The Old State Capitol building in Springfield may no longer be used to conduct the people's business, but it is a popular place for events, re-enactments and political rallies. Barack Obama declared in 2007 he intended to seek the Democratic nomination for president during an announcement at the Old State Capitol. T.J. Salsman/The State Journal-Register

•March 7, 2018•

By Kate Schott
Of the State Journal-Register

When state lawmakers head to the Capitol to do the people’s business, they travel to Springfield. But that wasn’t always the case.

Springfield became the state’s third capital city in 1839. And the story of how Springfield became the capital is a tall tale … well, it’s a tale with an outcome scripted by nine tall men.

Illinois has been governed from three cities and six buildings (one that was rented and five that were owned by the state), as told in an article in the 1975-76 edition of the legislative Illinois Blue Book. Kaskaskia was the first state capital after Illinois was admitted to the union in 1818, with the 29 House members and 14 senators in the first General Assembly of Illinois working in a rented two-story brick building at a cost of $4 per day.

Yet by December 1820, the second General Assembly was meeting in a new building in a new capital city, Vandalia, which was a more central location within the state’s original 16 southern counties. Lawmakers agreed Vandalia would remain the capital city for at least the next 20 years.     Login or Subscribe to read the rest of this story.