State Capitols – Springfield, Illinois – Part 2 – Inside

The completion of this capitol was delayed a couple of times due to the lack of funds and the death of the architect. The printed material that a visitor can obtain proudly notes that the job was finished in 1888 at a cost of $4.3 million...and a balance of $6.35 was returned to the state treasury.

How lucky I was to go into the building when I did. In 2006, I woke up in Springfield and the plan was to visit Lincoln’s grave. The state house visit was a quickie morning sidebar activity and it was too early to go inside. I walked around the building, fired off a few shots and went to see Abe. The plan that day was to head to Iowa and see Herbert Hoover that afternoon. Turns out a major restoration was completed in 2007 so, the place was gleaming when I returned in June 2009.

Rotunda, Illinois Capitol, Springfield (16 June 2009)

The Illinois capitol is absolutely stunning since it was restored. Imagine a space that pre-dated electricity and was lit with gas lamps. The rotunda area was illuminated with 144 of them. The carbon deposits that accumulated over decades totally blackened the dome. Over a hundred years passed before it was cleaned to reveal a rotunda that just glows in this light. [A photography tip – If you have the time and patience, wait for an overcast sky so the light through the dome windows is uniform and soft. Harsh, direct sunlight streaming through one side of the dome and shining on the opposite side will make hot spots that burn out the color and details.]

Grand Staircase, 

Illinois Capitol, Springfield (16 June 2009)

The Illinois State Capitol is a fine site that documents, with photos, all the features of the building...floor by floor. Each of the sculptures and paintings are also described and illustrated. The site notes that the architect Alfred Piquenard was also contracted to build the Iowa Capitol in 1870. In 1874, the Iowa Governor, Cyrus Clay inspected the Illinois construction with his Statehouse Commissioners. They returned to Iowa with two beautiful statues designed for this Grand Staircase by Piquenard, “because the scantily clad ladies were deemed inappropriate by the more prudish Illinois Statehouse Commissioners.” I will have to be sure I see them when I visit Des Moines.

The entire wall at the end of the west wing has this painting of George Rogers Clark negotiating with Native Americans at Fort Kaskaskia in 1778. It is the largest painting in the Capitol and is best viewed from the third floor. It was done by Gustav A. Fuchs, a German immigrant from Chicago, and completed in 1886. The painting measures 40 x 20 feet and has been criticized because the native culture portrayed was never found in Illinois. 

 [From - http://www.ilstatehouse.com/3rd_floor.htm ]

Room 212, the Former Supreme Court Chamber, 

Illinois Capitol, Springfield (16 June 2009)

Room 212 in the Capitol was originally the home of the Illinois Supreme Court. This beautiful room was modeled after the Doge's palace in Venice and is known for its extravagantly decorated walls and ceiling. The Supreme Court moved to its own building in 1908 and the chamber now serves as a Senate hearing room.

Portion of ceiling in Room 212, 

Illinois Capitol, Springfield (16 June 2009)

It’s a cliché but true here – They don’t make ‘em like that anymore. As it happened in the Jackson capitol, a new design word was learned. ‘Carton Pierre’ - A mixture of glue, whiting, paper-pulp, and chalk; molded, dried, and finished to form durable, usually interior, architectural embellishments imitating stone, metal, etc.; a kind of papier-mâché used for making lightweight cast ornaments where plaster would be too heavy. All the detail you see above was molded before being affixed to the ceiling and finished so gloriously.

House of Representatives Chamber, 

Illinois Capitol, Springfield (16 June 2009)

This panoramic image was made by pasting 11 photos together. The House renovation was completed in 2007. The chamber serves 118 members who are elected to two-year terms. The chandeliers are the original fixtures that were converted from gas to electric lights and shortened from six tiers to three.

Detail of Rotunda, Illinois Capitol, Springfield (16 June 2009)

A plaster frieze encircles the dome. Many consider it to be some of the best artwork in the capitol. Painted to resemble bronze, there are nine scenes that depict American and Illinois history from the Revolution to the Lincoln-Douglas debate. Next time I visit, I’ll bring in a cot so I can lie back, not strain my neck and savor this magnificent scene for a few hours.

State Capitols – Springfield, Illinois – Part 1 – Outside

Too long a period since the last post. I need to do this more often...especially the state capitol stories. I don’t know how folks have found this modest blog site but I have been contacted by people in two of the states that have been presented. Half of my state house stories have produced requests to use the pictures. I am flattered and thankful.
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After seeing Steven Spielberg’s magnificent film, ‘Lincoln’, the next state house to showcase had to be the one in his home town of Springfield, Illinois.

Illinois Capitol in Springfield (23 October 2006)

Constructed: 1868-1888

Architects: John C. Cochrane; Alfred H. Piquenard

State Admitted to Union: December 3, 1818 [21st]

State Population [2010]: 12,830,632 [5th]

One year after retirement in 2006, I was chasing Dead Presidents in earnest. Beck had a high school class reunion back in Pulaski, Wisconsin AND tickets to my first Packer game at Lambeau Field. She flew to Milwaukee after I zigzagged to Wisconsin, visiting five grave sites along the way.

At that time, the State Capitol Odyssey was not yet a full-blown quest but I had to visit this fine, Second Empire building, which was only a short distance from Abraham Lincoln’s monument in Oak Ridge Cemetery. Three years later, capitols were the primary objective and we were driving to Wisconsin again. I returned to Springfield for a more detailed visit. I have enough images and stories to make this a two-part essay. If Wyoming can warrant a double posting, Illinois can, too.

In the early days of settlement, activity was concentrated on the western edge of the territory, which was the great water highway through the middle of the continent. Consequently, the first capitol of the State of Illinois was the bustling Mississippi River town of Kaskaskia. It served as the capitol only a year as floods and population shifts reduced the town to near oblivion. I know of no other former state capitol that has faded this dramatically. It currently has fewer than 15 residents and since 1887, the meandering Father of Waters has placed the village on the Missouri side of the river.

Old Illinois Capitol, Springfield (15 June 2009)

The Old State Capitol served as the center of government from 1839 to 1876. Abraham Lincoln was one of a group of young Springfield lawyers who persuaded the state government to move the capitol to their centrally-located town. The Greek revival building was rebuilt in the 1960’s to restore its appearance to what it was when Lincoln’s law office was across the street and he served four terms in the legislature. It was here that the future president made his now famous statement on slavery – “A house divided against itself cannot stand” and it was here that Barack Obama announced his candidacy for president in 2007.

Looking up at the Pediment Details and Corinthian Capitals,

Illinois Capitol, Springfield (15 June 2009)

It seemed as soon as the old Springfield capitol was completed, it was too small. In 1867, the General Assembly authorized the construction of a new capitol. The Big City interests in Chicago wanted the new capitol there. They persuaded the legislature to hold its 1871 fall session in Chi-Town but the Great Fire that devastated much of Chicago in October ruined any plans to charm the delegates into changing their minds. Timing is everything. While the state government has a significant presence in Chicago, the capitol remains in Springfield.

Like most state capitols, the Springfield state house is on a large plot of land, set back from the street to make room for lawns, mature trees and statues or monuments.

Pierre Menard Statue, Illinois Capitol, Springfield (23 October 2006)

Pierre Menard was a French-Canadian trader who followed many countrymen down the Mississippi River to do business with the Native Americans and settlers from the eastern states. He was the first Lieutenant Governor of the state and his was the first statue to be placed on the capitol grounds in 1886.

Illinois Workers Memorial, Springfield (16 June 2009)

Dedicated in 1992 and paid for by donations from union members, the memorial “is dedicated to the memory of the thousands of Illinois workers killed or injured on the job.” The figure above looks toward the capitol and stands next to a fallen worker and a comrade who kneels over him. I couldn’t help but think she would be safer and less susceptible to injury on the job if she didn’t wear such flimsy clothing.

Steven A. Douglas, Illinois Capitol, Springfield (16 June 2009)

A U.S. Senator from 1847 until his death in 1861, Douglas was a national Democratic Party leader who lost the presidential election to Abraham Lincoln in 1860. He was a key player in the slavery debates that preceded the Civil War and authored the ‘popular sovereignty’ position in the Kansas-Nebraska Act that permitted the citizens in new territories to decide the issue for themselves. He was only 48 years old when he died and could have been a major political figure during and after the war.

The Springfield visits were fascinating. At 116,000 residents, it is the 30th most populous capital. The downtown seemed a bit threadbare and empty but the legislature was not in session. Other attractions are the Frank Lloyd Wright Dana Thomas House and the wonderfully restored neighborhood that includes the Lincoln home.

The next post will take us inside this fine state house.