The 1857 Italianate Old Courthouse was constructed to closely resemble the 1853 Cook County Courthouse ( which was eventually destroyed during the Great Chicago Fire ) . The structure was designed by John M. Van Osdel , the first licensed architect in Chicago . The adjoining structure , the Sheriff 's House and Jail was built in 1887 . It was there , in the Sheriff 's House and Jail that Eugene Debs was held for his refusal to comply with an injunction during the Pullman Strike . Until 1973 McHenry County government office were located in the Old Courthouse . When the government moved out , the building was threatened with demolition , as it stood on prime commercial property . On November 1 , 1974 , it was recognized by the National Park Service on the National Register of Historic Places . Eight years later it was listed as a contributing property to the Woodstock Square Historic District , a corridor in downtown Woodstock . Today the two buildings house two restaurants , one in each building , and art gallery ( in the courthouse ) , a pottery shop ( in the jail building ) and the Chester Gould-Dick Tracy Museum
Great Chicago Fire
Great Chicago Fire
Old McHenry County Courthouse