Inside Illinois' Tallest Dome: The State Capitol That Watches Over Springfield
The current Illinois State Capitol has housed the General Assembly since 1876, and its 361-foot dome still defines the Springfield skyline.
From almost anywhere in Springfield, the building announces itself. The Illinois State Capitol, at Capitol Avenue and Second Street, rises 361 feet to the top of its dome — among the tallest of America's state capitols — and it has been the seat of Illinois government since 1876.
This is the sixth capitol in Illinois history and the second in Springfield. Construction began in 1868, as the older statehouse across town — the one Abraham Lincoln knew — grew too small for a state transformed by railroads and war. Lawmakers moved in while finishing work continued around them, and the building has been in continuous use ever since.
Inside, the Capitol is built to a scale meant to impress: a vast rotunda under the dome, broad staircases, and the chambers of the Illinois House and Senate where the General Assembly meets. The governor's office is here as well, making the building the working center of both the legislative and executive branches.
For Naperville residents, the Capitol is where the decisions that shape DuPage and Will counties are ultimately argued out — state budgets, school funding formulas, transportation dollars for corridors like I-88 and Route 59, and the election laws that govern how Tuesday's voting runs.
The building is also a public place. The Capitol is open to visitors, and its grounds carry monuments and memorials from nearly every era of Illinois life. On the eve of another Election Day, it stands as the destination for every ballot cast in Naperville on Tuesday: the votes travel from neighborhood polling places to the laws written under that dome.
