A mid-June post about my hometown.
When the first Illinois constitution was drafted at Kaskaskia in August 1818, the delegates included a provision for a twenty-year location of a new seat of government. Subsequently, in March 1819, the First Illinois General Assembly authorized five commissioners to locate a site for the new town on or near the intersection of the longitudinal third principal meridian and the Kaskaskia River.
The twenty-year provision is odd, but the idea for a new capital was controversial--mainly because of the conflicting interests in land speculation. Limiting the period was a compromise, so that the government could make money on the move (but it didn't) and leave open the possibility of another capital city in the future.
Interestingly, the actions of the government must've been rumored very early. In his book "Western Gazetteer; or the Emigrant's Directory" (H.C. Southwick, 1817), Samuel R. Brown commented that settlers who lived at that vicinity in 1819--the river's intersection with the third principal meridian--anticipated that the new capital would be located there. How did they know? Or was there politicking happening before Illinois statehood?
In response to the legislature's authorization, in mid-June 1819, the commissioners selected a place called Reeve’s Bluff, a corruption of the name of settler Charles Reavis. There is a sweet story that the men had shot a deer for their meal, and as they ate, they were captivated by the beautiful of the location. We Vandalians can imagine the landscape without buildings and streets and understand how hilly and pretty the riverside location would've seemed. One hill, near where my parents are buried, is one of the highest in the region.
The June 16, 1819, "Illinois Intelligencer" newspaper at Kaskaskia announced the selection of the town site had been made, and the town would be called Vandalia. Surveyor William Greenup--who is buried at Vandalia--had suggested the name, connoting the dales and hills of the site and also the vanguard of progress that would take place at a state capital.
The name already existed: it was a poetic name for the Andalusia region of Spain (mentioned in "Don Quixote") and also the name for a proposed fourteenth British colony, which would’ve included the present West Virginia. That's not to say that Greenup's suggestion isn't historically true. It's more true, for instance, than the story--first reported, with tongue in cheek, by author James Hall in 1828--that the name honored an extinct tribe of Native Americans called the Vandals.
The state auction of Vandalia lots took place on September 6, 1819, and the town was well established by the time the Second General Assembly convened in December 1820. The American settlers knew that they would soon be joined by a group of immigrants from Hanover, sponsored by benefactor Ferdinand Ernst of Hildesheim.
The original town was laid out from First to Eighth Street, and North Street (now Jefferson) to South Street (much shorter now than originally), with a public square. Vandalia has a Main Street, but as early as 1821, most of the local businesses began to be established on the next street south, Gallatin. West-east streets were named for noted people of the time: Albert Gallatin, Richard M. Johnson, Ninian Edwards, Edmund Randolph, Arthur St. Clair, and James Madison. (I'm only listing streets created when Vandalia was laid out in 1819: other streets added later honored other presidents.) In 1821, Fayette County, IL was established--named after the Marquis de La Fayette--with Vandalia as the county seat.
Ten general assemblies and several sessions of the supreme and federal courts met at Vandalia, using three different buildings, the last of which is our local pride and joy. Lincoln and Douglas first met each other at Vandalia. The first state historical society met at Vandalia, and the first magazine in Illinois was published there. The National Road eventually reached Vandalia and terminated there.
Springfield was designated the permanent seat of government on July 4, 1839. Here is an article I wrote several years ago, about the relocation effort: https://www.lib.niu.edu/2000/ihsp0012.html
The authors of the book "A Guide to the National Road" (Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996) commented how Vandalia has inspired many local historians, compared to some of other towns along the road. It's true! It took a while, until after the Civil War. But over the years, local folks have written or edited books, published newspapers, written articles and columns, created art, volunteered, attended board meetings, created informational plaques and signs to educate visitors of historic locations, organized historical societies and museums, donated money for various projects, led important local efforts, published historical quarterlies, traced family histories, wrote poetry, cleaned and restored historic gravestones, beautified local places, made films, took photographs and published postcards, supervised Facebook pages, shared photographs, researched and honored veterans---and in lots & lots of ways have kept our local history alive!
A shout-out to friend Mary Burtschi (1911-2009), who was a 1933 graduate of Webster University (a college at the time) who inspired both me and Beth.
My own little 1992 book about early Vandalia is out of print but feel free to ask me for a copy.
The picture is the Statehouse, from the "Vandalia Memories" Facebook page.
