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.