Illinois Adventure

The Old State Capitol is a reconstruction of Illinois' fifth statehouse, the first to be located in Springfield. The building served as the seat of state government and a center of Illinois political life from 1839 to 1876. During the dramatic years leading to the Civil War, the building had an important role in the political struggle between Stephen A. Douglas (1813-1861) and Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865). Lincoln visited the building frequently as both a lawyer and a politician, serving in the building during his last term in the Illinois House of Representatives and delivering the famous 1858 "House Divided" speech in Representatives Hall, and using the governor's rooms as a headquarters during the 1860 presidential campaign. The building was the scene of the assassinated President's final laying-in-state on May 3-4, 1865.