By CINDY LADAGE
Illinois Correspondent

Springfield, Ill. — Many visit the Illinois governor’s mansion each year, but especially during the holiday season. Museum Curator David Bourland shared that around 60,000 visitors come each year.
“This is the third oldest governor’s mansion. The oldest are in Mississippi and Virginia, but we are the largest we have around 50,000 square feet,” David added.

Designed by John Mills Van Osdel from Chicago, construction of the mansion began in 1873, and was completed in 1875 when Governor Joel Matteson took up residence. This year’s holiday season the Illinois’ Executive Mansion decorations were provided by Springfield area museums and historic sites.

According to David Bourland, “the centerpiece will be a live 12-foot Canaan fir tree decorated by Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and museum volunteers to commemorate the Lincoln Bicentennial and the Museum’s agriculture exhibit. The tree will be adorned on a copper and gold motif with moss green accents, and was selected from the Danican Tree Farm in Greenville, Ill., and donated by the Illinois Christmas Tree Growers Assoc.”

This is not the only tree at the mansion. Other trees were decorated by staff and volunteers from the Dana-Thomas House, Old State Capitol, Lincoln-Herndon Law Offices, Vachel Lindsay Home, and Lincoln’s New Salem State Historic Sites; the Illinois State Museum; and the Washington Park Horticultural Center in Springfield. The Governor’s Choice Tree will round out the Executive Mansion tree display.

Besides the holiday trimmings, this 16 -room mansion has many wonderful pieces of furniture that are highlighted in the historic home. While many may assume that the furnishings were purchased at the time the mansion was built, that is not true.

Furniture was not purchased for the mansion until 1972 when the Illinois Executive Mansion Assoc. was formed for this purpose. Furniture was then bought with private dollars David said, “prior to 1972, every administration had to bring in their own furniture and when they left, they took their furniture with them. The mansion has very few original items left. The goal of the association is to furnish the mansion with period pieces.”

One of the most stunningly beautiful rooms whether decorated for a holiday or not is the state dining room. Here the Illinois Executive Mansion Assoc. made their first purchase, three Waterford crystal chandeliers.

“They are 235 years old and were purchased for $10,000. The table is a 1780 English Regency that seats 32. The silver was made for the battleship USS Illinois that was being built during World War II. The war ended before the battleship was completed and the Navy never finished the ship.”

David Bourland pointed out an eight-sided game table custom made for President Lincoln. The table made by Peter Scott Glass has 20,000 pieces of inlaid wood. “The table was given to President Lincoln in the White House on April 1, 1865, by Mr. Glass. The table was donated to the association in 1978 by Robert Todd Lincoln Beckwith, the last living relative of Lincoln.”

These are just a few of the highlights at the Illinois’ Executive Mansion. The mansion is located at 410 E. Jackson Street in Springfield, Ill. Portions of the building are open for tours on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. to 3:15 p.m. and on Saturdays from 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. For tour information, call 217-782-6450.