Illinois State Capitol
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N 39° 47.919 W 089° 39.202
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The Illinois State Capitol, located in Springfield, Illinois, is the capitol and seat of government of the U.S. state of Illinois.
Waymark Code: WM20B4
Location: Illinois, United States
Date Posted: 08/13/2007
Views: 96
The current building is the sixth capitol to serve the state since its entry into the United States in 1818. The current capitol is in the architectural style of the French Renaissance. The capitol was designed by Cochrane and Garnsey, an architecture and design firm based in Chicago, Illinois. Ground was first broken for the new capitol on March 11, 1868, and it was completed twenty years later for a total cost of $4,500,000.
With a total ground height of 361 feet (110 meters), the Illinois capitol is the tallest non-skyscraper capitol, even exceeding the height of the United States Capitol in Washington, DC. The only state capitols taller than it are the non-classical designs found in Louisiana and Nebraska, which opted for more modern buildings for their current capitols. The dome itself is 92.5 feet (28.2 meters) wide, and is supported by solid bedrock, 25.5 feet (7.77 meters) below the surface. The building itself is shaped like a Latin cross aligned to the major points of the compass, and measures 379 feet (116 meters) from the north end to the south end, and 268 feet (81.7 meters) from the east end to the west end. The capitol occupies a nine acre plot of land which forms the capitol grounds.
Interestingly enough, when the capitol was created several empty shafts were included for the future installation of elevators. Installation of the elevators began in 1887. The original models were water operated and often the subject of ridicule in local papers as they were deemed inadequate for a building with the stature and prominence of the State Capitol. It is unknown when the first electric elevators were installed, but the first mention of them occurs in 1939, when the legislature appropriated $30,000 for repair of the electric elevators.
The capitol dome is plated in zinc to provide a silver facade which does not weather (a feature popular in Europe at the time of its construction). The interior of the dome features a Plaster Frieze, painted to resemble bronze, which illustrates points in Illinois history, and stained glass windows, including a stained glass replica of the state flag at the pinnacle of the dome.[1] The flag featured in the top of the dome is the flag flown by Illinois prior to the Civil War. It differs from the modern flag in that the phrase "State Sovereignty" is above the phrase "National Union". After the Civil War the legislature voted to reverse these phrases as they felt that National Union was the more important of these two concepts.
Type of Capitol: State, Province, Canton, or Other Primary Division of a Nation
Address:
2nd & Capitol Street
Springfield, IL USA
62756
Dates of Construction: 1877
Hours: M-F 0800-1630 S/S 0900-1500
Capitol Web Site: [Web Link]
Historical Monuments/Memorials:
Major Renovations: Not listed
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Visit Instructions:
Post one photo of the capitol that includes either a GPSr and/or the waymarker along with the capitol in the picture.
Please also tell us about your visit.