World's Largest Gavel (Clark County Courthouse)

Marshall, Illinois, United States

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Listed, not yet checked · Oct 2026

This Big Thing is recorded as still being here.

A red-oak gavel about 16 feet long stands at the Clark County Courthouse, 501 Archer Avenue, Marshall, Illinois. Made by Jim Bolin of Casey and unveiled in 2018, it is listed by Guinness World Records as the largest gavel.

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World's Largest Gavel (Clark County Courthouse)

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Site-level location · 39.3899° N, 87.6961° W

FIELD GUIDE

The story

A red-oak gavel more than 16 feet long rests at the front of the Clark County Courthouse in Marshall, Illinois, and it was built by the man behind the giant objects of nearby Casey.

Jim Bolin of Casey made the gavel as part of his Big Things in a Small Town project. ABC7 Chicago reported on June 4, 2018, that it had been unveiled that weekend outside the courthouse, which the station described as honouring the building's legal history; Abraham Lincoln practiced law there. Ted Shideler, who writes about Illinois courthouses, says Lincoln took part in an 1850 trial in the county's earlier 1839 courthouse. Guinness World Records lists the largest gavel as 5.090 metres (16 ft 8 in) by 1.548 metres (5 ft 1 in), credited to Bolin and dated 20 August 2019.

Other measurements differ. The City of Marshall, quoted by World Record Academy, gives 36 inches in diameter, 61 inches in height and 16 feet 6 inches in length, and ABC7's 2018 report gave figures of 66 feet high, 17 feet long and 36 feet wide, which no other source repeats.

The Big Things site says Bolin placed it in Marshall to link the two neighbouring towns, which the old National Road once connected, and notes that building Interstate 70 hurt many small towns along that route. Shideler writes that the gavel is dedicated to the past, present and future judges of Clark County, and that a plaque on it carries an Abraham Lincoln quote. Illinois Farm Bureau Partners noted in 2024 that it greets visitors at the courthouse.

Marshall also has more than 40 decorated lion statues around town, and a remaining stretch of National Road brick outside it. The courthouse is a working county building.

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WHAT TO EXPECT

An outdoor red-oak gavel displayed at the front of a working county courthouse in downtown Marshall. Illinois Farm Bureau Partners (2024) says it greets visitors at the courthouse. The circuit court office lists hours of 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

ACCESS

Outdoors at the Clark County Courthouse, 501 Archer Avenue, Marshall, Illinois, a public building. Ted Shideler (2024) places it under the front porch. The circuit court office lists hours of 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

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