As you make your way into Carlinville, which sits on Old Route 66 about 35 miles southwest of Springfield, one thing you’ll notice from the distance above the treeline is the Macoupin County Courthouse. Completed in 1870 at a cost of more than $1.3 million, the massive building that sits just east of the square looks like it could be the Statehouse of a small New England state. But one of the more unique stories the town has to tell is a little off the beaten path.