| The home of the Vandalia State House State Historic Site (1836), and was a terminus of the National Road. In 1819, it was decided to move the state capital from Kaskaskia here. Since 1839, Springfield has been the capital. The National Road or Cumberland Road was one of the first major improved highways in the United States, built by the Federal Government. Construction began in 1811 at Cumberland, Maryland on the Potomac River, and the road reached Wheeling, West Virginia on the Ohio River in 1818. Plans were made to continue through St. Louis, Missouri on the Mississippi River to Jefferson City, Missouri, but funding ran out and construction stopped at Vandalia, Illinois in 1839. Reference |  |