Vandalia is a city in and the county seat of Fayette County, Illinois, United States. At the 2020 Census, the population was 7,458. The city is on the Kaskaskia River and in the early 19th century, Vandalia became the western terminus of the National Road (the first federal road) from the East Coast. The city is northeast of the Greater St. Louis area. Vandalia served as the state capital of Illinois from 1819 until 1839, when the seat of state government moved closer to the center of the state in Springfield. Since 1933, the Vandalia State House State Historic Site preserves and interprets the State House capital building and grounds, originally constructed in 1836.

History

thumb|left|upright|[[Madonna of the Trail statue in front of the Vandalia State House]]

Vandalia was founded in 1819 as a new capital city for Illinois. The previous capital, Kaskaskia, was unsuitable because it was under the constant threat of flooding. The townsite, located in Bond County at the time, was hastily prepared for the 1820 meeting of the Illinois General Assembly.

The law under which Vandalia was founded included a provision that the capital would not be moved for twenty years. Even before the end of this period, the population center of the state had shifted far north of Vandalia. In 1837, the General Assembly voted to move the capital to Springfield.

In the early 1960s the sociologist Joseph Lyford examined the social structure of Vandalia in a book-length study that revealed the essentially corporatist nature of decision-making in the city; this work was recently revisited by the Economist newspaper.

Geography

According to the 2010 census, Vandalia has a total area of , of which (or 99.8%) is land and (or 0.2%) is water.

Vandalia is situated on Interstate 70, U.S. Route 40 (the National Road) and U.S. Route 51.

Climate

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, Vandalia had a population of 7,458 and 1,247 families.

The population density was .

There were 2,311 households in Vandalia, of which 26.7% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 36.0% were married-couple households, 21.2% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 35.0% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 38.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 19.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.97 and the average family size was 2.25.

Education

The city has a Board of Education. Among the public schools in the city are Jefferson Elementary School and former Central School, which was condemned in 1980. Vandalia is home to the Okaw Valley Area Vocational Center, which trains high school students in vocational trades. It also serves vocational students from nearby high schools such as those in Greenville and Mulberry Grove. The building trades class at the center each year purchases property in Vandalia, builds a house, and sells the improved property. They have sold 33 homes constructed by students.

Notable people

  • Alfred Elisha Ames, Illinois and Minnesota politician, physician
  • Josie Barnes, professional bowler: winner of the 2021 U.S. Women's Open and 2025 USBC Queens
  • Henry P. H. Bromwell, Illinois politician, U.S. Representative from Illinois
  • John J. Bullington, Illinois politician
  • Levi Davis, Illinois Auditor and lawyer
  • H. Joel Deckard, U.S. Representative from Indiana
  • William Lee D. Ewing, U.S. Senator and fifth Governor of Illinois
  • William M. Farmer, Chief Justice of the Illinois Supreme Court
  • Ferris Foreman, Illinois and California politician, Army colonel
  • John W. Heavey, U.S. Army brigadier general, chief of the National Guard Bureau
  • Miles E. Mills, Illinois politician and educator
  • Frederick Remann, Illinois politician, U.S. Representative from Illinois
  • June Squibb, Academy Award-nominated actress
  • The case of Frier v. City of Vandalia was a case decided by the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals on the issue of res judicata. The case originally involved a parking dispute in Vandalia but became a pivotal case in civil procedure.
  • Four US Navy ships have been named for Vandalia.

References

  • City of Vandalia