Looking for Lincoln - Lincoln as a Polished Politician - Vandalia, Illinois
Posted by: 
gparkes
N 38° 57.656 W 089° 05.609
16S E 318613 N 4314525
This is the second marker of a series of ten around Vandalia, Illinois, in celebration of the 200th birthday of Abraham
Waymark Code: WM723Q
Location: Illinois, United States
Date Posted: 08/21/2009
Views: 3
On December 5, 1836 Abraham Lincoln attended the opening session of the Tenth Gereral Assembly in Vandalia. This session was held in a new building just recently completed by the citizens of Vandalia to serve as the State Capitol. It was located in the middle of the public square on the north side of Gallatin Street between Third and Fourth Street. The people of Vandalia had constructed this building in hopes of keeping the state capital in Vandalia. The former capitol on Fourth Street had been poorly constructed and was in need of repair almost from the start. The Fourth Street building ws demolished and some of the materials were reused in constructing the new capitol. The building you see before you is that capitol.
The Building that Lincoln and the other legislators entered on that December day in 1836 looked substantially different from the building of today. That building did not have the back of front porticoes. The cupola at the at the top of the building was octagonal and featured a rounded roofline. Since the building was made of brick. It was not originally painted white as it is today. Workmen had just completed the building, so the plaster was still wet. The interior was said to be humid and damp.
Lincoln was joined by eight other members of the legislature from Sangamon County. They were to become known as the “long nine,” since they were all over six feet tall. One of their chief objectives for this session was to move the state capital to Springfield. They also wanted to pass a bill providing for a system of internal improvements. Lincoln and the other members of the Long Nine were successful in achieving both of these goals.
Less than twenty years before, in March of 1819, six commissioners meeting in Kaskaskia picked Vandalia to become the new state capital. The commissioners did not pick a site farther north because that area, including the future site of Springfield, was still considered Indian Territory.
Location Type: Historic Marker
Property Type: Public
Date of Event: 1836
Location Notes:
Marker is located on the east side of the Old Capitol grounds.
URL for Additional Information: [Web Link]
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