ALLOUEZ — The Village of Allouez Board has voted to designate Wisconsin’s First Courthouse Monument, located on the grounds of Heritage Hill State Park, as a local landmark. This marks the second Allouez local landmark designation, the first being the Fort Howard Guardhouse, also located on the grounds of Heritage Hill.
Construction of Wisconsin’s First Courthouse Monument started in 1933 by the Green Bay Reformatory prison inmates, when Heritage Hill’s current property was still part of the Prison Orchard system. The inmates’ labor included mining and prepping the grey granite, quarried in Antigo, Wisconsin, and building the curved stone and mortar wall, heavy piece by piece.
This location was chosen because it was believed to mark the site of the first courthouse in Wisconsin. This was later confirmed by an archaeological dig in 1973, when the Wisconsin Historical Society unearthed, what they believed to be, an original foundation corner a few yards away from the Monument.
The Monument was completed in 1934. An additional special feature of the Monument is a time capsule installed in the cornerstone. It is set to be opened in 2034.
