Illinois
Postcard & Image Gallery

State Capitol Building. Springfield, Ill.
Antique UB postcard from the private collection of Valerie Mockaitis. Published by V. O. Hammon Pub. Co., Chicago. Postmarked Jan 31, 1907.

Since this is an Undivided Back postcard, the only message allowed is written in the white margin on the front. The view is of a very young Springfield with only a steeple and trees visible in the background.

 
Return to What's On Top - Illinois

The Illinois State Capitol. Springfield, Ill.
Antique postcard published circa 1905 by Raphael Tuck & Sons. Printed in England.

A few added pedestrians and the usual state seal medallion make this a typical Tuck Oilette post card. Notice the angle the photo was taken from is exactly like that in the card below. All the state capitol views in this Tuck series are from the same photos as the capitol series by Langsdorf shown below.

Illinois State Capitol. Springfield, Ill.
Antique postcard from the private collection of Valerie Mockaitis. Published by S. Langsdorf & Co. Publishers, New York, N.Y. Made in Germany. Postmarked Oct 4, 1911.

The flag, eagle, and state seal are embossed. The state seal on the red wax and blue ribbon is normally found on Tuck cards, so it is another shared feature in these state capitol series views.

 
Return to What's On Top - Illinois

State Capitol Showing Lincoln Statue
Springfield, Ill.
Pre-linen postcard from the private collection of Valerie Mockaitis. Published by Springfield Paper Co., Springfield, Ill. Postmarked Jul 4, 1920.

This slightly aerial view has the pink and blue sky typical of many pre-linens.

 
Return to Telling Them Apart - Illinois

The Old State Capitol at Vandalia.
Now The Fayette County Courthouse
Black and white antique postcard published circa 1920.

Built in 1836, this building still exists in Illinois' second capital city, Vandalia. It was used as the state capitol until 1839, when Springfield became the permanent capital city. This old capitol still stands as a museum.

 
Return to Telling Them Apart - Illinois

Old State House (Now County Bldg.)
Springfield, Ill.
Antique postcard from the private collection of Valerie Mockaitis. Published by V. O. Hammon Pub. Co., Chicago.

The dome shown in this postcard was installed on the old Springfield capitol while it was used as the Sangamon County Courthouse. It was also raised to add a new ground floor. That was quite an unusual project for the time.

 
Return to What's On Top - Illinois

The Old State Capitol in Springfield
Photograph taken by Valerie Mockaitis June, 2010.

Originally built from 1837 to 1853, this old capitol has seen some unusual changes since then. In 1876, the state government moved to the new capitol building and sold this one to Sangamon County for their courthouse. It became too small for the county offices, and in 1899, the capitol was raised eleven feet, and a new floor was added below it. Soon after that, a taller, more fireproof dome was installed. The county sold the building back to the state when it again became too small. From 1963 to 1969, the capitol was dismantled and rebuilt to what it had been in Lincoln's time with the original dome replicated. The old capitol is still standing as a museum and the Illinois State Historical Library.

Capitol of Illinois. Springfield, Ill.
Antique, embossed postcard published circa 1905.

This view is the same as the one below with embossing and gold tone enhancements. This kind of decoration was popular with early postcards.

Capitol of Illinois. Springfield, Ill.
Antique postcard published circa 1905. Postmarked 1908.

If you noticed, every post card of the current Illinois capitol building above except the embossed one shows it with a green dome, and so does this one. The dome is a dull silver since it is covered with zinc, and I have found no record of it ever having been green. Antique postcards were created by hand painting and tinting black-and-white photos. Somehow, many artists thought the dome should be green.

State Capitol. Springfield, Ill.
Antique, undivided back postcard published circa 1905 by Geo Coldewey Publ. Springfield, Ill. Made in Germany.

The margin on the right was intended for a message since only the addressee information was allowed on the back. The artistic flower framing of the view is the kind of embellishment that soon went out of style.

Violet, Illinois State Flower
State Capitol. Springfield, Ill.
Antique postcard. Copyright 1909 by F.A. Moss.

Capitol, at Springfield.
Antique, educational series postcard.
Copyright 1906 by E. C. Kropp, Milwaukee.

Springfield, Ill. State Capitol.
Antique postcard published circa 1907 by Raphael Tuck & Sons.

This view was made from the same photograph as several of the postcards above and the one below. Here the dome is gold or copper, which it never was.

Springfield, Ill. State Capitol.
Antique postcard published circa 1907 by Raphael Tuck & Sons. Printed in Germany.

This is the third view of the Illinois capitol by Raphael Tuck & Sons on this page using the same photograph, and there are cards here by other publishers also using it. These were all published near the same time. This photo might have been used for many more years for new cards.

 
 
Return to Top