<P> The current Capitol of Illinois is the sixth such building in the history of the state . The first was located in Kaskaskia, Illinois, a city on the Mississippi River founded by the French in 1709 . Kaskaskia had been the territorial capital of Illinois since 1809, so it was deemed an appropriate location for the capital of the new state . The state leased the first capitol building, a two - story building, for the sum of $4.00 per day . </P> <P> Wishing to site the capital in the state's interior, the first General Assembly petitioned Congress for a grant of suitable land . Congress offered, and the state accepted, a land parcel up the Kaskaskia River about eighty miles northeast of Kaskaskia . This location, which would be named Vandalia, Illinois, was selected partly with the hopes of encouraging settlers to relocate to other parts of the state which were still uninhabited . The state allowed its lease on the first capital in Kaskaskia expire and relocated to Vandalia . </P> <P> In 1820, with the completion of the new, or "second", capitol, Vandalia became the capital of the state . The structure burned soon thereafter and a third capitol quickly rose in 1824 at a cost of $15,000 . Soon after its construction, many citizens began to advocate relocating the capitol to a location nearer the center of the state . A bill was introduced in 1833 for a statewide vote to determine a new location from a list of several choices including Alton, Jacksonville, Peoria, Springfield, Vandalia, and the state's actual geographic center . While Alton was the victor, the legislature determined the margin too small to be conclusive, and ignored the vote . In 1836, a young lawyer named Abraham Lincoln, along with colleagues of his of the legal profession, advocated moving the capital to Springfield . That summer the Vandalia capitol building was demolished by local citizens and replaced with the fourth capitol (built at a cost of $16,000) in an effort to keep the capital in Vandalia . Although the new brick structure was extravagant, the General Assembly ignored the gesture and voted to relocate the capital to Springfield on February 25, 1837 . </P> <P> On July 4, 1837, the first brick was laid for Illinois' fifth capitol designed by John F. Rague, who also designed the nearly identical Iowa Territorial Capitol . In 1853, the capitol was completed for a total sum of $260,000, almost twenty times the cost of any such previous structure . The building (pictured at right) was designed in the Greek Revival style from stone quarried 6 miles from the site . For many years, it was the largest and most extravagant capitol of the western frontier of the United States . The fifth capitol is closely associated with Abraham Lincoln as it was here that he argued cases before the Illinois Supreme Court, served in the State Legislature, first debated Stephen Douglas, delivered his famous "House Divided" speech, and lay in state after his assassination on May 4, 1865 . </P>

When did vandalia become the capital of illinois