Springfield, Illinois (pop. 114,394; met. area pop. 208,640), is the state capital and the center of a rich farming region. It lies near a central Illinois coal field.
State government is Springfield’s largest employer. The city is also a financial, insurance, and medical center for central Illinois. Springfield-area factories make chemical products, farm equipment, fabricated metal, and industrial machinery. Trade shows and cultural and sports events are held in the downtown Bank of Springfield Center. Lake Springfield, a large artificially created lake, furnishes water for drinking and industrial use. It is also used for recreation.
Springfield was founded in 1818 and was chosen as the seat of Sangamon County in 1821. In 1837, it was designated the capital of Illinois, but the state offices were not moved there from Vandalia until 1839.
The original statehouse has been restored to its appearance in the mid-1800’s. The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum stand near the old Capitol. The present Capitol, first occupied in 1876, is west of downtown Springfield.
Abraham Lincoln lived in Springfield from 1837 to 1861. His home still stands at Eighth and Jackson streets, near the city’s center. The Lincoln family lived in the two-story frame house from 1844 to 1861. In 1971, the home was designated a national historic site. Lincoln is buried in Springfield’s Oak Ridge Cemetery. Larkin G. Mead designed Lincoln’s tomb, which was dedicated in 1874.
The pioneer village in which Lincoln lived from 1831 to 1837 has been reconstructed in Lincoln’s New Salem State Historic Site, which is 20 miles (32 kilometers) northwest of Springfield. Vachel Lindsay, an American poet of the early 1900’s, also lived in Springfield. His home is maintained as a tourist site. Springfield has a mayor-council form of government.
In the early 2000’s, the state of Illinois established the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield. The library opened in 2004, and the museum opened in 2005.
