In the Illinois State Capitol Referendum of 1834, voters in the state of Illinois were asked on August 4, 1834 to choose the next state capitol. Six locations were placed on the ballot: Alton, Springfield, Peoria, Jacksonville, the Geographic center of the state, and the current capital, Vandalia. The Geographic center was at the time assumed to be Illiopolis, but this is now known to be untrue.
Illinois is a state in the Midwestern and Great Lakes region of the United States. It has the fifth largest gross domestic product (GDP), the sixth largest population, and the 25th largest land area of all U.S. states. Illinois is often noted as a microcosm of the entire United States. With Chicago in northeastern Illinois, small industrial cities and immense agricultural productivity in the north and center of the state, and natural resources such as coal, timber, and petroleum in the south, Illinois has a diverse economic base, and is a major transportation hub. Chicagoland, Chicago's metropolitan area, encompasses over 65% of the state's population. The Port of Chicago connects the state to international ports via two main routes: from the Great Lakes, via the Saint Lawrence Seaway, to the Atlantic Ocean and from the Great Lakes to the Mississippi River, via the Illinois Waterway to the Illinois River. The Mississippi River, the Ohio River, and the Wabash River form parts of the boundaries of Illinois. For decades, Chicago's O'Hare International Airport has been ranked as one of the world's busiest airports. Illinois has long had a reputation as a bellwether both in social and cultural terms and, through the 1980s, in politics.
Illiopolis is a village in Sangamon County, Illinois, United States. The population was 891 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Springfield, Illinois Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Alton received the most votes, but the General Assembly never acted on this, and it never was the capitol. Eventually, the capitol would be moved to Springfield.
Springfield is the capital of the U.S. state of Illinois and the county seat of Sangamon County. The city's population of 116,250 as of the 2010 U.S. Census makes it the state's sixth most populous city. It is the largest city in central Illinois. As of 2013, the city's population was estimated to have increased to 117,006, with just over 211,700 residents living in the Springfield Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes Sangamon County and the adjacent Menard County.
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Alton is a city on the Mississippi River in Madison County, Illinois, United States, about 15 miles (24 km) north of St. Louis, Missouri. The population was 27,865 at the 2010 census. It is a part of the Metro-East region of the Greater St. Louis metropolitan area. It is famous for its limestone bluffs along the river north of the city, for its role preceding and during the American Civil War, and as the home town of jazz musician Miles Davis and Robert Wadlow, the tallest known person in history. It was the site of the last Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas debate in October 1858. The former state penitentiary in Alton was used during the Civil War to hold up to 12,000 Confederate prisoners of war.
Southern Illinois University is a state university system based in Carbondale, Illinois, United States, in the southern region of the state, with multiple campuses. Randy Dunn was formerly president of SIU.
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield in Illinois is an ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in the south central Illinois region of the United States. The prelate is a bishop serving as pastor of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception.
The Illinois State Capitol, located in Springfield, Illinois, houses the legislative and executive branches of the government of the U.S. state of Illinois. The current building is the sixth to serve as the capitol since Illinois was admitted to the United States in 1818. Built in the architectural styles of the French Renaissance and Italianate, it was designed by Cochrane and Garnsey, an architecture and design firm based in Chicago. Ground was broken for the new capitol on March 11, 1868, and the building was completed twenty years later for a total cost of $4.5 million.
The Alton Railroad was the final name of a railroad linking Chicago to Alton, Illinois, St. Louis, Missouri, and Kansas City, Missouri. Its predecessor, the Chicago and Alton Railroad, was purchased by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in 1931 and was controlled until 1942 when the Alton was released to the courts. On May 31, 1947 the Alton Railroad was merged into the Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad. Jacob Bunn had been one of the founding reorganizers of the Chicago & Alton Railroad Company during the 1860s.
The Secretary of State of Illinois is one of the six elected executive state offices of the government of Illinois, and one of the 47 secretaries of states in the United States. The Illinois Secretary of State keeps the state records, laws, library, and archives, and is the state's corporation registration, vehicle registration and driver licensing authority. The current Secretary of State is Jesse White, a Democrat who took office in 1999.
James Semple was an American attorney and politician. He was notable for his service as Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives, Attorney General of Illinois, an Associate Justice of the Illinois Supreme Court, Chargé d'Affaires to New Granada, and United States Senator from Illinois.
The Old State Capitol State Historic Site, in Springfield, Illinois, is the fifth capitol building built for the U.S. state of Illinois. It was built in the Greek Revival style in 1837–1840, and served as the state house from 1840 to 1876. It is the site of candidacy announcements by Abraham Lincoln in 1858 and Barack Obama in 2007. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1961, primarily for its association with Lincoln and his political rival Stephen Douglas.
The Vandalia State House, built in 1836, is the fourth capitol building of the U.S. state of Illinois. It is also the oldest capitol building in Illinois to survive, as the first, second, and third capitol buildings have all disappeared. The brick Federal style state house has been operated by the state of Illinois as a monument of Illinois pioneer years since 1933. It is located in Vandalia, Illinois, on the National Road, and listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Illinois State Museum features the life, land, people and art of the State of Illinois. The headquarters museum is located on Spring and Edwards Streets, one block southwest of the Illinois State Capitol, in Springfield. There are three satellite locations: Dickson Mounds in Lewistown, the Lockport Gallery in Lockport, and the ISM's Research and Collections Center in Springfield.
Central Illinois is a region of the U.S. state of Illinois that consists of the entire central third of the state, divided from north to south. It is an area of mostly flat prairie. The western section was originally part of the Military Tract of 1812 and forms the distinctive western bulge of the state. Also known as the Heart of Illinois, it is characterized by small towns and mid-sized cities. Agriculture, particularly corn and soybeans, as well as educational institutions and manufacturing centers, figure prominently. Major cities include Peoria, Springfield, Decatur, Quincy, Champaign–Urbana, Bloomington-Normal, Galesburg, and Danville.
Springfield Union Station in Springfield, Illinois, is a former train station and now part of the complex of buildings that together form the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and is located at 500 East Madison Street in downtown Springfield, adjacent to the Lincoln Presidential Library.
In the U.S. state of Illinois, U.S. Route 67 is a north–south highway through the western portions of the state. It runs from the Clark Bridge in Alton north to the Rock Island Centennial Bridge in Rock Island. It is the most direct route between St. Louis and the Quad Cities. This is a distance of 213.99 miles (344.38 km).
Thomas Galt was an American Presbyterian minister and abolitionist who organized two Presbyterian churches in Sangamon County, Illinois. He was Vice-President of the Illinois Anti-Slavery Society and a conductor of the Underground Railroad.
The Chicago, Peoria and St. Louis Railroad (CP&StL) was a railroad in the U.S. state of Illinois that operated a main line between Pekin and Madison via Springfield. Its property was sold at foreclosure to several new companies in the 1920s; the portion north of Springfield has since become the Illinois and Midland Railroad, while the remainder has been abandoned, except for a portion near St. Louis that is now owned by the Norfolk Southern Railway.
Henry Damian Juncker was a French-born prelate of the Roman Catholic Church in the United States. He was the first Bishop of Alton, Illinois, serving from 1857 until his death.
Capitol Fax is a daily political newsletter covering Illinois politics. It was founded in 1993 by Rich Miller.
Edmund Beall was an influential member of society, an industrialist, and an Illinois state senator.
The Capitol Conference was a high school athletic conference in the Illinois High School Association (IHSA), based in Central Illinois. The conference operated from 1964 to 1983.
