Question of the day
Tuesday, Jul 10, 2012 - Posted by Rich Miller
* The setup…
Springfield is Illinois’s third capital, the end of a migration that followed the state’s pattern of settlement from south to north. The first capital, Kaskaskia, is in the southwestern corner of the state. The second, Vandalia, is in Southern Illinois, along modern-day Interstate 70. The capital was moved to Springfield in 1839, as the result of a legislative campaign by Abraham Lincoln and his fellow Central Illinois senators. At the time, Springfield was close to the state’s population center. Chicago, which had been incorporated just two years before, had less than 5,000 people. It didn’t become a major city until the late 19th Century. By then, Springfield, which is located just a few miles from the geographic center of Illinois, in Chestnut, was established as the capital.
If we wanted a capital that was as close to all the people as possible, we could move it to Morris, which is the population center of Illinois.
* If you’re not familiar with Morris, it’s the red dot southwest of Chicago on this map…
* From Wikipedia…
Morris is a city in Grundy County, Illinois, United States. The population was 13,636 at the 2010 census.
Morris is home to the Dresden Nuclear Power Plant, which provides a substantial portion of the electricity supply for the Chicago metropolitan area. Included among the Dresden plant’s reactors is the first commercial nuclear reactor, housed in a spherical concrete and steel shell; it has since been decommissioned, and two more modern reactors (of 1970s vintage) now generate its electricity.
Currently, Morris has one of the few prospering and historically intact downtowns in Illinois. Visitors and shoppers come a distance to enjoy the tranquil small town shopping atmosphere. In addition to the downtown, there are outlying businesses such as five motels, a theater, restaurants, a furniture store, two drug stores, boat sales, three grocery stores, hardware stores, banquet hall, and numerous retail stores and gift shops.
Morris enjoys the benefit of being the Grundy County seat and has a large hospital and modern schools. There are many small parks, ball diamonds, tennis courts, two golf courses, a swimming pool as well as the Gebhard Woods State Park and the William G. Stratton State Park for boat launching on the Illinois River and a skatepark located near White Oak elementary school. Morris Community High School is known to be located on an abandoned mining network that stems for approximately five miles. Each summer a live re-enactment of “King of the Hill” is performed daily by the Morris Players club at the intersection of Black St and Bedford Rd.
Morris is situated along the Illinois River at the intersections of U.S. Route 6, Illinois Route 47, and Interstate 80.
It’s also reasonably close to I-55.
* The Question: Should we move the Illinois capital to the state’s population center? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please.
And, yes, this is snark.
- D.P. Gumby - Tuesday, Jul 10, 12 @ 1:29 pm:
Why bother? Most of the state gov is already in Chicago. Besides, who would buy the State Capitol building–which, BTW, is in far better shape than Thompson Center.
- OneMan - Tuesday, Jul 10, 12 @ 1:30 pm:
The Turtle Tap in Morris has good food and during the summer there is racing Friday and Saturday nights at the fairgrounds with inexpensive beer and deep fried treats.
It has an airport as well.
- Stones - Tuesday, Jul 10, 12 @ 1:30 pm:
Morris - perhaps the only city in Illinois more boring than Springpatch. They have the famous “Corn Festival” but that’s about it.
- Jimmy - Tuesday, Jul 10, 12 @ 1:31 pm:
I have land in Morris - please move it!
- Cheryl44 - Tuesday, Jul 10, 12 @ 1:35 pm:
As a Chicagoan, I don’t think people in southern Illinois need to be more inconvenienced than they already are by the location of the capital. Leave it where it is.
- 47th Ward - Tuesday, Jul 10, 12 @ 1:39 pm:
I say move it a little further nortwest, say to 6500 S. Pulaski, which is the center of power in this state if not the center of population.
- 47th Ward - Tuesday, Jul 10, 12 @ 1:40 pm:
Sorry, that should be norteast. Follow the Stevenson to Pulaski and then look for signs to the Balzekas Museum of Lithuania Culture. That’s the spot.
- zonzgr8 - Tuesday, Jul 10, 12 @ 1:42 pm:
Should be on I-57 near (but north of) CU…where the State’s flagship Univ. is located, ala Madison WI. Make it accessible to existing airfield. Capital nickname > the Wheelhub …wheel spokes go to Chicago, St. Louis and Indianapolis
- Been There - Tuesday, Jul 10, 12 @ 1:42 pm:
Sorry I voted yes but meant to vote no. Anyway, I don’t believe there is a Hilton in Morris and I would have no way to build up my Hilton Honor Points. I guess I could just go back to Chicago every session day but how would I get my real work done? I don’t want to drink and drive. And nothing against the bartenders that I haven’t met but I don’t think they would stack up against Kathleen Fromtheglobe. And horseshoes? And are there Maid-Rites in places besides Springfield? Maybe if Gabbatoni’s franchised.
Too many unanswered questions for me. Leave it.
- Brendan - Tuesday, Jul 10, 12 @ 1:49 pm:
YES! Then we could cut the general assembly per diem!
- 3rd Generation Chicago Native - Tuesday, Jul 10, 12 @ 1:53 pm:
No we don’t need the expense of a move. It’s in the middle of the State where all the State Senators, House members etc won’t have a terribly long commute.
Balzekas Museum of Lithuania Culture? This used to be the von Maur Hospital (sp?), and now it’s a Museum and 13th Ward office. And certainly someone will find offense to our Indian at 63rd and Pulaski because it will be so close, and he will have to come down. He now has glasses and Pants.
- Kerfuffle - Tuesday, Jul 10, 12 @ 1:56 pm:
Geographical center would make as much sense. Where would that be?
- Wensicia - Tuesday, Jul 10, 12 @ 1:58 pm:
No. Keep all that hot air south where it belongs.
- Jimmy87 - Tuesday, Jul 10, 12 @ 2:01 pm:
They can move it next to the Careen Gordon School for Kids Who Can’t Read Good and Want to Do Other Stuff Good Too
- Rufus - Tuesday, Jul 10, 12 @ 2:02 pm:
Well, if we moved it to Morris, then we would have a lot of state buildings in Springfield that could be used as prisons…, except the cubicles in those buildings are a lot smaller than prison cells.
- reformer - Tuesday, Jul 10, 12 @ 2:03 pm:
So we keep our capitol at the population center from 1839, or we move it to the current population center? One need not be a radical to favor updating the location every, say, 163 years.
- Midway Gardens - Tuesday, Jul 10, 12 @ 2:14 pm:
Seems to me I read that the state capital was going to move to Chicago but the Chicago fire prevented it. In a State that is out of money and then some, why on earth would this be needed? Given the transportation infrastructure you’re ‘closer’ to Springfield today from anywhere in the State than you were in 1839.
- soccermom - Tuesday, Jul 10, 12 @ 2:20 pm:
“Chicago, which had been incorporated just two years before, had less than 5,000 people. It didn’t become a major city until the late 19th Century.”
Hey, NBC — let me google that for you.
In 1840, Chicago was the ninety-second most populous city in the United States. Its population grew so rapidly that twenty years later, it was the ninth most populous city in the country. In the pivotal year of 1848, Chicago saw the completion of the Illinois and Michigan Canal, its first steam locomotives, the introduction of steam-powered grain elevators, the arrival of the telegraph, and the founding of the Chicago Board of Trade.[17] By 1870 Chicago had grown to become the nation’s second largest city, and one of the largest cities in the world. By 1857 Chicago was the largest city in what was then known as the Northwest.
- Deep South - Tuesday, Jul 10, 12 @ 2:21 pm:
No….should be close to the geographic center, not the population center.
- Lefty Lefty - Tuesday, Jul 10, 12 @ 2:22 pm:
Absolutely–There’d be a whole lot more people a lot closer to the dumb-sses running this state so we could get up in their grills more.
- RNUG - Tuesday, Jul 10, 12 @ 2:25 pm:
Voted no because I haven’t had time to buy up options on all the property in Morris and Grundy County …
- Ravenswood Right Winger - Tuesday, Jul 10, 12 @ 2:25 pm:
Does Careen Gordon get another sinecure from Governor Quinn? And does she show up for the job? Sergeant at Arms Careen Gordon, come on down!
- Cincinnatus - Tuesday, Jul 10, 12 @ 2:26 pm:
Move it to Peotone.
- soccermom - Tuesday, Jul 10, 12 @ 2:29 pm:
In 1860, according to the Encyclopedia of Chicago, the City had a population of more than 112,000. There were more than 275,000 people in Cook and the collars. I mention this only because, geez, if Chicago did not become a major city until the late 1800s (which I would classify as 1875-1899), why was the Freaking Chicago Fire considered such a big deal worldwide? (It happend in 1871, NBC.)
- Irish - Tuesday, Jul 10, 12 @ 2:30 pm:
I voted no. There is enough Chicago influence in the Capital as it is. If anything move it to Dynamite Island in the Missippi River. Maybe a good flood will wash it away.
Or move it to Madison Wi. The mindsets are the same, they might as well be closer.
The only advantage to the common folk would be once they got the “Legislators Only Lane” built down 55 and 80 to Morris it could be used to relieve traffic congestion when the GA was not in session, which is 49 weeks out of the yeaar!
- BiBe - Tuesday, Jul 10, 12 @ 2:33 pm:
I guess it depends whether you think an accident at Dresden would improve operation of State government.
- In 630 - Tuesday, Jul 10, 12 @ 2:42 pm:
If money were no object I’d say the IL capital- or any state capital- should definitely be located where the people are, but I don’t think I’d go for an exurb like Morris, I’d want it closer to the major city.
Governing from a comparatively remote place strikes me as odd. I want high level government people bumping up against more than just other government people, and that takes a capital in a place that’s more than a “company town”.
- Amuzing Myself - Tuesday, Jul 10, 12 @ 2:45 pm:
Yes, but only if the new Capital Building is the decommissioned nuclear reactor retrofitted with office space.
- Anonymous - Tuesday, Jul 10, 12 @ 2:48 pm:
That’s tornado alley, so draw your own conclusions.
- Grandson of Man - Tuesday, Jul 10, 12 @ 2:55 pm:
I voted no, because of Abe Lincoln and his significance to our state and country.
- MKA1985 - Tuesday, Jul 10, 12 @ 3:00 pm:
No, because there’s something nice about making Chicago politicos have to make the long drive/train ride to Springfield. Also, Abe Lincoln.
- wordslinger - Tuesday, Jul 10, 12 @ 3:02 pm:
Why not get a train like Ringling Brothers and take the show on the road?
Go from town-to-town, pitch a Big Top for a couple of days and let the locals witness the circus up-close. Odds are, they’ll never complain about where the real capital is ever again.
COMING SOON TO YOUR TOWN:
THE 97th ILLINOIS GENERAL ASSEMBLY: AN ASSAULT ON THE SENSES!
–SEE sausage being made by the Incredible Shrinking Mushrooms!
–HEAR the English language and all logic mangled beyond recognition!
–SMELL the meat-a-cookin!
–TASTE something left behind in your mouth that’s really bad!
–TOUCH your wallet at all times to make sure it’s still there!
FEATURING:
–GASP at Breakdown Bost’s terrifying paper toss and chop!
–WITNESS the hypnotizing stare and Jedi Mind Tricks of Ringmaster Mike!
–LAUGH at the whacky antics of scores of bunglers and boodlers, goo-goos and gangsters, halfwits and hicks!
BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND: THE HUMAN CATAPULT!
THRILL as the General Assembly launches The Beastly Blago into the stratosphere!
(due to an unforeseen commitment, The Beastly Blago has been replaced by Rep. Derrick Smith)
This train wreck of a circus brought to you every two years by the voters Illinois!
- CircularFiringSquad - Tuesday, Jul 10, 12 @ 3:02 pm:
Wow there was 5 minutes we can never get back. We are sure Gags Brady would object because Morris is spelled with an M — same as Mike Madigan— and therefore must be corrupt.
- cermak_rd - Tuesday, Jul 10, 12 @ 3:09 pm:
Well, sure, it’s tempting because it would tick of all the Springfielders who tend to grumble at ANY state business done outside their precious town.
But really, why bother? With modern communications devices, it’s possible to teleconference with people all over the world. Something not possible back in the Vandalia days.
- olddog - Tuesday, Jul 10, 12 @ 3:10 pm:
Why not move it back to Kaskaskia?
- Norseman - Tuesday, Jul 10, 12 @ 3:22 pm:
No. Bad memories of too many speeding tickets near Morris. I did like the fair though.
- Publius - Tuesday, Jul 10, 12 @ 3:29 pm:
No, because once the rest of us form our own state without Chicago it won’t be in the middle of anything. And if we don’t the governor won’t be able to fly in for work because by the time the plane gets airborne it willl over-fly Morris.
- Ahoy! - Tuesday, Jul 10, 12 @ 3:45 pm:
No, we should move it to Indiana, they can probably run it cheaper than we can.
- J - Tuesday, Jul 10, 12 @ 4:02 pm:
Not sure I”m comfortable having Mike Bost that close to a nuclear plant.
- IrishPirate - Tuesday, Jul 10, 12 @ 4:09 pm:
I think the Capitol should remain in Springfield.
We send our criminals downstate to the prisons and our elected, yet not generally indicted, criminals downstate to the State House.
Without the Capitol that part of the state is nothing but corn and prisons. There’s a joke there, but someone else will have to make it.
- Kasich Walker, Jr. - Tuesday, Jul 10, 12 @ 4:12 pm:
I voted no.
Next move is a facsimile of a State Capitols past, like capitolfax.il.gov. Springfield can be a tourist destination, just like Vandalia — nice place, with fishing & lake swimming nearby.
- reflector - Tuesday, Jul 10, 12 @ 4:29 pm:
Why not?Everything else is up in Chicago.If we put it all together maybe we can create a new state and we can live in peace in the rest of the state.
- What planet is he from? - Tuesday, Jul 10, 12 @ 4:32 pm:
I didn’t vote, but I’d vote “No.” If we’re going to move the capitol, why not move it to someplace really nice, like, oh, Oahu? Or the Virgin Islands?
- Earnest - Tuesday, Jul 10, 12 @ 4:32 pm:
Yes. Morris (world’s largest inland grain shipping port back in the 50s, I believe) is a rural town with some feel of the suburbs creeping in. Let’s get rid of this sense of permanency of state enterprises and the attendant jobs and economic impact. My only provision would be that the annual contest at the Corn Festival be changed from the greased pig contest to the greased legislator.
- soccermom - Tuesday, Jul 10, 12 @ 4:43 pm:
Word, do you possibly mean a circus train wreck? Because if you do…
http://www.hammondindiana.com/history/circus.htm
- BigDoggie - Tuesday, Jul 10, 12 @ 4:52 pm:
No - why ruin a city that sounds like such a nice place?
- wordslinger - Tuesday, Jul 10, 12 @ 5:04 pm:
–Why not?Everything else is up in Chicago.–
From what perspective, physical and mental, is Morris “up in Chicago?” And what’s “everything else?” There must be something where you live that makes you want to get up in the morning.
Soccermom, great local history link. Never heard of that one before.
- wordslinger - Tuesday, Jul 10, 12 @ 5:11 pm:
Soccermom, just noticed your schooling of Ed McCelland on his Chicago history. How embarrassing for him.
- soccermom - Tuesday, Jul 10, 12 @ 5:21 pm:
Oh, Word — you have to take the kids over to see those elephants. Really cool. And there was a brilliant article about it in Chicago Magazine some time ago.
- Boone Logan Square - Tuesday, Jul 10, 12 @ 6:01 pm:
Clearly, we need to get the University of Chicago to reissue “Canal Town & County Seat: The Historical Geography of Morris” (1994) so we may learn more about our state’s future capital city.
http://books.google.com/books?id=nwshAAAACAAJ&dq=conzen+morris+canal&source=bl&ots=vFa0qDkNsk&sig=DeoJLXAdKA-trLewSGlfVk-_Zi4&hl=en&sa=X&ei=B7T8T8jGAZOyqAGj1bmQCQ&ved=0CDwQ6AEwAQ
- Silent Majority - Tuesday, Jul 10, 12 @ 6:13 pm:
Heck No - I don’t live far from Morris. It’s a nice town. We don’t want the politicans here. We’d like to maintain our dignity.
- Howie - Tuesday, Jul 10, 12 @ 7:32 pm:
My parents used to live in Morris. It is more than reasonably close to I-55.
That said — bad idea. The community is ce knit there and would not be very happy with the idea their town would be filled with politicians. If this does happen expect backlash from the residents of Morris.
It is a very nice town though. I recommend their corn festival.
- Highland, Il - Tuesday, Jul 10, 12 @ 8:12 pm:
Yes, it they retire the state’s debt first….
- A Modest Proposal - Tuesday, Jul 10, 12 @ 8:41 pm:
move it further south, like to Cairo..
- mokenavince - Tuesday, Jul 10, 12 @ 9:56 pm:
I would like to see it in Harvey.The town could use some help.
- Kerfuffle - Tuesday, Jul 10, 12 @ 10:10 pm:
Lets give it to E. Saint Louis and then reroute the river so it is all on the MO side. Then maybe we could get a fresh start.
- Give Me A Break - Wednesday, Jul 11, 12 @ 8:08 am:
Do it, it would be worth watching Raymond Poe and Gary Fory’s heads explode during the COGFA hearing and we could all hear their authentic downstate frontier gibberish as they try to put their thoughts into the English language.
- He Make Ryan Look Like a Saint - Wednesday, Jul 11, 12 @ 8:26 am:
We can split the state up…..It can be the capitol of Chicagoland. Central Illinois will be Illinois, Southern Illinois can become Forgotonia, (or have Kentucky, Tenn and Missouri go to battle to see who want it)!!!
- Michelle Flaherty - Wednesday, Jul 11, 12 @ 8:59 am:
Pontiac seems to be the answer to everything these days, why not move it to Pontiac?
- WazUp - Wednesday, Jul 11, 12 @ 9:38 am:
Heck yeah the state could ground all those planes and Mr Speaker, Sen Prez and friends would all have to drive to work like normal people.
- Conservative Republican - Wednesday, Jul 11, 12 @ 9:58 am:
Sorry to quibble with McClelland on an ancillary point, but he was incorrect in writing that Chicago was not a “major city” until the “late 19th century”. Once the railroads and the main canal connecting Chicago were completed in 1848, Chicago experienced a population explosion. In 1850, Chicago’s population was over 29,000. Ten years later Springfield’s was just over 10,000. So mid-century, Chicago was already a major Illinois city. By 1860, Chicago has boomed to over 112,000, making it the 9th largest cities in the USA. By 1870, it was the 5th largest with almost 300,000 people. There is no question that Chicago was deemed a major American city by the time of the Civil War. Thus McClelland mistakenly dates Chicago’s importance by size as much too late.