wednesday's words and wanderings and wonderings:vandalia

A tale of two Vandalias:

Last weekend our niece got married in St. Louis. The route to St. Louis is easy, Hop on I-75, catch I-70 at Vandalia, and then for 5 1/2 hours stay on that road with a landscape that doesn't change - lots of green and lots of farm land. On the last leg of our trip an exit sign in Illinois (yes, it was green!) got me out of my passenger seat lull. The exit was to Vandalia.

Vandalia, Ohio

On August 17, 1838, Benjamin Wilhelm, a settler from Pennsylvania, settled near what is now the intersection of U.S. Route 40 (the National Road) and US Route 25-A (the Dixie Highway). He built his home and a small general store as a stop and resting place for travelers heading west. The small town began to attract travelers and businessmen, and on February 7, 1848, the town was incorporated as "The Village of Vandalia" with Benjamin Wilhelm as its first mayor. 

Some records indicate that Benjamin Wilhelm settled in Vandalia on his way to Vandalia, Illinois. Instead, he stopped here and named his new town after his original destination. Others claim that the town was named Vandalia because the National Road was intended to extend to Vandalia, Illinois, but, for a time, it looked as though it would not do so. This doubt resulted in the name being used for a town along the Road in Ohio.

Vandalia became a city in 1960. With the intersection of nearby Interstates 70 and 75, it is known as “The Crossroads of America” and is also home to the Dayton International Airport.

285 miles later - Vandalia, Illinois

Back in 1819 and 285 miles away along the Old National Road, Vandalia, Illinois was founded ias a new capital city fort he state of  Illinois. The previous capital, Kaskaskia, was unsuitable because it was under the constant threat of Mississippi River floods. The city 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. In the early 19th century, Vandalia was the western terminus of the National Road from the East Coast. 

Abraham Lincoln assumed the first statewide office of his political career at Vandalia. The freshman legislator arrived in the capital city in late November 1834 and took his seat on December 1. The sixteenth President of the US made his first public speech against slavery in the capital building that stands today in 1937.