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Vandalia is a city in Fayette County, Illinois, United States, northeast of St. Louis, on the Kaskaskia River. From 1819 to 1839 it served as the state capital of Illinois. Vandalia was for years the western terminus of the National Road. Today it is the county seat of Fayette County〔(【引用サイトリンク】accessdate=2011-06-07 )〕 and the home of the Vandalia State House State Historic Site (1836). The population was 6,975 at the 2000 census. ==History== 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 was hastily prepared for the 1820 meeting of the Illinois General Assembly.〔 The history of the name Vandalia is uncertain. Different theories can be found in almost all of the books written about Vandalia over the years. In her book ''Vandalia: Wilderness Capital of Lincoln's Land'', Mary Burtschi tells of a conversation between one of the original surveyors of the town and a Vandalia resident. The surveyor, Colonel Greenup, explained that ''Van'' was suggested by one of the men. He recommended this as an abbreviation to the word ''vanguard'' meaning the forefront of an advancing movement. Another suggestion was made for the term ''dalia'', derived from the Anglo-Saxon word ''dale'' which means a valley between hills. Greenup takes credit in the conversation for connecting the two terms to form the name ''Vandalia''. Another possible source of the name is the Vandalia colony, a failed attempt to establish a fourteenth colony in part of what is now West Virginia and Ohio. The Vandalia colony was named in honor of Queen Charlotte, who claimed descent from the Wendish tribe of Obodrites, also called the Vandals. Another theory put forth is that Vandalia was named by those who located the state capital in the town; according to the story, they mistakenly thought the Vandals were a brave Native American tribe, rather than of Germanic origins.〔Allan H. Keith, (''Historical Stories: About Greenville and Bond County, IL'' ). Consulted on August 15, 2007.〕 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.〔 On November 21, 1915, the Liberty Bell passed through Vandalia on its nationwide tour, while being returned to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco.〔 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. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Vandalia, Illinois」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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