What Is the Old Illinois State Capitol?
This building served as the fifth capitol of Illinois from 1853 until 1876, then the courthouse of Sangamon County from 1899 to 1962!
What Makes It Historical?
In 1937, John Rague revealed his plans for a Greek Revival capitol building for the state of Illinois, with pillars and porticos and, most importantly, a very nice dolomite base. The base was so nice, in fact, that the Springfield public pushed to have the entire building constructed from that stone! Construction took so long, however, that by the time it was completed in 1853, Illinois’ population had grown so much that the state needed a larger capitol building! So even though Abraham Lincoln gave his famous “House Divided” speech here on June 16, 1858, in 1869, the old capitol building was sold to Sangamon County to be its courthouse!
Still needing more office space, the county overhauled the old building between 1899 and 1900, raising the entire building with screw jacks to install a whole new first floor! And that was completed just in time for a significant flood of court cases in the wake of the race riots of 1908! 107 indictments against the mob members made their way through this courthouse, but only one conviction—petty larceny—succeeded.
In 1962, the state bought back the building, removed the entire 1899 floor, and put the office space in the basement! It opened to the public as a museum and memorial in 1969 and became headquarters of the Illinois State Historical Library in 1971!
How Can I #HelpTheHelpers?
- Volunteer with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources!
- Donate to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources!
- Be a responsible visitor! Please respect the signs and pathways, and treat all structures and artifacts with respect. They’ve endured a lot to survive into the present. They’ll need our help to make it into the future!
How Do I Get There?
526 E Adams St
Springfield, IL 62701
(Take Me There!)
When Should I Visit?
The old capitol holds odd hours! While it opens at 9:00 AM Tuesday through Sunday, it closes at 5:00 PM on those weekdays and Sundays, and 7:00 PM on Saturdays! On Mondays, it’s open from 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM!