Robert Indiana kept a series of illustrated journals during the late 1950s and 1960s, in which he discusses the development of his work as well as his daily life on Coenties Slip.

In his journal page from January 10, 1959, Indiana records that there was "an air of wintry desolation over the whole Slip," and that "dispelling this mood I took up a canvas and made a start on a theme I’ve been turning over in my mind ever since the central panel of the Crucifix [his monumental 1958 ink drawing Stavrosis] was conceived: the massing of orbs: surely a provocative idea in our near Space Age—this is temporarily 'The Ninth State' [later retitled Nine Golden Orbs]."

Indiana includes a sketch of the 26 x 30-inch work, which he describes as black on red, with Chinese Vermilion underpainting, and notes that, upon completion of the underpainting, Stravinsky's Firebird, conducted by Leonard Bernstein, came on the radio.

Indiana writes that he did not consider it wise to paint the black spheres of The Ninth State that day, so he turned instead to "that plywood 'Core' painting that I started in 1958." The entry includes a small sketch of the work, which the artist describes as white on wood grain, measuring 20 x 30 inches.