Government of Illinois - History

History

See also: History of Illinois

The first capitol building was in Kaskaskia, Illinois. It was a two-story brick building that rented for $4 per day.

Vandalia became the second capital in 1820, and was the site of three capitol buildings. Vandalia's first capitol was a simple two-story structure, which was destroyed by fire. In 1824, Vandalia's second capitol was built to replace the burnt building for $15,000. Soon after the third capitol building was built, many Illinoisans began lobbying to move the capital to a more central location in the state. In 1833, the General Assembly responded by passing an act allowing Illinoisans to choose their capital city. This worried the people of Vandalia, who did not want to lose the capital. Therefore, in 1836, without authorization from the General Assembly, the city tore down the third capitol building and replaced it with the fourth, a brick state house, costing $16,000. Despite this, in 1839, voters selected Springfield, Illinois as the new state capital city, where it remains to this day.

Illinois' fifth capitol building was built in Springfield in 1853 at a cost of $260,000. Construction on the sixth, and present capitol, was begun in 1868. The building took twenty years to complete at a cost of $4.5 million.

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Famous quotes containing the word history:

    “The principle office of history I take to be this: to prevent virtuous actions from being forgotten, and that evil words and deeds should fear an infamous reputation with posterity.”
    —Tacitus (c. 55–117)

    “What is most interesting and valuable in it, however, is not the materials for the history of Pontiac, or Braddock, or the Northwest, which it furnishes; not the annals of the country, but the natural facts, or perennials, which are ever without date. When out of history the truth shall be extracted, it will have shed its dates like withered leaves.”
    —Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)

    “All things are moral. That soul, which within us is a sentiment, outside of us is a law. We feel its inspiration; out there in history we can see its fatal strength.”
    —Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)