on the south,



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10

two on the west wall. The kitchen is spacious, 17 by 13 feet in area with 10 feet, 7inch ceilings. There are four

entrances to the kitchen. In the northwest corner is an entrance to the porch that used to be on the west side of

the building. The door has a semicircular arch on top which is boarded up, original door has been replaced with a

plain plywood door. Along the north wall is an entry door to the first-floor restroom/laundry room. Originally,

there were two locking security doors within a single door frame. Today both security doors are missing. Before

walls were added to create a restroom/laundry room, the jail matron (sheriff’s wife) used these doors to enter the

sheriff’s office and booking room to serve meals to the inmates. On the east side of the kitchen there are two

doorways. One doorway on the southeast corner of the kitchen opens to the south hallway that leads to the

stairway to the second floor and the front parlor. The other doorway is on the northeast corner of the kitchen and

opens to the hallway that contains the stairway to the basement and the dining room. The door to the basement

is the original four raised panel Victorian era door.

Dining room – There are three doors leading into the dining room. One door enters from the south

hallway, one door leads into the dining room from the kitchen, the third door leads to the sheriff’s office/booking

room. The door to the sheriff’s office is a black metal security door. Through this heavy steel security door, the

residence transitions to the jail. At eye level the steel security door has a Judas’ Hole or a Speak-Easy Grill, a little

door that opens to communicate with staff in the sheriff’s office without opening the door. The walls and original

woodwork are in good condition in the dining room. The trim in this room is painted a light green. On the south

wall of the dining room, the baseboard and door trim are thin, plain modern trim and does not match the trim in

the rest of the room. There is no ceiling mounted light fixtures or sconces. The dining room has one double wide

window. Hinged to both sides of the double wide window are a metal mesh grid that swings outward on both

sides of the window frame. The grid covers the lower three-fourths of the window, it does extend the full height

of the window. Mounted within the wall on the southwest corner of the room are metal boxes containing an

array wires and electrical components that are the remnants of a communications system. In the southeast of the

room is a corner shelf for a video monitor. The dimensions of the dining room are 15 by 13 feet, with 10 feet 7-

inch ceiling.

Restroom/Laundry - Walls were added to create a restroom for the first floor and a laundry room out of

space in the sheriff’s office. Two large plumbing pipes are exposed and run floor to ceiling. A lone toilet is the

only fixture left in the room. Pipes and a medicine cabinet with a lighted mirror remain but the sink is gone. The

linoleum floor has a busy 1970’s pattern. The flooring is in bad condition. The lone window in this room has been

boarded up. At 10 by 9 feet in area the room is spacious. The ceiling is 8 feet 4 inches, lower than the ceilings in

the sheriff’s residence because of the metal ribbed barrel ceiling. The paint of the metal ceiling peeling off.

Sheriff’s Office/Booking Room – When entering the sheriff’s office from the dining room, there is a metal

staircase to the second-floor jail to the immediate left. The underside of the staircase is enclosed by a metal cage,

with a metal security door that leads to the basement stairs on the end. On the east wall is a window with vertical

iron bars. On the north wall is a security door which leads to the jail. The door has a Judas Hole (or Speak-easy

Grill) at eye level. To the left (west) of the security door is a brick chimney. On the west wall is the entry to the

restroom/laundry room on the left (south). In the center of the wet wall is a radiator. On the right (north) is the

security door to the prisoner intake hallway, which is mounted in metal mesh frame. The sheriff’s office/booking

room has the dimensions of 14 by 10 feet, the ceiling is 8 feet 4 inches in height, and is covered by a ribbed barrel

design metal ceiling. The white paint on the ceiling is peeling off.



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Prisoner Intake Hallway - The hallway is 10 by 4 feet in area. A security door on the east wall separates

the intake hallway from the from the sheriff’s office/booking room. Along the south wall is the fingerprinting

desk. The entry door on the west has two doors mounted within one door frame. The interior door is a metal

security door with a Judas hole mounted at eye level. The door on the exterior is a steel jail door with vertical

bars. On the north wall is the crank that simultaneously open and close all the jail cells. The crank is mounted at

waist level to a thick vertical metal beam that is attached to a metal frame set into the wall. Within this frame is a

Judas Hole or Speak-easy Grill to communicate with prisoners in the first-floor jail.

First Floor Jail - The door to the first-floor jail in the sheriff’s office/booking room opens into a vestibule.

On the north wall of the vestibule is a Judas Hole, or Speak-easy Grill at eye level. Below the Judas Hole is a wide

rectangular door that was used to pass meal trays to the prisoners. The opening for food trays has a hinged

locking door to cover the opening when not in use. On the west side of the vestibule is a security door that opens

onto the jail. The first-floor jail is a large room, 18 by 23 feet, with the jail cells in the center of the room. The jail

cell structure is free standing on three sides. Only the north side of the jail cell structure is mounted to the wall.

The jail cell structure is composed of two jail cells and a corridor. The corridor has a stainless-steel combination

sink and toilet. The cell to the north is smaller with two bunks or cots along the south wall of the cell. The larger

cell has four bunks, two on the north wall and two on the south wall. The jail cell structure’s corridor has a

stainless-steel combination sink and toilet on the north wall. The exterior of the structure is made up of different

style panels welded together. The panels the bunks, or cots are mounted to are solid steel with narrow horizontal

slats for ventilation. The east and west sides have panels with vertical ribs perforated with vertical slots and other

panels that an iron lattice design. All the jail doors, cots and wall panels are covered in peeling white paint.

Outside the jail cell structure, on the right side of the north wall is a second stainless steel combination sink and

toilet. The west wall of the first-floor jail has two windows. The windows are covered by the same style cages as

seen on the exterior of the jail. On the interior the cages are mounted so that the top of the cage protrudes out

from the window further than the base. Between the two windows is a radiator and a florescent light fixture

mounted near the ceiling. Plumbing pipes run from floor to ceiling in the northwest corner. On the south wall is

the entry vestibule with the food tray pass through on the right. Towards the southwest corner is the Judas Hole

mounted into the wall. The east wall has two windows covered by metal cages. Beneath the windows is a picnic

style table. Above the table is a florescent light fixture mounted near the ceiling. In the northeast corner is an

access door to a passage behind the north wall to access the plumbing. This passage contains a water heater. On

the east wall to the right of the dining table is a radiator. The jail has a ribbed metal barrel style ceiling, covered in

peeling white paint.

Second Floor Residence

Hallway – At the top of the stair on the second floor of the residence is a short metal security door. The

door mounted on the north wall is the fire escape for the second floor of the jail. To the right (east) is the

bathroom. On the left (west) is the hallway to the former sally port and the west bedroom. Continuing down the

hallway is the door to the east bedroom and the entrance to the master bedroom on the south. The staircase to

the attic is across from the entry to the master bedroom. The original banister and newel post have been replaced

by a crude banister made of 2 by 4s covered by simulated wood paneling.

Bathroom – The full bathroom is small, 6 x 5 feet in area. The décor and fixtures are straight out of the

1970s”. On the right is a full-sized cast iron bathtub in a harvest gold color. On the west wall above the bathtub is



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a built-in cabinet with door painted in the same harvest gold color as the bathtub. Oddly, the pipe for the shower

head is mounted inside the cabinet. On the left side of the bathroom is the toilet, mounted to the east wall.

Above the toilet is a built-in cabinet with doors painted harvest gold. A small space saving vanity is mounted on

the north wall. The faucet is mounted to the side of the sink to save space. The vanity is painted harvest gold. The

vanity has a white laminate countertop with silver and gold specs. The sink is trimmed on chrome edging. A

mirror is mounted to the north wall above the vanity. The walls are covered in a busy brown and white wallpaper

pattern. The floor has a dark gold patterned vinyl floor and the room has a drop ceiling.

East Bedroom – The room is spacious, 14 x 14, with three windows. Two windows are on the east wall and

one window on the south. The room is not a perfect square, because a portion of the bathroom cuts into the

northeast corner of the room. On top of this bump out for the bathroom are built-in storage cabinets. The closet

on the northeast corner of the room is very narrow, hardly deep enough to hang clothes hangers. The closet wall

butts up against the frame of the northeast window. The room has ten-foot ceilings. The plaster walls are in good

shape, and the pine floor is in great condition. The room has two entrances, one to the hallway and one to the

south bedroom.

South Bedroom/Master Bedroom – There are two entrances to the master bedroom, one from the

hallway and one from the east bedroom. The room is 17 by 16 feet in area with a ten-foot ceiling. There is old

wiring in the ceiling for an overhead light fixture. In the northeast corner of the room is a closet. The bedroom

has three windows, one to the east, and two to the south. Between the two south facing windows is the exposed

brick of the chimney. The original window and door trim, and the thick Victorian baseboards are all intact. The

walls are missing large chunks of plaster in spots around the room, revealing the lath structure. The pine floors

are in great condition.

West Bedroom – The west bedroom was greatly altered when the former sally port was added. The room

lost a window and about four feet from the north side of the room to create a hallway to connect the second floor

to the now removed sally port. The room size was reduced to 14 x 8.5 feet in area. A drop acoustical tile ceiling

was also added. The room now has one window on the west side and one window in the closet on the southwest

corner. The window in the closet is missing glass. The baseboards and door trim on the added wall are thin, plain

and modern. They do not match the wide Victorian trim in the rest of the room. This is the only room on the

second floor of the sheriff’s residence that is painted, the color is a bright blue.

Second Floor Jail

Second Floor Cell Hallway – The second floor of the jail is accessible by the staircase in the sheriff’s

office/booking room. The staircase opens onto the cell hallway. Although it is called a hallway, at 12 x 15 feet in

area, it is more of an anteroom. On the south wall is a floor to ceiling wire cage, behind which is the staircase.

The east wall has one window covered in iron bars. On the window frame, the top left corner rosette and part of

the casing has been sawed off to make room for a metal electrical conduit that powers a florescent light fixture

and an exit sign. A radiator sits under the window. In the center of the north wall is the brick chimney stack that

continues from the first floor. To the right of the chimney is the entrance to the second-floor men’s jail. The door

has a metal lattice design, with a horizontal ledge and an opening to pass food trays to the prisoners. The hallway

has a ribbed metal barrel ceiling that is covered in peeling white paint.

Women’s Jail – The women’s jail is the smallest of the housing sections within the jail. The room is 12 x 8

feet in area. Along the south wall are two bunks, or cots mounted to the wall. There are two windows on the



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west wall. On the north wall a stainless-steel combination sink and toilet is mounted to a wedge like structure

that encloses a water heater and plumbing pipes. The wedge has a side access panel. On the east wall is a steel

table with an attached bench seat (picnic table style). Mounted to the wall above the table is a mirror, a shelf and

hooks. The ribbed metal barrel style ceiling makes the room feel smaller. The height of the room is 7 feet, eight

inches.

Second Floor Men’s Jail – Upon entering the second-floor men’s jail, there are two steps. The room is

large, 20 x 23 feet in area with a nine-foot ceiling. Along the east wall is a window covered with iron bars, a

radiator and a florescent light fixture mounted near the ceiling. The north wall has three jail cells, each containing

two bunks or cots, mounted to the left wall of each cell. Only the far-left cell has its original cell door. The doors

on the other two cells are missing. To the left of the jail cells is a steel combination sink and toilet. Further left on

the north wall is the remnants of a shower stall. The west wall has two windows. Between the windows is a

radiator and a florescent light fixture mounted near the ceiling. The south wall has a steel picnic style table

mounted to the wall, and the exit door. The ceiling of the room has the same ribbed barrel style ceiling design as

the rest of the jail. The ceiling and the jail cells are covered in white paint that is peeling.

Third Floor Attic

The three rooms in the attic have roughly the same layout as the bedrooms on the second floor. The walls

in the attic are covered in simulated wood paneling. Each room has a brick chimney on the exterior wall. The

chimney chases’ have window on each side. Each room has electric base board heating units on the exterior wall.

The room on the east has the remnants of an emergency communication switchboard mounted to wall on the

southwest corner. The room has a vaulted ceiling. The room height in the center of the room is seven feet. The

wall height on the north and south walls of the east room is four feet. The dimensions of the room are 13 x 13

feet. The room to the south is the largest room with dimensions of 16 feet 9 inches by 13 feet 3 inches, the ceiling

height is seven feet. The room on the west is the smallest room in the attic. The room is 13 x 10 feet, with a

vaulted ceiling. The center of the room is even feet in height with four feet walls on the north and south sides.

The center hallway has the dimensions of 9 x 13. The attic has linoleum tile floors.

Basement

The basement has three rooms and a crawl space. Two interior and one exterior staircase lead into the

basement. The first staircase leads from the hallway off the kitchen into the basement room under the kitchen on

the east side of the building. The room has two windows on the west wall. The floor and wall are concrete. The

nine-foot ceilings have the exposed floor joists for the first floor. There are four steel support jacks in the room.

Along the south wall is an empty wooden shelving unit. The east wall has the staircase and in the left corner is a

hunter green door to the east side of the basement. The east side of the basement sits under the dining room and

the entry vestibule. The entry to the crawl space under the front is along the south wall. On the east wall are two

windows. In the middle of the room, positioned parallel to the east wall is a large dark boiler. Large cast iron

pipes lead from the boiler and run across the ceiling. On the north wall is the door leading to the third room in the

basement. The third basement room sits under the sheriff’s office/booking room. The ceiling in this room is lower

than the other two rooms because it has the ribbed metal barrel ceiling covering that is seen in the sheriff’s office

and jail. On the south wall of the room is the metal staircase leading to the sheriff’s office/booking room. The

exterior door to the basement is on the east wall. The exterior door is mounted high on the wall as there are two

steps leading to the door.



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Garage (non-contributing)

South Elevation

The garage, built in 1959, is constructed of red brick with white mortar. The seventy-eight courses are laid

in a running bond pattern. The south side of the garage is twenty-six feet wide and twenty-eight feet tall. The first

floor has a sixteen-foot-wide opening for a two-car garage door, the garage door has been removed and plywood

covers the opening. The garage door opening is seven and a half feet tall. Over the garage door opening is a

modern aluminum and glass light fixture. The second floor has two mismatched windows that sit atop limestone

sills. The window on the left is shorter and wider than the window on the right. The left window also has a course

of common bond bricks under the windowsill, where the window of the right does not. The windows are topped

with white aluminum awnings with a scalloped edge. A simple thin white aluminum gutter separates the structure

from the hip roof. One the right, approximately two feet of the gutter is missing. A square roof vent sits atop the

roof.

East Elevation

On the east side of the garage, the foundation is not visible. The cement walkway between the garage

and the sheriff’s residence and jail abuts the first course of bricks for the entire forty feet of the building .Moving

from left to right on the first floor, is a door frame opening which has been filled in with cinder block. Next to it is

a steel security door and a second door frame opening filled in with cinder block. These openings are placed close

together. The right side of the first floor is brick. The second floor from left to right has a window opening that has

been filled in with a plywood frame with three short two by fours protruding from the frame horizontally. Within

the frame is an exit sign sitting upside down. Beneath the window is a square cut out of the brick. To the right of

the window opening, a narrow band of the brick are missing and the cinder block behind the brick is visible. Next

to the narrow band of cinder block is a metal door frame with a black steel security door. To the right of the door

is a door frame which has been filled in with a structure made of four two by fours mounted on plywood. Within

this frame is a small window. A black plastic tarp has been tacked to this part of the wall to keep the elements out.

Beneath the door and the sealed-up door frame with a window is a wide board secured to the building with lag

bolts. The right edge of this board is damaged and a hole in the building is visible. Next to the frame, to the right

is a second black steel security door. All four of these openings are clustered together on the right half of the

second floor. On the left side is a window with a limestone sill. Beneath the window is a strip of silver roof flashing

which extends from the security door to the right corner of the building. Most of the white aluminum gutter is

missing from the east side of the building. Above that is the hip roof.

North Elevation

On the north side of the garage four feet of the concrete foundation is visible. The concrete has a smooth

finish. An air-conditioning unit sits on the ground on the right side of the foundation. A pipe leads up from the air-

conditioner unit and enters the building at the top of the first-floor window. An electrical box is mounted to the

building where the first course of bricks begins, above the AC unit. On this side of the building, the first course of

bricks are laid in a common bond pattern. The rest of the body of the north elevation is made up of seventy-seven

rows of bricks laid in a running bond pattern. On the first floor are two evenly spaced window sitting atop

limestone sills. The windows on the second floor are aligned directly above the first-floor windows. They also sit

atop limestone sills. Simple aluminum downspouts run from the gutter to the ground on both corners of the



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building. A narrow white aluminum gutter separates the brick body of the garage from the new green asphalt tiles

on the hip roof. A vent stack arises from the right corner of the roof.

West Elevation

With the rise of the hill, the cement foundation goes from four feet in height on the northwest corner, to

less than one foot on the southwest corner. The first floor has three windows that sit atop limestone sills. These

windows have been boarded up with white chipboard. In the center of the building, to the left of the center

window is a galvanized pipe that travels up from the foundation to three quarters up the building. A group of

loose electrical wires are visible at the top of the pipe. A water spigot is mounter to the building under the bottom

left corner of the window on the right. There are tree windows on the second floor that do not align with the

windows on the first floor. These windows sit atop limestone sills and are topped with aluminum awnings with

scalloped edges. There are aluminum downspouts running from the gutter to the ground of the corners of the

building. Above the white aluminum gutter is the hip roof with a vent stack arising from the northwest corner of

the roof.

Garage Interior

First Floor

On the south wall, the main feature is the plywood nailed to the frame of the two-car garage door

opening. The panels of plywood do not fit tightly so daylight shines through the gaps. On the east wall from left to

right, is a floor to ceiling plumbing pipe. To the right of the pipe is a scar on the cinder block wall where the wall

to the storage room used to be. Next is the opening to the staircase to the second floor. The staircase is enclosed

in drywall which follows the shape of the structure. To the right of the staircase is an electrical control panel

mounted to the wall. Next to the control panel is a steel security door. Past the security door are floor to ceiling

built in shelves. In the far-left corner of the north wall is the furnace and next to it is a water heater. Continuing

down the wall to the right are two windows with floor to ceiling built in shelves. The west wall has a fire

extinguisher mounted to the cinder block of the left side. The wall has three windows and a grey metal air duct

runs the length of the wall. Running down the center of the first floor are four steel support beams. On the ceiling

is an air duct parallel to the support beams.

Second Floor

The south wall of second floor has two windows mismatched in size. Between the windows are the

framing studs for the load bearing wall. The exterior walls of the second floor are drywalled. The east wall has a

window on the left side. To the right of the window is the staircase that leads to the first floor. The staircase

surround is drywalled. Near the staircase is a sink supported by plumbing pipes arising from the floor. The entry

to the staircase is on the right. Two steel security doors are to the right of the staircase. Between the security

doors is a small window and a framing stud that marks where a wall previously existed. The north wall has two

windows with the framing studs for the load bearing wall between them. An access panel to the roof is located in

the ceiling near the north wall. The west wall has three windows with two framing studs positioned evenly

between the windows, marking where walls used to be. Down the center of the second floor is the framing for the

load bearing wall. The drywall has been removed from the wall leaving the studs and electrical wiring visible. The

ceiling near the staircase is sagging and pieces of drywall have broken off. Fiberglass insulation can be seen

peeking out of the breaks in the drywall. A metal pole has been positioned to support the ceiling.



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The garage is classified as non-contributing in this nomination form because of a large loss of physical integrity.

since its construction in 1959. It has gone through major interior and exterior changes. The second floor of the

garage was originally an apartment for the under-sheriff’s family. In 1979 the second floor was gutted and

redesigned for use as the Emergency Office of Communications (EOC), the forerunner of the 911 system. When

the new Kendall County Jail was built in 1992, the second floor of the garage was basically gutted again. Walls

were torn down or damaged to make the transfer of large pieces of communication equipment easier. Today the

space is just a shell, only the framing of the lode bearing walls and two sinks, and a toilet remain. The exterior of

the garage has also gone through many changes. Windows were sealed over and new openings were made for

new windows. Doorways were filled in with cinderblock and new doorways were cut out of the brick structure.

The exterior metal staircase to the second floor was moved to the sheriff’s residence side when the sally port was

added. Despite the fact that the garage building was built in 1959, which falls in the 1893 to 1969 period of

significance, the complete reconfigurations of the building have erased any historical significance the building

once had. For this reason, the building should be classified as non-contributary.



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8. Statement of Significance

Applicable National Register Criteria (Mark "x" in one or more boxes for the criteria qualifying the property for National Register listing.)

x A Property is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of our history.

B Property is associated with the lives of persons significant in our past.

C Property embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction or represents the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values, or represents a significant and distinguishable entity whose components lack individual distinction.

D Property has yielded, or is likely to yield, information important in prehistory or history.

Criteria Considerations (Mark "x" in all the boxes that apply.)

Property is:

A

Owned by a religious institution or used for religious purposes.

B

removed from its original location.

C

a birthplace or grave.

D

a cemetery.

E

a reconstructed building, object, or structure.

F

a commemorative property.

G

less than 50 years old or achieving significance

within the past 50 years.

Areas of Significance


Politics/Government

Period of Significance

1893 - 1969

Significant Dates

N/A

Significant Person

(Complete only if Criterion B is marked above.)

N/A

Cultural Affiliation (if applicable)

N/A

Architect/Builder

Pauley Jail Company



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____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Statement of Significance Summary Paragraph (Provide a summary paragraph that includes level of significance, applicable criteria,

justification for the period of significance, and any applicable criteria considerations).

The Old Kendall County Sheriff’s Residence and Jail is locally significant for listing in the National Register of

Historic Places under Criterion A for Politics/Government. The period of significance dates from 1893, the date the jail

opened, and the first sheriff’s family moved into the residence, to 1969, the current fifty-year cut off for National

Register significance . For ninety-nine years the Old Kendall County Sheriff’s Residence and Jail served as the center of

public safety for Kendall County, Illinois. The jail housed both convicted criminals serving their debt to society, and those

awaiting trial in a safe and humane manner. The combination of the sheriff’s residence and jail in one building allowed

for round the clock monitoring of prisoners. This made the most efficient use of limited tax dollars in a rural county.

With advances in telecommunication technology, the sheriff’s residence and jail became the center for dispatching first

responders to emergency situations in Kendall County. When Kendal County built a new jail in 1992, the Old Sheriff’s

Residence and Jail was converted to the offices for the Kendall-Grundy Department of Community Services. In 1996,

Kendall County moved the Community Services offices out of the building, leaving it empty after one hundred and three

years of service. The building remains vacant, but plans are underway for a new residential and commercial use.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Narrative Statement of Significance (Provide at least one paragraph for each area of significance.)

Several structures served as the Kendall County, Illinois Jail prior to 1893 when the Old Kendall County

sheriff’s residence and jail was built. Kendall County, Illinois came into existence in 1841, when the southern

portion of Kane County and the eastern portion of LaSalle County were combined to form Kendall County.1

The first courthouse in Yorkville was a rented house located on the northeast corner of Main Street

and Fox Road (formerly Franklin Street). The home of the county’s first sheriff James S. Cornell served as the

first jail.2 Prisoners were kept on the second floor of his yellow two-story house, located on the southwest

corner of Main Street and Madison Street in Yorkville, Illinois.3 The second floor of Sheriff Cornell’s home

proved to be a very insecure jail. In 1843, Ansel Rider, the county’s first accused murderer was being held for

trial when he jumped out of the window. His attempt at an escape was not successful because he broke his leg

in the fall. He was successful on his second escape attempt, fleeing to California.4

In January of 1845, a petition with 432 signatures was presented to the Illinois General Assembly

requesting the removal of Kendall County’s seat of government from Yorkville.5 A special election was held in

August of that year to determine the site of the new county seat. The August election had no clear winner, so

a second vote was held on September 1, 1845. Oswego was chosen as the new seat of Kendall County

government.6

The National Hotel in downtown Oswego served as the courthouse until 1848 when a Greek Revival

style courthouse 7was built on the city block bordered by Jefferson, Monroe and Madison Streets.8 During



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that time, each county sheriff was responsible for securing jail facilities. The Kendall House Hotel and the

National Hotel in Oswego were both used as jails.9

In 1857 Abraham Sellers, the editor of the Kendall County Courier, raised allegations of voter fraud in

the 1845 special election. He claimed that whiskey had been used by some citizens of Oswego to entice farm

hands from Aurora to vote Oswego the county seat.10 A new election was held in April of 1859 and Yorkville

was chosen the county seat. Legal action by residents of Oswego delayed Yorkville receiving the official

designation of the seat of Kendall County government by the Illinois Legislature. Oswego remained the home

of the county courthouse until 1864 when the new courthouse was completed.11

In 1867 Kendall County supervisors sold the Oswego courthouse building to the Village of Oswego for

$750.00.12 The courthouse building in Oswego was converted to a high school.13

With the county seat back in Yorkville, for the first time the county had a designated jail facility in a

county-owned building. The basement of the county courthouse contained the jail and a cistern on the west

half of the basement. The sheriff’s office and family residence were in the eastern half of the building’s

basement14 The Victorian Italianate court house, built in 1864, occupies the entire block in Yorkville, bordered

on the north by Madison Street, on the west by Main Street, on the east by Jefferson Street, and to the south

by West Ridge Street.15

Early 1887 brought major remodeling work to the sheriff’s residence and jail in the courthouse

basement. New floors and a new cistern were installed as a part of the courthouse remodeling.16 The new

cistern was empty of water when in the early morning of March 25, 1887, a fire broke out in the courthouse.

With no water in the cistern and no fire department in the Village of Yorkville, the fire spread and eventually

engulfed the whole building. Neighbors ran into the burning building to save the sheriff, his family, two

prisoners and the county’s records. All were taken to the Beck Hotel for safety.17

Only the exterior shell of the building and the steps survived the fire. The building was rebuilt using

the remaining shell. During the rebuilding, Kane County housed Kendall County’s prisoners. The Union Block

Building and Union Hall on Bridge Street, Yorkville’s main business street, stored the county’s records and

served as the courthouse.18

After the rebuilding, the sheriff’s residence and jail were again in the basement of the courthouse. This

time the building’s interior walls were reinforced with iron to prevent the spread of fire.19 There was also a

newly formed fire department with a firehouse built across the street from the courthouse.20 The sheriff’s

family moved back into the courthouse basement in January of 1888.21

On August 14, 1890 a representative of the Board of Commissioners of Public Charities inspected the

jail and sheriff’s residence in the basement of the Kendall County Courthouse. The Commissioners of Public

Charities inspected almshouses, orphanages, and jails throughout Illinois. In its 11th annual report, the

commissioners found the jail to be clean, but dungeon like “with neither light nor air”. They thought “this old

hole in the ground should be abandoned and a jail erected above the surface”.22 Not long after the inspection,

two prisoners became very ill. Their illness was attributed to the unhealthy conditions of the jail by the

physician who treated them.23



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By August of 1892, the Kendall County Board of Supervisors decided to stop trying to fix problems in

the jail in the basement of the courthouse and build a new jail. A group of Kendall County supervisors visited

the sheriff’s residences and jails in both Kane and DuPage Counties. The faction from Kendall County found

the jail in Geneva, Illinois (Kane County) at a price tag of $13,000 to be too extravagant and expensive for

Kendall County’s needs. The jail in Wheaton, Illinois (DuPage County) was more to the supervisors liking. With

a price tag of $8,000, it was more in line with their budget. The facility in Wheaton was built by the Pauly Jail

Building Manufacturing Company of St. Louis, Mo. Kendall County supervisors wasted no time in contacting

the Pauly Jail Company and brought a representative from the company in Yorkville to address the board of

supervisors at the September meeting.24

Plans to build a new sheriff’s residence and jail were underway. The County Board of Supervisors

chose to build Pauly Jail Company plan 404A.25 Lots number 1 and 2 on block 28 in the Village of Yorkville,26

directly north of the courthouse, known as the Black Estate was purchased by the county for $350.00.27 A sub-

contractor from Ottawa, IL., Sanders Brothers, was chosen to do the stone and concrete work. The

supervisors insisted that the finest “Joliet Block” limestone be used on the foundation.28 Louisville Cement

was chosen to make up the mortar, one-part cement to two parts clean sharp sand in the jail portion of the

building. Utica Cement was chosen for use on the foundation, and the sheriff’s residence. English Portland

Cement was used to flush point the ashlar, lintels and arches.29

By April of 1893 workman began laying brick. The Pauly Jail Building and Manufacturing Company’s

specifications for the brick work were very exacting. The best quality red “native merchantable” brick was to

be chosen with no soft brick allowed on exterior facing. The brick work was to be laid in fresh burnt lime and

clean, sharp sand mortar. The exterior facing of the entire building was to be laid in red mortar joints. The

last five courses of exterior work were to be laid in cement.30 The newspaper reported how handsome the

building will be with red brick laid on its outside tiers in red mortar. In May the Kendall County Record

reported that the “new county building is assuming imposing proportions” ….” The rear wing, in which is the

jail, looks solid and weird, a safe place for evil doers.”31

The sub-contractors built out of cement the framework in which the jail cells built by the Pauly Jail

Building and Manufacturing Company were installed in place. The Pauly Jail Company insisted that only high-

grade steel be used in the construction of their jail cells.32 The company installed two steel plate jail cells with

side corridor in the first-floor men’s jail. The bars and steel plates consisted of five layers, three of iron and

two of steel welded together.33 The women’s jail on the second floor was lined on all four sides with No. 12

iron and riveted to the building with 5/16th inch button head rivets.34

Kendall County’s jail was built with a newly patented door and locking mechanism. The P. J. Pauly’s

Patient Lever Lock locked the door at the top and bottom with heavy bolts.35 United States patent number

480,476 was awarded on August 9, 1892 to the Pauly Jail Company. This locking system enabled the sheriff to

lock all the cells simultaneously.36

Even the roof and gutters were built to exacting standards. The entire building was covered with N & G

Taylors “Old Style” brand IX tin, laid with standing seam. All ridges, hips, downspouts, and gutters on the jail

and the cornice and chimney angles of the residence were made of No. 26 galvanized iron.37



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With the sheriff’s residence and jail nearing completion, in July of 1893 the Women’s Christian

Temperance Union (WCTU) asked the Board of Supervisors for space in the jail and shelving to install a library.

The ladies of the WCTU had collected books, papers and magazines to stock the library.38 Meanwhile the

expert Lather, John Gaylord of Aurora,39 and the painters, Horace Skinner and Sons, hurried to finish the

building by the end of July of 1893.40

The August 16, 1893 issue of the Kendall County Record newspaper reported that the price tag for the

new sheriff’s residence and jail was $9,622.33.41 The final accounting of the County Board of Supervisors had

the total cost of the building at $9,976.25.42

The sheriff of Kendall County was responsible for performing his duties as the sheriff, as well as the

duties of a janitor and landscaper at the jail and the courthouse. For this he was paid $1,000 a year in 1894.

He and his wife also received 40 cents a day per prisoner in board.43 By 1895, the County Supervisors agreed

to add 50 cents a day to the sheriff’s pay for all the janitorial and landscaping work he performed.44

The telephone came to the county courthouse and sheriff’s office in the jail in July of 1899, in an

agreement with the Northern Illinois Telephone Company. Free installation of phone service was provided in

exchange for allowing the company to erect telephone poles and string lines throughout Kendall County. Prior

to this agreement, all phone calls to the sheriff were taken by the Hotel Nadin in downtown Yorkville who

would dispatch a bellboy to summon the sheriff or deputy.45

Modern innovations did not stop with the telephone in 1899. By December of that year, the Board of

Supervisors voted to install electric lights in the jail and courthouse. An estimate of $230.00 to install electric

lights was approved in December of 1901.46 In June of 1902 the county payed the bill for installing electric

lights to the county’s buildings for $298.98.47

In 1900, the County Board of supervisors voted a sizable increase in compensation to the sheriff and

his wife for boarding prisoners. The new fees increased to 60 cents a day per prisoner which included meals

and laundry service.48

A wedding took place in the sheriff’s residence in February of 1903. Mrs. Voss, the sheriff’s wife

hosted a wedding for her brother, Mr. M. J. Richards of Aurora, and a Miss Ida L. Hormann of Aurora. The

wedding was officiated by Rev. S. W. Meeks.49

By June of 1907, plumbing problems at the sheriff’s residence and jail could no longer be ignored. A

major remodeling of the whole structure’s plumbing was undertaken. Prior to the remodel, prisoners were

taken once a week from their cells and escorted to the second floor of the sheriff’s residence into the family’s

bathroom to take a bath. The bathtub and other fixtures were taken from the second floor of the sheriff’s

residence and installed in the jail. New bathroom fixtures were installed in the sheriff’s residence. Altogether

four new closets (toilets), four enameled wash basins, one enameled bathtub, one enameled kitchen sink, one

sixty-six-gallon boiler and stand, one Ideal heater, and all the necessary faucets and piping were installed at a

cost of $437.12. In addition to the plumbing, the remodel included repainting the jail by C. N. Biegel for

$95.00. A new rubber cork floor was installed in the sheriff’s office and jail hallway.50



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The sheriff’s dual duty of working as the janitor for the county’s buildings, as well as being the sheriff,

ended in December of 1907. The Board of Supervisors voted to hire a janitor for the courthouse at $300 a

year.51

An inspection of the Kendall County jail by the Illinois State Charities Commission reported in

November of 1911 that hammocks were hanging in the jail cells “with clean blankets and pillows, are used for

beds”. The report also noted the jail had “high ceilings, excellent drainage, good plumbing and a sufficient

number of windows rendered the jail a sanitary place for confinement”.52

Big changes came to Kendall County when the women of Illinois were given the vote in 1914. Kendall

County had allowed women to vote for local offices (except sheriff) since 1892. With expanded suffrage,

women showed up to the polls in greater numbers. It is believed that the women’s vote was responsible for

voting Kendall County dry. Alcohol consumption and sales had always been illegal in Plano. Now the rest of

the county joined Plano in banning alcohol.53 By the close of day on May 7, 1914, all the saloons in Kendall

County were out of business.54

A garage was built on the southwest corner of the jail property, next to the sheriff’s residence. It

replaced a storage shed that sat in that location since the building was built. No details about the appearance

of, or the construction of the garage could be found in the county’s records, or the cost of construction. The

supervisor’s minutes do record that the expenditure was approved December 1, 1914. The garage provided

much needed storage for the sheriff’s automobile and its accessories.55

When the U. S. entered the Great War, the workload of the Kendall County’s sheriff’s office increased.

Many of the policemen from towns in Kendall County volunteered for service in the military, leaving a

manpower shortage. For two weeks in September of 1917, the Village of Yorkville had no police officers.56

Food and fuel shortages caused by the war affected the budget of the sheriff’s office. When the war ended,

the County Board of Supervisors approved an increase to 30 cents a meal or 90 cents a day for dieting

prisoners.57

Ridge Street was closed between the courthouse and the jail for a giant homecoming picnic held on

Thursday, September 25, 1917. The picnic honored not only the soldiers returning from the Great War, but

veterans from the Spanish American War and the Civil War. County offices and schools were closed for the

celebration. It was estimated that over 300 fighters attended.58 The county budgeted $1,000 for food (fried

chicken) and medals for the returning soldiers and sailors.59 The rest of the community joined in the

celebration. The Yorkville Opera House ran continuous motion pictures, free to all in uniform. The celebration

started with a band concert in the park, followed by a formal march by the veterans from the baseball field to

the courthouse. The day ended with a Plano vs. Yorkville baseball game and a free dance in the evening.60 A

reporter for the Kendall County Record wrote, “The man who could look on that scene and not feel the thrill of

love of country and pride of citizenship is too “ornery” to live. He should be shot at sunrise”.61

The new furnace installed in the sheriff’s residence in 1919 was not performing satisfactorily and had

to be replaced. In February of 1921 the Board of Supervisors approved the boiler replacement with a 1-C-60

type “C” boiler by the American Radiator Company and installed by J. K. Armbruster.62



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The County purchased lots three (3) and four (4) of block number 28 in downtown Yorkville. These two

lots are directly behind the sheriff’s residence and jail. By purchasing these lots, the County guaranteed that

these lots would remain undeveloped. The deed was recorded April 19, 1920.63

In 1922, the need for a major remodel of the jail was made apparent by the escape of Roy Henderson

and Harry Gabrielson, two chicken thieves from Plano. A third prisoner, Henry Peters of Sandwich, decided

not to take part in the escape.64 It was decided that reinforcement of the original jail structure would prevent

a similar jail break in the future. Garbe Iron Works of Aurora, Illinois was awarded the contract to secure ¼

inch thick steel plates, eight (8) feet in height to the brick walls on four sides of the jail rooms, exercise

corridor, and vestibule cage at the entrance of the jail. New ventilation grates, doors, and locks were also a

part of the $1,751.00 estimate. After the steel work was completed, G. O. Perkins and Harry Hiskey coated the

steel floors in cement at a cost of $88.00.65

Three years later a prisoner by the name of Trevo escaped the jail by working his way through the

window casing on the night of September 18, 1925. The Courthouse Committee of the Board of Supervisors

was called to the jail to access the damage. Garbe Iron Works was hired once again to perform the jail

improvements for a cost of $142.00.66

A prisoner visiting schedule was established by C. T. Carson, sheriff of Kendall County, in December of

1926. Prisoners could receive visitors on Tuesday from 2 to 4 p.m., Thursday from 2 to 4 p.m., and Saturday

from 2 to 5 p.m. Visitors were asked to use the jail entrance on the east side of the building and not disturb

the sheriff’s family in the residence.67

Rewiring was needed in the sheriff’s residence and jail to keep up with the growing use of electrical

appliances and equipment. In February of 1929, the Board of Supervisors approved rewiring of the building.68

In April of that year, a refrigerator was purchased for the sheriff’s residence.69 Repairs were made to the roof

in 1934.70

During the depths of the Great Depression the biggest crime problem was rural theft, primarily stealing

food, mainly chickens. One pair of chicken thieves became such a thorn in the side of law enforcement that

the county in 1932 offered a reward of $25.00 for the apprehension of Frank Sherman and Theodore Cain.71

In 1935 a force of 150 local men were deputized. These men patrolled county roads, two men per car, two

cars per township. The added surveillance kept the jail full. Additional cots had to be purchased that year.72

The Village of Yorkville found itself with no adequate place to keep prisoners, and no money to build a

proper jail. In December of 1934, Yorkville Village Trustees, F. G. Loomis and L. K. Devereaux came before

the County Board of Supervisors to request that Yorkville’s prisoners be lodged in the county jail at the regular

rates. Yorkville’s request was granted.73

On May 5, 1936 the Board of Supervisors voted to give the courthouse committee the power to

purchase and have showers installed for the jail.74 Additional remodeling was done in September of that year

when Linoleum floors were installed in the sheriff’s residence.75

Police radios were purchased and installed in the jail, the sheriff’s office in the courthouse, and

sheriff’s department vehicles in February of 1938.76



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The close of the 1930’s saw social progress in Kendall County, when in August of 1939 a woman bailiff

was hired. The sheriff was authorized to appoint a woman deputy as a bailiff for the Circuit Court when

necessary on a per diem basis. The sheriff’s wives had always been deputized and served as jail matrons when

women prisoners were in the jail, but they did not receive any pay for their service.77

A resolution was passed on May 7, 1940 to make improvements in the jail.78 Two months earlier, Ira

W. Perkins was paid $390.00 to remove an old cell door and buy and set a new door. The work in May

included a contract with Garbe Iron Works of Aurora for cell blocks and doors for $65.00. Plumbing work for

$260.00 by Cook Plumbing of Plano, IL., and floor and concrete work by Ira Perkins of Yorkville for $235.00. A

total of $1365.00 was spent on the remodel.79

A fire broke out in the jail on Tuesday, August 2, 1943. The sheriff, William A. Maier, discovered the

mattresses of two prisoners, Joseph Jeffries age 16 and his brother Nelson Jeffries age 14, were on fire. The

sheriff opened the cell door to wake the brothers and get them away from their burning beds. Two other

prisoners assisted the sheriff in putting out the fire, while the two brothers escaped. The boys traveled to the

outskirts of Oswego where they stole a car from a Mr. Myron Herren. The Jeffries brothers had plenty of

experience stealing automobiles, they were being held in the Kendall County Jail for auto theft for the eighth

and ninth time.80 The stolen car was recovered near Joliet, undamaged and filled with an extra five gallons of

gasoline. The boys were not apprehended.81

By January of 1947, the cost to board a prisoner had increased to $1.25 a day.82 The workload of the

sheriff had increased over the years, especially the paperwork. In December of 1948, the county board

approved the hiring of a clerk for the sheriff’s office in the courthouse.83 The cost to board a prisoner

increased again in 1951 to $1.50 a day.84

Technological advancements in communications developed for the military in WWII were put to use in

law enforcement after the war. The sheriff’s department had to continually update equipment to keep up

with the advances. In July of 1949, the county equipped all the sheriff’s department vehicles and the office at

the jail with two-way radios.85 By June of 1951, the system was replaced by shortwave radios at a cost of

$250.00 per car86. A remote-controlled aerial unit was purchased by the county in November of 1951, so that

the sheriff could be in contact with the deputies in the jail and the courthouse. The new technology allowed

the county sheriff’s office to communicate with village police forces and fire departments.87 In 1954, Newark’s

Fire Protection District hooked their radios into the county sheriff’s system.88

The words “Kendall County” were applied to the sheriff’s car in July of 1953. They were painted in

black letters on both sides of his car.89 By March of 1958, a new county logo was designed with gold letters.

The logo was applied to all the sheriff’s department vehicles. 90

On April 16, 1957, the City of Yorkville, the seat of Kendall County became the United City of Yorkville

and gained 550 residents. The Village of Bristol on the north side of the Fox River merged with Yorkville on the

south side of the river. The two villages had long shared a school district, and a fire department. Prior to the

merger, Bristol had no police force or water system of its own. Bristol also lacked a retail business district.

The village of Bristol Station to the northeast of Yorkville changed its name to Bristol.91



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The first meeting of the Kendall County Deputy Sheriff’s association was held on February 23, 1959.

The meeting attracted 40 members from all over the county. The purpose of the organization is to better train

volunteers to better perform assignments.92

In June of 1959 the supervisors approved the courthouse committee to take bids, and proceed with the

construction of a new garage at the county jail.93 In November of the same year Kendal Plumbing and Heating

Company installed a furnace in the new garage at the jail for $507.00.94 The old garage built in 1914, was

purchased by and moved to the property of a neighbor. The new garage had an apartment on the second

story for the under-sheriff’s family.95

New radio equipment was purchased for the sheriff’s department in August of 1963. The 42.50 Mc

and 155.37 Mc base station allowed Kendall County to have radio contact with Kane county and the State

Police96. More investments in improved telecommunications happened when a second telephone line was

installed at the sheriff’s office in the courthouse in July of 1964. The old telephone line was connected to the

sheriff’s residence.97

Manning the switchboard and answering emergency calls was primarily the job of the sheriff’s wife,

when the sheriff and his deputies were out of the jail. A switchboard was located in the kitchen of the sheriff’s

residence. The rest of the family assisted in answering emergency calls. Children old enough to answer the

telephone were trained how to run the switchboard. The sheriff’s wife even trained her children’s babysitters

on the switchboard.98

An auxiliary power unit for the courthouse and jail was installed in October of 1965. The decision was

made to install a generator after a sever windstorm on August 26th left the sheriff’s department and jail

without power for several hours.99

Kendall County received federal funds to purchase videotaping equipment for the sheriff’s department

in February of 1969. The equipment was demonstrated to the county board in April of 1969. Bob Como of

Telesound of Aurora, IL. showed how the equipment could be used at the scene of an accident to collect

evidence and record the actions of motorists suspected of driving under the influence. 100

During his term as sheriff, Thomas Usry (1970 – 1978) made internal modifications to the sheriff’s

residence and the jail. On the first floor he added walls to the booking room to create a combination

bathroom and laundry room. The addition of walls in the booking room also created a secured hallway for

prisoners to enter the building from the west side of the building. In the sheriff’s residence changes were

made to the dining room and staircase. Along the north wall of the dining room, a metal security door leading

from the sheriff’s residence to the sheriff’s office and jail was added. The wide entry to the dining room along

the dining room’s south wall was filled in to create more wall space to mount communications equipment. In

doing so, the decorative Victorian molding, the curved stair landing and the newel post were all removed. In

the attic or third floor of the sheriff’s residence, Mr. Usry added walls and electric baseboard heat to create

three rooms. He built a bedroom for his eldest child, a playroom for his children and a sewing room for

Pauleen his wife. The work on the third floor was done by Mr. Usry at his own expense.101



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February of 1970, the Board of Supervisors authorized the purchase of “Instant Print Stabilization Process” to

develop film prints in the sheriff’s office. By law film evidence must be sent in daily, and one day film

developing was not available in Kendall County.102

Kendall County qualified for a $10,000 grant to upgrade the counties communication system. A

representative from Motorola appeared before the county board at the September 1970 board meeting. The

total cost of the system is $21,985.00 which includes the erection of a 120-foot tower on the east side of the

jail. The system will work with the present alarm system in the jail, plus it will install 19-inch monitors in the

jail. The old system was transferred to the courthouse.103

A new data system LEADS was approved by the county board in March of 1971. The LEADS system would

make the sheriff’s department more efficient. The sheriff argued that the new data system was necessary

since the state jail inspection found that Kendall County had inadequate staff for the size of the jail. With the

new data system personnel staffing the radio room in the communication center in the jail could do double

duty, working on the files and working as jailers on the same shift.104 March of 1971 also brought highway

radar technology to the Kendall County Sheriff’s department. Each radar machine cost $1,600 which was paid

for with a matching grant from the State of Illinois Highway Safety Act.105

An article in the Chicago Tribune named the Kendall County jail as one of the worst in the State of Illinois. In

an article in the December 11, 1975 edition of the Kendall County Record, sheriff Usry defended the county

jail. The Tribune reporter’s criticism of the Kendall County jail centered around his claim that the jail facility

has no way to separate various degrees of offenders, and the jail was not secure enough for dangerous

prisoners. Sheriff Usry countered by stating that the Kendall County jail has three separate jail sections that

allow the separation of prisoners by sex, age, and degree of offense. He also countered by stating the fact that

in the past ten years only one prisoner was transferred for security reasons. Sheriff Usry made it clear that the

Kendall County jail has passed all inspections, and if conditions were that bad, the jail would have been

condemned. The Sheriff also noted that the jail was good enough to temporarily take all of Grundy County’s

prisoners for three months earlier this year while their new jail was being built.106

An inspection of the jail in April of 1977, found the jail complied with state standards but needed a few

improvements. The improvements included the fire alarm system, and two exits for each floor of the jail.107

In July of 1978 a complete inspection of the plumbing, heating and fire safety systems at the jail were found to

be in good working order. The Public Safety Committee of the County Board approved the construction of a

fire exit for the second floor of the jail.108

In October of 1978, the Usry family moved out of the sheriff’s residence when Sheriff Usry’s term as Kendall

County sheriff ended. Sheriff Usry’s successor Sheriff Frantz and his family did not move into the residence.

Instead he asked the board to get estimates to convert the residence and apartment into office space. In

January of 1979 the new sheriff hosted a tour of the jail asking citizens for input into the remodeling of the

facility for the expansion of the communication center.109

The remodeling of the sheriff’s residence to office space began in January of 1979. The county advertised for

bids. The first change was adding a counter in the sheriff’s department to provide more privacy. In March a

new 24 hour recording and logging system was purchased. By June a bid for plumbing work from Kendall



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Plumbing and Heating was accepted for $2300.00, and a bid for electrical work from Riemenshneider Electric

for $500.00 was accepted. This work was being done in the expanded communication center, now being

called the E. O. C. (Emergency Office of Communications) by the county.110

In the June 12, 1979 minutes of the Board of County Supervisors, a resolution was made to use Federal

Revenue Sharing Funds to pay for renovations to the sheriff residence and jail.111 By November of 1979, work

on the communication center or the E.O. C. was underway. The center was moved to the apartment above

the garage and plans called for the two buildings, the jail and the garage to be connected. Connecting the

garage and jail would give the building a sally port for the secure transport of prisoners. The jail entrance on

the east side of the building was removed, and brick masons filled in the doorway.112

In January of 1980, additions to the remodeling of the communications center were approved by the board,

including an additional $900.00 for air-conditioning and $1400.00 for acoustical paneling.113 A bid for painting

for $6000.00 was approved in March. Perkins Builders were called back to the building to fix the leaks in the

roof of the sally port that connected the jail building to the garage.114

A new generator which ran on natural gas was purchased in March of 1980. Prior to this the court house and

the jail shared a generator.115 Office equipment and furniture for the newly remodeled communication center

and sheriff’s offices were ordered in June of 1980 .The county took advantage of the remaining $16, 250 in

federal revenue sharing funds and installed electrical conduit to update the electrical system in July.116 In

August the decision was made to do more repair work on the old building’s gutters which were in bad

shape.117

By May of 1982, structural problems arose in the Sally Port where the communication center was

attached to the old building. The metal flashing installed did not allow for expansion and contraction with

temperature changes. Olson Roofing was hired to remove the metal flashing and replace it with a Ruberoid

flashing for $2428.00.118

May of 1982 brought bad news from the State Department of Corrections. The Kendall County jail

failed to pass inspection. The State contended that the jail failed to provide the space per prisoner required

by state law. Also, each cell is required to have a working toilet and wash basin with hot and cold-water taps.

Not all cells in the jail had the required plumbing. The women’s jail did not have a shower. Window screens

were replaced to meet Department of Correction’s standards.119

The heat of August in the summer of 1983 caused problems with the computer equipment in the

communications center. Western Union notified the county that the equipment will be damaged if the

temperature exceeded 85 degrees. The air conditioner could not handle the job of keeping the equipment

cool. The ceiling was reinsulated, and attic fans were added to solve the problem.120

In May of 1984, a citizen’s advisory committee came to the Kendall County Board with their

recommendations to correct the deficiencies the Department of Corrections found in the Kendall County jail.

The advisory committee suggested that an addition be added to the jail to provide the minimum space per

prisoner that the State requires. The committee thought adding on to the jail was a better path for the County

to follow than building a new jail. An addition would cost less money, and the taxpayers of Kendall County do



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not want their taxes increased to build a new jail. Also, the committee thought that an addition could be

completed by January 1, 1986, the date the State Department of Corrections gave the county to correct the

jail’s inadequacies. The committee suggested that tuckpointing of the original structure be added to the cost

of and addition since it is badly needed.121

At the February 14, 1985 Kendall County Board of Supervisors meeting, a resolution was passed to

form a task force to find a way to bring the jail into compliance with the state’s standards without burdening

the tax payers of Kendall County with the cost of building a new jail building.122

A combined meeting of the Public Safety Committee and the Building and Grounds committee of the

Kendall County Board of Supervisors met on January 30, 1986. The committee agreed to have women and

juvenile inmates sent to nearby counties until the issues with the state standards could be fixed. The

combined committee decided to contact consultants from the National Institute in Boulder, Colorado for

assistance. Lastly members of the committee agreed to tour jails in counties similar to Kendall County.123

A March 5, 1986 inspection of the Kendall County Jail found more problems with the facility. When

prior inspections were made, the second-floor fire escape stairs were covered in carpeting, so the inspectors

did not realize that the steps were wooden. After the carpets had been replaced with rubber treads, the

wooden steps were deemed a fire hazard.124

Results of the Jail Survey Trip were reported to the County Board on August 12, 1986. They visited the

jails in Marshall County and Woodward County. Both counties were able to meet the state standards by

remodeling their jails, which are roughly the same age as Kendall County’s jail. The counties spent between

$30.000 and $52,0000 on the remodels, however both counties farm out women and juvenile prisoners to

other county jails.125

The County Board agreed to accept bids to replace the carpet in the sheriff’s office with tile and to

build a secure room in the back of the jail garage to store car parts in January of 1987.126

The March 26, 1987 issue of the Kendall County Record reported on the 14-page report by Robert

Goble, a corrections consultant. He found that if the county remodeled the jail to create larger jail cells, it

would reduce the capacity of the jail. He warned that over time the county would spend more money in labor

costs to transport prisoners to jails in other counties than it would cost to build a new jail. Mr. Goble said that

the 94-year-old jail has probably been in use twice as long as could be expected.127

In April of 1987, Governor Jim Thompson recommended changes in the state’s jail standards, especially

where they apply to jails in rural counties. He also wanted to provide more grant money to small communities

to bring their jails up to standards. One suggestion was to allow dormitory type housing for short term

detainees rather than individual cells.128

Sheriff Randall requested the installation of ventilation fans to draw stale air away from the jail. The

fans were installed using funds that were earlier marked for painting the jail. The summer of 1987 also saw

flooding in the basement of the jail caused by a clogged drain during heavy rains.129



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The October 1987 meeting of the buildings and Grounds committee hosted Roger Kimme of Kimme

and Associates of Champaign, IL., an architectural firm that specializes in jails in small counties. He reported

that if Governor Thompson signs Senate Bill 85 into law, the Kendall County jail could legally hold only six

prisoners when the county average was 15.130

In the January 20, 1988, at the Building and Grounds meeting, a resolution was passed to build a new

county jail. The resolution called for a building which would house 50 inmates. A facility of that size would

require a staff of 13 or 14. The County Board agreed with the committee and in their February 9, 1988

meeting, they voted to approve the construction of a new county jail. Now the task of the County Board is to

find a site to build the new jail.131

In July of 1988, the Kendall County Board announced that a site for the new county jail was chosen. A

fifty-acre parcel of land was purchased from John Conover of Yorkville. The land was located along Rt. 34, on

the west side of Yorkville, was purchased for $500,000. The property was chosen over other sites within

Yorkville, because there were fewer nearby residences.132

While the County Board was busy choosing a design for the new jail and hiring an architect, the

business of the sheriff’s department went on. In October of 1988, the purchase of computers was authorized

for the sheriff’s department.133 In March of 1989 the jail’s sewer had to be rodded out134, and a new

dishwasher was purchased for the jail in August of 1989.135

With the new county jail building construction underway, the question of what to do with the old

sheriff’s residence and jail building was asked. The architectural firm of Corsetti and Russ of Joliet were hired

to compile a study of how the building can be converted to an office building.136

After the new county jail was completed, the county continued use the jail as a holding area for

inmates awaiting court appearances.137 A new use was found for the old jail building. The Kendall-Grundy

Department of Community Services (KGDCS) announced that as of October 1, 1992, that they will make the

old Kendall County sheriff’s residence and jail their home. The offices will also be accepting applications for

assistance in paying utility bills under the Low-Income Home energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP).138

In 1993, the Kendall County Board chose to build a new courthouse, joining the new county jail and

animal shelter at the county government center on Rt. 34 in Yorkville. The Yorkville City Council agreed

in February of 1995 to acquire the old Kendall County courthouse after the county vacates the building,

sometime in 1996. Along with purchasing the old courthouse, the City of Yorkville will have the right of first

refusal on the old sheriff’s residence and jail. If the city acquired the old jail, the county would remove the

building within 90 days per the agreement. The agreement also allows for the City of Yorkville to construct a

new building for their police department on the former jail site or leave it as open space.139

In October of 1995, the Kendall County Human Services Department merged with the Health

Department. By June of 1996 the newly merged county department was looking for new office space. The

department was housed in four different buildings. In July of 1996, the County Board signed a lease with the

Countryside Shopping Center in Yorkville to move the Health and Human Services Department to the former



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Pamida store. When the county human services offices moved out of the old Kendall County sheriff’s

residence and jail, the building was empty for the first time in 103 years. 140

The county state’s attorney, Tim McCann found that the transfer of the Kendall County old courthouse

and jail to be in violation of the Local Governmental Property Transfer Act. With the February 1995

agreement invalidated, the county could either reach a legal agreement with Yorkville to purchase the old

courthouse and jail or put the buildings up for auction.141 The county board continued to go back and forth

between trying to work out a property transfer agreement with Yorkville, and putting the buildings up for

auction until a community group came forward to save the old courthouse. With the assistance from the then

Speaker of the House, J. Dennis Hastert, federal and state funds, and private grant money was secured to

restore and renovate the old courthouse. In 2002 the old courthouse reopened as the offices of the forest

preserve and regional education offices.

In March of 2001, local resident Linzie Coffey, owner of Yorkville’s Pizza Express Restaurant, offered to

purchase the old jail. Mr. Coffey wanted to restore the residence for use as his family home and convert the

jail into a pizza restaurant.142 Despite support from members of the Yorkville city council, the county board

denied his request to purchase the jail. A county board member was quoted as saying that the worry was

what would happen to the building if the business failed. it would be better to have no building there then to

sell it to a business that could fail. Another board member stated the county would rather have control of the

building and restore it after the restoration of the courthouse was completed.143

The Kendall County Board drafted a Historic Jail Resolution and presented it at the September 2002

county board meeting. The resolution stated that the board members “supported the placement of the

building located at 109 West Madison Street, Yorkville. Illinois on the National Registry of Historic Buildings”

(the county’s resolution listed the wrong address).144 Joyce Barrett, a county resident, started the application

process to place the building on the register.145 In May of 2003, Mrs. Barrett asked the county board to

remove the sally port that connects the sheriff’s residence to the garage. She informed the county board that

it would be easier to place the building on the National Register if the sally port was removed.146 In the

meantime, Landmarks Preservation of Illinois placed the building on the Endangered List.147

The City of Yorkville put a bid on the old sheriff’s residence and jail in August of 2003. The city offered

$1 plus incidental costs. The offer included the provision that if the city sells the building within five years, any

profits would be split with the county.148 In August the county also accepted renovation proposals for the jail.

The proposed usages included restoring the building as a private residence, commercial and retail space,

public archives center, visitors center and demolition.149

The county chose a proposal submitted by Johnathan A. Biert, the president of J. B. Architecture Group

Inc. of Naperville, Illinois. The firm planned to convert the sheriff’s residence and jail into offices and retail

property.150 Less than a month later the J. B. Architecture Group dropped its bid to renovate the jail citing the

high cost of renovation.151

Landmark Preservation of Illinois offered to repair the roof of the old jail at no cost to Kendall County.

In October of 2004, the county board voted unanimously to accept Landmark Preservation’s offer to fix the

roof. The work was to be done before winter set in. The board also agreed to hold off on any decisions on the



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disposition of the building until June 1, 2005.152 Before repair work on the roof began, the county board

changed its mind. A few members were against any work being done to the building. They wanted the

building demolished and the site converted to much needed parking for Yorkville’s downtown businesses.153

By August of 2008, neglect of the sheriff’s residence and jail by the county left the building looking

shabby. A citizens group volunteered to do maintenance on the building. The county board agreed to allow

the volunteers to do yard work and paint the trim on the exterior of the building. The board was concerned

about lead paint, asbestos, and other hazards inside the building.154 A Phase 1 Environmental Site Assessment

was approved by the county board to identify asbestos and lead in the building.155

The widening of Rt. 47 through Yorkville eliminated the street parking in the downtown business

district. To compensate the city, the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) offered the city funds to

develop parking lots. Mayor Burd of Yorkville worked with the county board to purchase the jail and the two

empty lots to the north of the jail on which a parking lot could be built.156 Mayor Burd also worked with the

Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity to secure a grant an additional $64,000 in grant

money. This allowed the city to purchase the old Kendall County sheriff’s residence and jail, the two empty

lots to the north of the jail and build a parking lot without using taxpayer’s dollars.157 On March 23, 2010

United City of Yorkville Ordinance 2010-15 authorized the purchase of the jail.158

A group of volunteers cleaned up the interior of the old sheriff’s residence and jail.159 Piles of old

books, paperwork, and miscellaneous items were moved to the garage. Two haunted houses, spearheaded by

Alderman Robyn Prince Sutcliff were held in the residence and jail, in October of 2010 and October 2011.

Thirty Yorkville students volunteered to play zombies and approximately 1,100 guests went through the “Jail

of the Dead” on the first weekend.160 Almost $10,000 was raised from the “Jail of the Dead” over the two

years the event was held. Raising enough money to cover the cost of insurance and incidental expenses for

the jail for the next eight years.161 162 Graduate students from DePaul University filmed scenes for an

independent student film entitled “A Dangerous Film” in the old jail in August of 2011.163

In November of 2012, Imperial Investments, LLC submitted a proposal to purchase the jail and parking

lot site. The site would be developed as a venue for outdoor events with a planned amphitheater next to the

old jail site.164Stephane Todd of the Kendall County Preservationists, a citizens group announced a public

meeting in response to the offer by Imperial Investments, LLC. They were opposed to the offer because they

were worried that “venue for outdoor events” meant that the jail would be demolished. They would only

support the sale of the jail if a guarantee that the jail would not be demolished.

At the June 12, 2018 Yorkville city council meeting, the aldermen debated tearing down the old jail.

One alderman stated that “the building had no structural integrity and should be taken down” and “city

dollars spent to restore it to its original condition would be a waste”. Mayor Golinski felt the building should

come down and asked for a consensus for recommending full demolition. Members of the Yorkville Historical

Preservation Society, an organization of citizens formed in February of 2018, urged the council to reconsider

demolition. The Yorkville Historic Preservation Society (YHPS) asked members of the city council to go to the

Facebook site “Go Directly to Jail” to see the community support for saving the old sheriff’s residence and jail.

The city council voted to get bids for demolition.165



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A bid of $78,000 from D Construction of Coal City, Illinois for the demolition of the sheriff’s residence

and jail was received by the City of Yorkville.166 The city had planned to use TIF (tax increment financing)

dollars to pay for the demolition of the jail since the building is within the downtown Yorkville TIF district.

Members of the society (YHPS) contacted the Historic Preservation Division of the Illinois Department of

Natural Resources to see if the building was eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places.167

The group also contacted Landmarks Illinois and consulted an attorney and discovered that the city could not

use TIF funds to demolish the building because it was eligible for inclusion on the National Register.168

Citizens of Yorkville and Kendall County packed the city council chambers the evening of July 24, 2018

to urge council members to vote against demolition of the old sheriff’s residence and jail. The city council

postponed the vote for demolition for three months.169

The Yorkville Historic Preservation Society became an affiliate of the Community Foundation of Fox

Valley, a 501(c)(3) to be able to accept tax free contributions. As community support grew, local business

stepped up and joined the fight to save the old jail. Fund raisers were held at bars and restaurants around

Yorkville and throughout Kendall County.170 U. S. Senator Tammy Duckworth’s office in Washington DC was

contacted and a flag was flown over the capital building in Washington, DC in honor of the old Kendall County

sheriff’ residence and jail on July 30, 2018.171

At the October 9, 2018 city council meeting, members of the Yorkville Historic Preservation Society

presented a plan to restore the old jail. The group asked the city for a three-year lease of the building which

would allow the organization to apply for historic preservation grants. They also asked the city to pay for

asbestos, lead and mold abatement, a cost the city would have to incur regardless of whether they sold the

building or tore it down. Some of the alderman questioned the enthusiasm of society members and citied

that as a reason to deny granting the lease. The city again delayed the vote for demolition for two more

weeks.172 During this two weeks, Landmarks Illinois contacted the city administrator and discussed the federal

and state tax credits a developer could take advantage of if they purchased the building and restored it. A sale

to a private developer would also put the building on the city’s tax rolls.173 At the October 23, 2018 council

meeting, the board instructed the city manager to prepare an RFP (request for proposal) and place the

building up for sale.174 On November 13, 2018 the Yorkville city council voted unanimously to place the

building up for sale, the city would accept proposals through the last week of March 2019.175

Two groups offered proposals to purchase the old jail at the March 26, 2019 council meeting.

Imperfect Angels, a non-profit mentorship organization based in Aurora, Illinois and Peter McKnight and Cary

Coles, for-profit developers.176 Both parties interested in purchasing the building made a formal presentation

to the city council at the June 25, 2019 meeting. In a private session the alderman chose to continue to

negotiate terms for the sale of the old sheriff’s residence and jail with the for-profit developers, Peter

McKnight and Cary Coles of KCJ Restorations LLC.177

In July and August of 2019, the developers worked with the city to iron out details of a purchasing

agreement. The city parking lot that that occupies lots three and four of block 28 of the City of Yorkville was

separated from the property.178 On the night of August 27, 2019, Mayor John Purcell called for a change in

the agenda of the meeting and moved the vote on the sale of the old jail to the top of the agenda. The



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Yorkville city council voted unanimously to sell the old Kendall County sheriff’s residence and jail to KCJ

Restorations LLC. Then the mayor called for a temporary adjournment of the meeting so attendees could

enjoy cake and refreshments provided by the Yorkville Historic Preservation Society.179

After sitting abandoned and neglected for twenty-three years, badly needed repairs began on the old Kendall

County sheriff’s residence and jail. A new asphalt roof was installed on the building on October 15, 2019.180

On October 25th and 26th, the sally port which connected the sheriff’s residence to the garage was removed.

For the first time in almost forty years, the west side of the sheriff’s residence saw the light of day. In

December of 2019, asbestos and lead paint abatement was completed on the property.

End Notes *need to be numbered i Kendall County Record Newspaper 6, July 1904 vol. 41 no. 27

i Lucinda Tio and Kathy Farren A History of Yorkville, Illinois 1836 – 1986, (Naperville, IL.: Naperville Sun Printing, 1986), pp14.

i Rev. E. W. Hick History of Kendall County Illinois from the Earliest Discoveries to the Present Time. (Aurora IL.: Knickerbocker and Hodder, 1877) pp.240

i Tio and Farren. Pp.14



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i Matile, Roger. “The Great County Seat War.” Fox Valley Living June/July 1990: F6

iBeacon News 30, June 1991: F6

i Vernon, Derry Thrift Corner Yarns Aurora Savings and Loan, Vol. 7 January 1962.

i Matile, Roger. S-14.

i Matile, Roger (Historian for the Kendall County Record/Oswego Ledger Newspapers) personal interview: 22, July 2018.

i Matile, Roger. “The Great County Seat War.” Fox Valley Living June/July 1990: s-15.

i Matile, Roger: s-15

i Kendall County Record 10, November 1867 vol.4 no.45

i Kendall County Record 17, November 1867 vol 4 no 46 i Kendall County Supervisors Records. Vol. C. Kendall County Clerk’s Office. Yorkville, IL. April 12, 1887.

i Tio and Farren., pp34. i Kendall County Record 16 February 1887: vol.24 no.7 i Kendall County Record 16 February 1887: vol. 24 no. 7 i Kendall County Supervisors Records Vol. C Kendall County Clerk’s Office. Yorkville, IL., April 7, 1887. i Kendall County Supervisors Records Vol. C Kendall County Clerk’s Office Yorkville, IL., April 7, 1887. i Tio and Farren., pp.34. i Kendall County Record 25 January 1888: vol. 25 no. 4. i Kendall County Record 11 February 1891: vol. 28 no. 10. i Kendall County Record 17 September 1890: vol. 27 no. 38. i Kendall County Supervisors Records Vol. C Kendall County Clerk’s Office Yorkville, IL., September 13, 1892 i Specifications for the Construction of the Kendall County Sheriff’s Residence and Jail., Authors Private Collection., October 11, 1892. pp. 1. i Warranty Deed., Book 48 Office of the Kendall County Recorder., pp. 591, 592. i Kendall County Supervisors Records Vol. C Kendall County Clerk’s Office Yorkville, IL., November 9, 1892. i Kendall County Supervisors Records Vol. C Kendall County Clerk’s Office Yorkville, IL., February 17, 1893. i Specifications for the Construction of the Kendall County Sheriff’s Residence and Jail, Authors Private Collection., October 11, 1892 pp. 2, 4, and 5. i Specifications for the Construction of the Kendall County Sheriff’s Residence and Jail, Authors Private



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Collection, October 11, 1892 p. 8. i Kendall County Record 17 May 1893: vol. 30 no. 20. i Illustrated Descriptive Catalogue of Steel Jail Cells and Other Steel and Iron Work for County Jails and Other Prisons Manufactured by the Pauly Jail Building and Manufacturing Company. Authors Private Collection. i Specifications for the Construction of the Kendall County Sheriff’s Residence and Jail, Authors Private Collection, October 11, 1892 p.17. i Specifications for the Construction of the Kendall County Sheriff’s Residence and Jail, Authors Private Collection, October 11, 1892 p.21. i Specifications for the Construction of the Kendall County Sheriff’s Residence and Jail, Authors Private Collection, October 11, 1892 p. 18. i www.paulyjail.com/mechanism-for-opening-closing-and -locking-jail-doors-patent-no-480-476. i Specifications for the Construction of the Kendall County Sheriff’s Residence and Jail, Authors Private Collection, October 11, 1892 pp. 9 and 10. i Kendall County Supervisors Records Vol .C Kendall County Clerk’s Office Yorkville, IL., July 10, 1893. i Kendall County Record 26 July 1893: vol.30 no. 30. i Kendall County Supervisors Records Vol. C Kendall County Clerk’s Office Yorkville, IL., September 12, 1893. i Kendall County Record 16 August 1893: vol.30 no.33. i Kendall County Supervisors Records Vol. C Kendall County Clerk’s Office Yorkville, IL., September 12, 1893. i Kendall County Supervisors Records Vol. C Kendall County Clerk’s Office Yorkville, IL., September 11, 1894. i Kendall County Supervisors Records Vol. C Kendall County Clerk’s Office Yorkville, IL., July 8, 1895. i Kendall County Supervisors Records Vol. C Kendall County Clerk’s Office Yorkville, IL., June 12, 1899. i Kendall County Supervisors Records Vol. C Kendall County Clerk’s Office Yorkville, IL., December 12, 1901. i Kendall County Supervisors Records Vol. C Kendall County Clerk’s Office Yorkville, IL., June 9, 1902. i Kendall County Supervisors Records Vol. C Kendall County Clerk’s Office Yorkville, IL., June 11, 1900. i Kendall County Record 11 February 1903: vol. 40 no. 6. i Kendall County Supervisors Records Vol. D Kendall County Clerk’s Office Yorkville, IL., June 17, 1907. i Kendall County Supervisors Records Vol. D Kendal County Clerk’s Office Yorkville, IL., December 10, 1907. i Annual Report of the State Charites Commission (1910), Illinois State Charities Commission, Springfield, IL. i Kendall County Record 7 April 1914: vol. 51 no. 14.

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i Kendall County Record 15 April 1914: vol. 51 no. 15. i Kendall County Supervisors Records Vol. D Kendall County Clerk’s Office Yorkville, IL., December 1, 1914. i Kendall County Record 5 September 1917 and 12 September 1917: vol. 54 no. 36 and 37. i Kendall County Supervisors Records Vol. D Kendall County Clerk’s Office Yorkville, IL., December 2, 1918. i Kendall County Record 10 September 1919: vol. 56 no.37. i Kendall County Supervisors Records Vol. D Kendall County Clerk’s Office Yorkville, IL., September 19, 1919. i Kendall County Record 24 September 1919: vol.56 no. 39. i Kendall County Record 1 October 1919: vol. 56 no. 40. i Kendall County Supervisors Records Vol. E Kendall County Clerk’s Office Yorkville, IL., February 15,1921. i Warrantee Deed: Book 73 Office of the Kendall County Recorder Yorkville, IL., April 19, 1920. P. 159. i Kendall County Record 7 June 1922: vol. 59 no. 23. i Kendall County Supervisors Records Vol. E Kendall County Clerk’s Office Yorkville, IL., June 12, 1922. i Kendall County Supervisors Records Vol. E Kendall County Clerk’s Office Yorkville, IL., February 9, 1926. i Kendall County Record 22 December 1926: vol. 63 no.51. i Kendall County Supervisors Records Vol. E Kendall County Clerk’s Office Yorkville, IL., February 12, 1929. i Kendall County Supervisors Records Vol. E Kendall County Clerk’s Office Yorkville, IL., April 9, 1929. i Kendall County Supervisors Records Vol. F Kendall County Clerk’s Office Yorkville, IL., September 17, 1934. i Kendall County Supervisors Records Vol. F Kendall County Clerk’s Office Yorkville, IL., February 16, 1932. i Oswego Ledger 25 March 1954: vol.5 no. 20. i Kendall County Supervisors Records Vol. F Kendall County Clerk’s Office Yorkville, IL., December 6, 1934. i Kendall County Supervisors Records Vol. F Kendall County Clerk’s Office Yorkville, IL., May 5, 1936. i Kendall County Supervisors Records Vol. G Kendall County Clerk’s Office Yorkville, IL., September 10, 1936. i Kendall County Supervisors Records Vol. G Kendall County Clerk’s Office Yorkville, IL., February 8, 1938. i Kendall County Supervisors Records Vol. G Kendall County Clerk’s Office Yorkville, IL., August 15, 1939. i Kendall County Supervisors Records Vol. G Kendall County Clerk’s Office Yorkville, IL., March 12, 1940. iKendall County Supervisors Records Vol. G Kendall County Clerk’s Office Yorkville, IL., May 7, 1940. iKendall County Record 4 August 1943: vol. 77 no.31.



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i Kendall County Record 11 August 1943: vol.77 no.32. i Kendall County Supervisors Records Vol. H Kendall County Clerk’s Office Yorkville, IL., January 7, 1947. i Kendall County Supervisors Records Vol. I Kendall County Clerk’s Office Yorkville, IL., December 14, 1948. i Kendall County Supervisors Records Vol. I Kendall County Clerk’s Office Yorkville, IL., February 13, 1951. i Kendall County Supervisors Records Vol. I Kendall County Clerk’s Office Yorkville, IL., July 12, 1949. i Kendall County Supervisors Records Vol. I Kendall County Clerk’s Office Yorkville, IL., June 11, 1951. i Kendall County Supervisors Records Vol. I Kendall County Clerk’s Office Yorkville, IL., November 13, 1951. i Kendall County Supervisors Records Vol. I Kendall County Clerk’s Office Yorkville, IL., May 11, 1954. i Kendall County Supervisors Records Vol. I Kendall County Clerk’s Office Yorkville, IL., July 14, 1953. i Kendall County Supervisors Records Vol. K Kendall County Clerk’s Office Yorkville, IL., March 13, 1958. i Kendall County Record 3 July 1968: vol. 105 no. 27. i Kendall County Record 26 February 1959: vol. 96 no. 9. i Kendall County Supervisors Records Vol. K Kendall County Clerk’s Office Yorkville, IL., June 8, 1959. i Kendall County Supervisors Records Vol. K Kendall County Clerk’s Office Yorkville, IL., November 27, 1959. i Marx, Bonnie Willman (daughter of sheriff Frank Willman). Personal interview with Howard Manthei. September 2011. i Kendall County Supervisors Records Vol. L Kendall County Clerk’s Office Yorkville, IL., August 13, 1963 i Kendall County Record 9 July 1964: vol. 101 no.36. i Marx, Bonnie Willman (daughter of sheriff Frank Willman). Personal Interview with Howard Manthei. September 2011. i Kendall County Record 26 October 1965: vol. 102 no. 43 i Kendall County Supervisors Records Vol. M Kendall County Clerk’s Office Yorkville, IL., April 8, 1969 i Usry Jr., Thomas (son of sheriff Thomas Usry). Personal interview. 11 August 2018 i Kendall County Record 19 March 1970: vol. 107 no. 12 i Kendall County Supervisors Records Vol. N Kendall County Clerk’s Office Yorkville, IL., September 8, 1970 i Kendall County Record 18 March 1971: vol. 108 no. 11 i Kendall County Record 25 March 1971: vol.108 no. 12



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i Kendall County Record 11 December 1975: vol. 112 no.50 i Kendall County Record 16 June 1977: vol. 114 no.24 i Kendall County Supervisors Records Vol. P Kendall County Clerk’s Office Yorkville, IL., July 11, 1978 i Kendall County Record 25 January 1979: vol. 116 no. 4 i Kendall County Record 21 June 1979: vol. 116 no. 24 i Kendall County Supervisors Records Vol. Q Kendall County Clerk’s Office Yorkville, IL., June 12, 1979 i Kendall County Record 29 November 1979: vol.116 no. 48 i Kendall County Supervisors Records Vol. Q Kendall County Clerk’s Office Yorkville, IL., January 8, 1980 i Kendall County Supervisors Records Vol. Q Kendall County Clerk’s Office Yorkville, IL., March 11, 1980 i Kendall County Record 29 March 1980: vol. 117 no. 12 i Kendall County Supervisors Records Vol. Q Kendall County Clerk’s Office Yorkville, IL., July 8, 1980 i Kendall County Supervisors Records Vol. Q Kendall County Clerk’s Office Yorkville, IL., August 12, 1980 i Kendall County Supervisors Records Vol. R Kendall County Clerk’s Office Yorkville, IL., May 11, 1982 i Kendall County Record 13 May 1982: vol. 119 no. 19 i Kendall County Supervisors Records Vol. S Kendall County Clerk’s Office Yorkville, IL., August 9, 1983 i Kendall County Record 9 May 1984: vol. 121 no. 19 i Kendall County Supervisors Records Vol. S Kendall County Clerk’s Office Yorkville, IL., February 14, 1985 iKendall County Supervisors Records Vol. T Kendall County Clerk’s Office Yorkville, IL., January 30, 1986 iKendall County Record 24 April 1986: vol. 123 no. 17 i Kendall County Supervisors Records Vol. T Kendall County Clerk’s Office Yorkville, IL., August 12, 1986 i Kendall County Supervisors Records Vol. T Kendall County Clerk’s Office Yorkville, IL., January 21, 1987 i Kendall County Record 26 March 1987: vol. 124 no. 13 i Kendall County Record 30 April 1987: vol. 124 no. 18 i Kendall County Supervisors Records Vol. U Kendall County Clerk’s Office Yorkville, IL., August 11, 1987 i Kendall County Record 29 October 1987: vol. 124 no. 44 i Kendall County Supervisors Records Vol. U Kendall County Clerk’s Office Yorkville, IL., February 18, 1988 i Kendall County Record 14 July 1988: vol. 125 no. 28



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i Kendall County Supervisors Records Vol. U Kendall County Clerk’s Office Yorkville, IL., October 11, 1988 i Kendall County Supervisors Records Vol. U Kendall County Clerk’s Office Yorkville, IL., March 22, 1988 i Kendall County Supervisors Records Vol. V Kendall County Clerk’s Office Yorkville, IL., September 12, 1989 i Kendall County Record 4 January 1990: vol. 126 no. 1 i Kendall County Record 28 May 1992: vol. 129 no. 22 i Kendall County Record 24 September 1992: vol. 129 no. 39 i Kendall County Record 16 February 1995: vol. 131 no. 7 i Kendall County Supervisor Records Vol. 1996 Kendall County Clerk’s Office Yorkville, IL., July 18, 1996 i Kendall County Record 20 March 1997: vol. 133 no. 12 i Kendall County Record 1 March 2001: vol. 137 no. 9 i Kendall County Record 22 March 2001: vol. 137 no. 12 i Kendall County Supervisors Records Vol. 2002 Kendall County Clerk’s Office Yorkville, IL., November 9, 2002 i Kendall County Record 29 August 2002: vol. 138 no. 35 i Kendall County Record 15 May 2003: vol. 139 no. 20 i Kendall County Record 13 March 2003: vol. 139 no. 11 i Kendall County Record 14 August 2003: vol. 139 no. 33 i Kendall County Record 21 August 2003: vol. 139 no. 34 i Kendall County Record 6 November 2003: vol. 139 no. 45 i Kendall County Record 4 December 2003: vol. 139 no. 49 i Kendall County Supervisors Records Vol. 2004 Kendall County Clerk’s Office Yorkville, IL., October 5, 2004 i Purcell, John and Anne Vickery (former Kendall County board members). Personal interview. 12 March 2019 i Kendall County Record 7 August 2008: vol. 144 no. 32 i Kendall County Supervisors Records Vol. 2008 Kendall County Clerk’s Office Yorkville, IL., September 2, 2008 i Kendall County Record 16 July 2009: vol. 145 no.29 i Yorkville City Council Minutes Yorkville City Hall Yorkville, IL., January 12, 2010 i Yorkville City Council Minutes Yorkville City Hall Yorkville, IL., March 23, 2010



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iYorkville City Council Minutes Yorkville City Hall Yorkville, IL., October 26, 2010 i Yorkville City Council Minutes Yorkville City Hall Yorkville, IL., January 11, 2011 i Yorkville City Council Minutes Yorkville City Hall Yorkville, IL., November 13, 2012 i Accounting Records for the United City of Yorkville’s General Fund. Yorkville City Hall. Yorkville, Illinois. October 12, 2018. i Kendall County Record 27 August 2011: vol. 147 no. 30 i Kendall County Record 22 November 2012: vol. 148 no. 47 i Yorkville City Council Minutes Yorkville City Hall Yorkville, IL., June 12, 2018 i Kendall County Record 19 July 2018: vol. 154 no.21 i Yorkville Public Works Meeting Minutes Yorkville City Hall Yorkville, IL., July 17,2018 i Yorkville City Council Meeting Yorkville City Hall Yorkville, IL., July 24, 2018 . i Kendall County Record 26 July 2018: vol.154 no.30 i Kendall County Record 9 August 2018: vol. 154 no.32 i Kendall County Record 16 August 2018: vol. 154 no. 33 i Kendall County Record 11 October 2018: vol. 154 no.41 i Kendall County Record 25 October 2018: vol. 154 no. 43 i Yorkville City Council Meeting Yorkville City Hall Yorkville, IL., October 23, 2018 i Kendall County Record 15 November 2018: vol. 154 no. 46 i Kendall County Record 28 March 2019: vol. 155 no. 13 i Yorkville City Council Meeting Yorkville City Hall Yorkville, IL., June 25, 2019 i Economic Development Committee Meeting Yorkville City Hall Yorkville, IL., August 6, 2019 i Kendall County Record 29 August 2019: vol. 155 no. 35 i Bachman, Tyler. (2019, October 15) “Work Begins on Old Kendall County Jail in Yorkville”. WSPYNEWS.com.



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. Major Bibliographical References

Bibliography (Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form.)

Architectural References

Ching, Francis D.K. A Visual Dictionary of Architecture. New York: Van Nurstrand Reinhold, 1995.

Parker, John Henry. A Concise Dictionary of Architectural Terms. Mineola, New York: Dover Publications, INC. 2019

Ramsey/Steeper. Architectural Graphic Standards 10th Edition. John Ray Hoke, Jr. Editor in Chief FAIA. New York: John

Wiley and Sons, Inc. 2000.



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Catalogue

Illustrated Descriptive Catalogue of Steel Jail Cells and Other Steel and Iron Work for County Jails and Other Prisons

Manufactured by the Pauly Jail Building and Manufacturing Company. Authors Private Collection.

Government Records

Illinois State Charities Commission. Annual Report of the State Charities Commission Springfield, IL: 1910

Histories

Derry, Vernon. Thrifty Corner Yarns. Volume 7. Aurora, IL.: Aurora Savings and Loan. 1962.

Hicks, Reverend E. W. History of Kendall County Illinois from the Earliest Discoveries to the Present Time. Aurora, IL.:

Knickerbocker and Hodder, Steam Printers. 1877.

Tio, Lucinda and Kathy Farren. A History of Yorkville, Illinois 1836-1986. Naperville, IL.: Naperville Sun Printing. 1986.

Internet

Bachman, Tyler (2019, October 15) “Work Begins on Old Kendall County Jail in Yorkville” . WSPY.com.

www.paulyjail.com/mechanism-for-opening-closing-and-locking-jail-doors-patient-no-480-476.

Interviews

Marx, Bonnie Willman (daughter of sheriff Frank Willman) Personal Interview with Howard Manthei. September 2011.

Purcell, John and Ann Vickery (former Kendall County board members). Personal Interview. March 12, 2019.

Usry Jr., Thomas (son of sheriff Thomas Usry) Personal Interview. August 11, 2018.

Newspapers and Magazines

Beacon News. 30, June 1991: F6.

Kendall County Record. 16, February 1887 vol. 24 no. 7: 25, January 1888 vol. 25 no. 4: 17, September 1890 vol. 27 no.

38: 11, February 1891 vol. 28 no. 10: 17, May 1893 vol. 30 no. 20: 26, July 1893 vol. 30 no. 30: 16, August 1893 vol. 30

no. 33: 11, February 1903 vol. 40 no. 6: 6, July 1904 vol. 41 no.27:

Kendall County Record. 7, April 1914 vol. 51 no. 14: 15, April 1914 vol. 51 no. 15: 5, September 1917 vol. 54 no. 36:

12, September 1917 vol. 54 no. 37: 10, September 1919 vol. 56 no. 37: 24, September 1919 no. 56 no. 39: 1, October

1919 vol. 56 no. 40: 7, June 1922vol. 59 no. 23: 22, December 1926 vol. 63 no .51: 4, August 1943 vol. 77 no .31: 11,

August 1943 vol. 77 no. 32: 26, February 1959 vol. 96 no. 9: 9, July 1964 vol. 101 no. 36: 26, October 1965 vol. 102 no.

43: 3, July 1968 vol. 105 no. 27: 19, March 1970 vol. 107 no. 12: 18, March 1971 vol. 108 no. 11: 25, March 1971 vol.

108 no. 12: 11, December 1975 vol. 112 no. 50: 5, 16, June 1977 vol. 114 no. 24: 25 January 1979 vol. 116 no. 4: 21,

June 1979 vol. 116 no. 24: 29, November 1979 vol. 116 no. 48: 29, March 1980 vol. 117 no. 12: 13, May 1980 vol. 119

no. 19: 9, May 1984 vol. 121 no. 9: 24, April 1986 vol. 123 no. 17: 26, March 1987 vol. 124 no. 13: 30, April 1987 vol.

124 no. 18: 29, October 1987 vol .124 no. 44: 14, July 1988 vol. 125 no. 28: 4, January 1990 vol. 126 no. 1: 28, May

1992 vol. 129 no. 22: 24, September vol. 129 no. 39: 16, February 1995 vol. 131 no. 7: 20, March 1997 vol. 133 no. 12:

1, March 2001 vol. 137 no. 9: 22, March 2001 vol. 137 no. 12: 29, August 2002 vol. 138 no. 35: 13, March 2003 vol. 139

no. 11: 15, May 2003 vol. 139 no. 20: 14, August 2003 vol. 139 no. 33: 21, August 2003 vol. 139 no. 34: 6, November

2003 vol. 139 no. 45: 4, December 2003 vol. 139 no. 49: 7, August 2008 vol. 144 no. 32: 16, July 2009 vol. 145 no. 29:

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27 ,August 2011 vol. 147 no. 30: 22, November 2012 vol. 148 no. 47: 19, July vol. 14 no. 21: 26, July 2018 vol. 154 no.

30: 16, August 2018 vol. 154 no. 33: 11, October 2018 col. 154 no. 41: 25, October 2018 vol. 154 no. 43: 15, November

2018 vol. 154 no. 46: 28, March 2019 vol. 155 no. 13: 29, August 2019 vol. 155 no. 35.

Matile, Roger “The Great County Seat War”. Fox Valley Living June/July 1990.

Oswego Ledger 25, March 1954 vol. 15 no. 20.

Unpublished Material

Accounting Records for the United City of Yorkville’s General Fund. October12, 2018. Yorkville City Hall. Yorkville,

Illinois.

Economic Development Committee Meeting. August 6, 2019. Yorkville City Hall. Yorkville, Illinois.

Kendall County Supervisors Records. vol. C, vol. D, vol. E, vol. F, vol. G, vol. H, vol. I, vol. K, vol. L, vol. M, vol. N, vol. O,

vol. P, vol. Q, vol. R, vol. S, vol. T, vol. U, vol. V. Kendall County Clerk’s Office. Yorkville, IL.

Kendall County Supervisors Records. vol. 1996, vol. 2002, vol. 2004, vol. 2008. Kendall County Clerk’s Office. Yorkville,

Illinois.

Specifications for the Construction of the Kendall County Sheriff’s Residence and Jail. Author’s Private Collection. 1892.

Warrantee Deed. Book 48. Office of the Kendall County Recorder. Yorkville, Illinois.

Warrantee Deed. Book 73. Office of the Kendall County Recorder. Yorkville, Illinois. April 19, 1920.

Yorkville City Council Minutes. January 20, 2010: March 23, 2010: October 26, 2010: January 11, 2011: November 13,

2012: June 12, 2018: July 24, 2018: October 23, 2018: June 25, 2019. Yorkville, City Hall. Yorkville, Illinois.

Yorkville Public Works Meeting. July 17, 2018. Yorkville City Hall. Yorkville, Illinois.

Previous documentation on file (NPS): Primary location of additional data:

preliminary determination of individual listing (36 CFR 67 has been State Historic Preservation Office requested) Other State agency

previously listed in the National Register Federal agency

previously determined eligible by the National Register Local government

designated a National Historic Landmark University

recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey #____________ Other

recorded by Historic American Engineering Record # __________ Name of repository: recorded by Historic American Landscape Survey # ___________

Historic Resources Survey Number (if assigned): N/A



Residence and Jail Kendall, Illinois Name of Property County and State

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10. Geographical Data

Acreage of Property F Less than one (Do not include previously listed resource acreage; enter “Less than one” if the acreage is .99 or less)

Latitude/Longitude Coordinates

Datum if other than WGS84: F (enter coordinates to 6 decimal places)

Lots 1, 2, 3, and 4 Block 28 Original Village Yorkville, Illinois ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Verbal Boundary Description (Describe the boundaries of the property.)

The Old Kendall County Sheriff’s Residence and Jail is located on parcel #02-32-287-001 on block 28 lots 1 and 2 in the original Village of Yorkville, Illinois. A copy of the original deed is on file in the Recorders Office for Kendall County. The original deed is dated November 14, 1892.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Boundary Justification (Explain why the boundaries were selected.)

The boundaries include the Old Kendall County Sheriff’s Residence and Jail and lots 1 and 2 of block 28 of the original Village of Yorkville, Illinois. The boundaries include the lots historically associated with the buildings.

11. Form Prepared By

name/title Johanna Byram date October 2019

organization Yorkville Historic Preservation Society telephone (630) 636-8462

street & number 605 State Street email [email protected]

city or town Yorkville state IL. zip code 60560

1 41.640923 88.448278 3

Latitude Longitude Latitude Longitude

2 4

Latitude Longitude Latitude Longitude




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Additional Documentation

Submit the following items with the completed form:

• GIS Location Map (Google Earth or BING)

• Local Location Map

• Site Plan

• Floor Plans (As Applicable)

• Photo Location Map (Include for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous resources. Key all photographs to

this map and insert immediately after the photo log and before the list of figures).




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NOT TO SCALE

-

Site Plan

Old Kendall County Sheriff's Residence & JailKendall County, Illinois




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Sketch c.1893 shortly after completion




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Photographs:

Submit clear and descriptive photographs. The size of each image must be 3000x2000 pixels, at 300 ppi (pixels per inch) or larger. Key all photographs to the sketch map. Each photograph must be numbered and that number must correspond to the photograph number on the photo log. For simplicity, the name of the photographer, photo date, etc. may be listed once on the photograph log and doesn’t need to be labeled on every photograph.

Photo Log

Name of Property: Old Kendall County Sheriff’s Residence and Jail

City or Vicinity: United City of Yorkville

County: Kendall State: Illinois

Photographer:

Date Photographed:

Description of Photograph(s) and number, include description of view indicating direction of camera:

-Photos that follow date from c.2003-2019

-Final nomination photos are forthcoming




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Southwest Corner (residence)

Northeast Corner (jail)




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Northside showing the Sally Port connector before it was removed in December 2019




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Current Images - southside of the two buildings without Sally Port connection




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Southwest corner prior to Sally Port Connector removal




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Living Room (residence)




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Living Room (residence)




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]




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First floor jail table

top of stairs - second floor jail

first floor entry to jail

s second floor cells

interior cell

entry to jail from residence




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Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This information is being collected for applications to the National Register of Historic Places to nominate properties for listing or determine eligibility for listing, to list properties, and to amend existing listings. Response to this request is required to obtain a benefit in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended (16 U.S.C.460 et seq.). Estimated Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this form is estimated to average 100 hours per response including time for reviewing instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the form. Direct comments regarding this burden estimate or any aspect of this form to the Office of Planning and Performance Management. U.S. Dept. of the Interior, 1849 C. Street, NW, Washington, DC.

United States Department of the Interior National Park ......wraps around the entire sheriff’s...

Documents

Transcript of United States Department of the Interior National Park ......wraps around the entire sheriff’s...