Driving on I-70 today across southern Illinois, we saw a sign announcing the presence of the oldest existing Illinois State House in the little town of Vandalia, so we got off to take a look.
Vandalia became the capital of Illinois in 1819, after the original capital of Kaskaskia was abandoned due to frequent flooding. The town was specifically founded to be the new capital under an agreement that it would continue that designation for at least twenty years. The first building constructed for use as a state house was poorly done and, as the mid-1830s approached, the townspeople, worried that in 1839 the capital would move north, built a new state house in an attempt to maintain Vandalia's status beyond the twenty-year deadline.
The building pictured below looked a bit different when inaugurated in 1836. Built of red brick, it was unpainted, and the portico seen here was a later addition. Despite the town's efforts, the legislature voted to move the capital to Springfield in 1839.
Young Abraham Lincoln started his political career when elected to the legislature on December 1, 1834 and, from 1836 to 1839 would have appeared frequently in the State House pictured below. Lincoln had moved to Illinois in 1830, settling in the Sangamon County town of New Salem, the same county in which Springfield is located.
I was surprised to learn that Vandalia's population has grown by 40% since 1980 and now stands around 7,500.
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