THE CAPITALS OF ILLINOIS

Almost 300 years ago, a small group of Jesuits from the Indian Mission in Des Peres (presently St. Louis) settled nearby where the Kaskaskia and Mississippi Rivers join together in what would later become known as Randolph County. The small village was named by its founding fathers as Kaskaskia. When Illinois was admitted to the Union it became the commonwealth's first Capital. Since that historic day, Illinois has had three Capital cities and six Capital buildings.

Before becoming Illinois' seat of government, Kaskaskia, for more than a century had played an important role in the State's history. Kaskaskia was the scene of one of George Rogers Clark's early triumphs when he and a little army of Virginians captured it from the British in 1778. In 1809, when Illinois Territory was created by an act of Congress, Kaskaskia was chosen as the territorial capital and it was the center of population when Nathaniel Pope petitioned Congress for statehood on Jan. 16, 1818. On Dec. 3, 1818 Illinois became the 21st State of the Union.

The first Capital or State House was rented. It was a two story brick building with the lower floor being utilized for the House of Representatives to meet and the second floor used by the Senate Chambers. The First General Assembly meeting which was held in this unimpressive setting was composed of 13 Senators and 27 Representatives. They promptly petitioned the Congress for a grant of land to serve as a new State Capital. The request was granted and a committee was named to choose the new site. They decided upon a place called "Reeves Bluff," later to be known as Vandalia, which was about 80 miles northeast on the Kaskaskia River from Kaskaskia.

The removal of the Capital from Kaskaskia to Vandalia was mainly caused by a speculation on the part of the State's early citizens who thought that money could be made by starting a land boom in a new location.

In Vandalia, a plain two story frame building was erected. One room on the lower floor was devoted to the House of Representatives. A passage and stairway led to the second floor which consisted of two rooms, the larger for the Senate Chambers and the smaller for the Council of Revision. Rented offices detached from the Capital housed the Secretary of State, Treasurer and Auditor.

At the first session of the Second General assembly on Dec. 4, 1820 in what was now the first State -owned Capital, passed an act making Vandalia the seat of government for the next twenty years. On Dec. 9, 1823 a fire destroyed the State Capital structure. During the next summer a new building was constructed of brick at a cost of $15,000.

Although Vandalia was to remain the State's capital, at least until 1840, there was enough agitation and sentiment which was started soon after the Capital fire for removal of the Capital to a site nearer the geographical center of the State. This caused the General Assembly to pass an act in 1833 whereby the voters in the following general election could decide the location for a new Capital city.

Sites on which the vote was to be taken were Vandalia, Peoria, Jacksonville, Springfield and Alton which was the State's geographical center. Alton had received the greatest number of votes, but the margin was so small as to be inconclusive, and the vote was not announced officially as it would have undoubtedly been rejected by the next General assembly. During the 1836 - 37 session the suggested removal from Vandalia was again brought forth.

Matters then took a very different turn for the proposal was interesting to a rising young lawyer known as Abraham Lincoln who represented Sangamon County. Lincoln introduced a bill providing for removal of the Capital of Illinois to Springfield, and he was backed by eight fellow members who with him were know as the "Long Nine'" because their aggregate height was 54 feet. Lincoln was successful in having Springfield named as the new Illinois Capital.

The cornerstone of the State's fifth Capital was laid at Springfield on July 4, 1837. After many delays the building was finally completed in 1853 at a total cost of $260,000, which amounted to double its original estimate. The building occupied the center of the square on nearly three acres and was constructed of cut stone brought from a quarry six miles away. Though it took 15 years to complete it was considered one of the architectural wonders of the State.

Illinois continued to prosper and gain in population and soon it was apparent that a much larger Capital would be needed. The enabling act was passed by the 25th General Assembly on Feb. 24, 1867. This was to be the sixth building used and the fifth of the buildings owned by the State and the one in use today.

Ground was broken for the present Capital on March 11, 1868. Formal laying of the cornerstone took place October 5th of the same year. Still unfinished the building was first occupied in 1876. Twenty-one years after the Legislature first authorized its construction, the building was finally completed. Original construction costs were limited to $3,000,000, but before completion $4,500,000 had been spent.

The movement of the Capital from the original site of Kaskaskia had been a topic of controversy through those early years of the State's formative beginning. In 1881, the Mississippi River went on one of its rampages, changed its course, moving eastward and then southwest to find its old channel. When the turbulent water had subsided an island had been created and a considerable portion of the ancient capital city had been washed away. Each spring floods encroached further until historic Kaskaskia slipped into the Mississippi and was gone forever.

Return to the list of articles.

All pictures and articles found on this page are copyrighted by the Lee County Historical Society. They are not to be reproduced, redistributed, sold, or otherwise altered. These pictures and articles are for the sole private, non-commercial use for research and education. These pictures may not be used without the expressed written permission of the Lee County Historical Society.