Illinois State Capitol | |
 East façade of the Capitol from Second Street | |
  Location in Illinois  Location in United States | |
 Interactive map showing Illinois State Capitol's location | |
| Location | Capitol Avenue and Second Street Springfield, Illinois |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 39°47′54″N 89°39′17″W / 39.79833°N 89.65472°W |
| Area | 9 acres (3.6 ha) |
| Built | 1868 - 1888, (156 years ago) |
| Architect | Alfred H. Piquenard, et al. |
| Architectural style | Renaissance Revival Second Empire |
| NRHP reference No. | 85003178[1] |
| Added to NRHP | November 21, 1985 |
The Illinois State Capitol, located in Springfield, Illinois, houses the legislative and executive branches of the government of the U.S. state of Illinois. Becoming the seat of the legislature in 1876, the current building is the sixth to serve as the capitol building since Illinois was admitted to the United States in 1818. Built in the architectural styles of the French Renaissance and Italianate, it was designed by Cochrane and Garnsey, an architectural and design firm based in Chicago. Ground was broken for the new capitol structure on March 11, 1868, and the building was completed twenty years later for a total cost of $4.5 million.[2]
The building contains the two legislative chambers for the bicameral General Assembly of Illinois, which is made up of the lower chamber of the Illinois House of Representatives and the upper house of the Illinois Senate. A ceremonial office for the Governor of Illinois and additional executive branch offices, additional offices for legislators and staff, plus conference and committee rooms are also in the landmarked building. The Illinois Capitol's footprint is cross-shaped, with four equal wings. Its tall central rotunda and upper dome and tower roofs are covered in zinc metal plates to provide a silvery facade which does not weather, corrode or rust. Architectural scholar Jean A. Follett describes it as a building that "is monumental in scale and rich in detail."[3] The interior of the dome features a plaster circular frieze painted to resemble bronze, which illustrates scenes from Illinois state history, and stained glass windows, including a stained glass replica of the Illinois state seal in the center-top oculus of the dome, above the rotunda.
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
- ^ "Illinois Capitol". Sangamon County Historical Society. October 23, 2013. Retrieved February 12, 2022.
- ^ Follett, Jean A. (July 16, 2018). "Illinois State Capitol". SAH Archipedia.