Live cameras in Springfield, United States

Springfield is the capital of Illinois and the county seat of Sangamon County, a city of about 114,000 people on the prairie near the Sangamon River, with Lake Springfield on its southern side. It became the capital in 1839, largely through the efforts of local lawmakers including a young Abraham Lincoln, who lived here from 1837 until he left for the White House in 1861. Historic Route 66 also passes through, and its diners and neon signs still draw road-trippers.

Lincoln is everywhere in town. Visitors can tour his only owned home, the Old State Capitol where he gave the House Divided speech, the Lincoln-Herndon Law Offices, the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, and the Lincoln Tomb in Oak Ridge Cemetery. State government, hospitals and the University of Illinois Springfield are the main employers.

Around the capital's interstates

Every view here belongs to the Illinois Department of Transportation and arrives through its Gateway traveler information system. The pictures are snapshots that refresh every few minutes. Interstate 55 runs along the east side of the city between Chicago and St. Louis, and Interstate 72 approaches from the west and joins it, so many cameras watch interchanges and the stretches around the capital where the two routes meet. They are especially useful for cross-state travelers deciding whether to stop or push on.

Timestamps on the capital's cameras follow the same Central clock as Chicago. Four distinct seasons come through: hot, humid summers with strong thunderstorms, and winters that can bring snow, sleet and gusty prairie winds. The busiest days of the year usually come in August, during the Illinois State Fair, when crowds head to the fairgrounds on the north side of town. Fairgoers in August still have light until about eight, while December afternoons around the Capitol fade before five.

Nearby, Lincoln's New Salem, a rebuilt village where he lived as a young man, lies about twenty miles northwest near Petersburg.

Sources: Springfield, Illinois - Wikipedia · Illinois State Fair · Getting Around Illinois (Illinois DOT traffic cameras).