Vandalia City Historical Markers

Map of Illinois State Historical Marker Locations in the City of Vandalia

Vandalia City Historical Markers

Vandalia Historical Marker

1408 North Fifth Street, Vandalia, IL, USA

Latitude & Longitude: 38° 58' 29.8632", -89° 5' 45.60972"

Vandalia, Illinois

For twenty years this city on the west bank of the Kaskaskia River was the capital of Illinois. In 1819, a year after Illinois gained statehood, the General Assembly voted to move state offices to Vandalia from Kaskaskia. The Second General Assembly convened at Vandalia, December 4, 1820, in the first state-owned capitol. A second statehouse was used from 1824 to 1836. A third, built by Vandalia citizens in 1836 in an attempt to retain the seat of government at Vandalia, is still standing. Ownership of the building was accepted by the state in February, 1837, only a few weeks before the assembly voted to relocate in Springfield, nearer the center of the state. Officers of the first six administrtions served in Vandalia. Here in 1836 Abraham Lincoln was admitted to the bar of Illinois. Here also he began his political career in 1834 as a member of the General Assembly. Other prominent Illinoisans at Vandalia included legislators Stephen A. Douglas and James Shields, and James Hall, State Treasurer, 1827-1831, and editor of Illinois Monthly Magazine, the first literary magazine in the state. The Illinois artist James W. Berry made his home here. Vandalia was the terminus of the National Road, which began in Cumberland, Maryland. Authorized during Thomas Jefferson's administration, the National Road was the first highway built with Federal funds. Vandalia is today the principal city and county seat of Fayette County. The restored third capitol is owned and maintained by the State of Illinois.
1408 North Fifth Street

Vandalia Historic Homes & Houses

Blackwell’s White House

Colonel Robert Blackwell's new two-story frame store and boardinghouse opened on this site in time for the convening of the Ninth General Assembl... [click for more]

House of Divine Worship, Erected in 1823

The Illinois General Assembly donated five lots in Vandalia to promote the construction of a church for the use of all denominations. The forty-five b... [click for more]

Robert K. McLaughlin Home

On this site lived Robert K. McLaughlin, State Treasurer 1820-1823, State Senator 1828-1832, 1836-1837, and Register of the United States Land Office ... [click for more]

Vandalia General Interest

Cumberland Road

Vandalia was the western terminus of the Cumberland or National Road which extended eighty feet wide for 591 miles from Cumberland, Maryland through P... [click for more]

First State Capitol, 1820-1823

The first capitol building owned by the State was erected on this site. It was a thirty by forty feet two-story frame structure. The Second and Third ... [click for more]

Flack’s Hotel

In 1836 Colonel Abner Flack took over the large three-story frame building which stood here, and operated it under the name Vandalia Inn. In 1853-1854... [click for more]

Historic Vandalia

Vandalia was the second capitol of Illinois, 1820-1839. Here met the General Assembly, the Supreme Court, and the Federal Courts. Abraham Lincoln serv... [click for more]

Old State Cemetery

The Illinois General Assembly authorized Governor Edward Coles in 1823 to convey to Vandalia one and one-half acres for a state buriel ground. Here we... [click for more]

Public Printer

This is the site of a two-story frame building occupied by Robert Blackwell, state printer 1818-1832, and publisher of the laws of the United States. ... [click for more]

Second State Bank, 1836-1865

The Second State Bank in Vandalia was chartered in 1835. In 1836 an imposing two-story brick building with stone front and a porch with massive pillar... [click for more]

Second State Capitol

The second state capitol owned by the State was a two-story brick building erected here in 1824, using the walls of the first State Bank which burned ... [click for more]

Site of Ebenezer Capps Store

During the years when Vandalia was the State Capitol (1820-1839), here stood the Ebenezer Capps Store, the largest wholesale and retail establishment ... [click for more]

Site of Ernst Hotel

Here stood a two-story log building erected in 1819 for Ferdinand Ernst who brought the German colony to Vandalia. Named Union Hall, it was operated a... [click for more]

The Charters Hotel

John Charters operated a large tavern on this site from the late 1820's to November 1835. Under the name, 'Sign of the Green Tree,' it ... [click for more]

The National Road in Illinois

The National Road was the result of the project of Albert Gallatin to unite the East and West. His plan to allocate money from public land sales for t... [click for more]

Third State Capitol, Erected in 1836

The third capitol building owned by the State was restored as a memorial in 1933. It was the capitol from December 3, 1836 to July 4, 1839. Abraham Li... [click for more]

Vandalia Inn

The 'very large tavern House, called the Vandalia Inn' opened here on November 15, 1834 with thirteen lodging rooms and a large dining room.... [click for more]

Vandalia City Historical Marker

Vandalia, Illinois

For twenty years this city on the west bank of the Kaskaskia River was the capital of Illinois. In 1819, a year after Illi... [click for more]