Kaskaskia

Church of the Holy Family (Fort de Chartres Area)

Church · 116 Church St, Cahokia, IL 62206

The Church of the Holy Family at Cahokia, established by French missionaries in 1699, is the oldest church in Illinois and one of the oldest in the United States. While located at Cahokia rather than Kaskaskia proper, it represents the Catholic ecclesiastical community that Father Pierre Gibault served — the same community whose loyalty Clark won through his diplomatic approach in July 1778. Gibault's work across the French Creole settlements depended on this religious network. The church building dates to 1799 but stands on the site of the original mission.

Fort de Chartres State Historic Site

Battlefield · 1350 IL-155, Prairie du Rocher, IL 62277

Fort de Chartres was the principal French military fortification in the Illinois Country, built in its final stone form in the 1750s. Transferred to the British after France ceded the Illinois Country in 1763, it served as the administrative center of the region until Kaskaskia became the primary town. By 1778 the fort was partially abandoned, but its ruins formed the backdrop of British power in the Illinois Country that Clark's campaign extinguished. The reconstructed fort is now a state historic site with substantial surviving stone walls and interpretive exhibits on French colonial and early American history.

George Rogers Clark National Historical Park (Vincennes, IN)

Monument · 401 S 2nd St, Vincennes, IN 47591

Though located in Vincennes, Indiana, this National Historical Park is the primary interpretive site for the entire Illinois campaign that began at Kaskaskia. The memorial rotunda commemorates Clark's capture of Fort Sackville in February 1779, the climax of the campaign that started with Kaskaskia. The site features large murals depicting Clark's march through the flooded Wabash bottomlands, his confrontation with Hamilton, and the broader story of how the Illinois Country was won. Vincennes is accessible as a day trip from the Kaskaskia area.

Kaskaskia Bell (Liberty Bell of the West)

Monument · Kaskaskia Island, Randolph County, IL 62233

The Kaskaskia Bell, also called the Liberty Bell of the West, is a 650-pound bronze bell cast in France in 1741 and presented to the Church of the Immaculate Conception at Kaskaskia by King Louis XV. The bell rang when Clark's forces took Kaskaskia in 1778 and again when Illinois achieved statehood in 1818. It is one of the few surviving artifacts from the original colonial Kaskaskia, having been removed before the floods of 1881 destroyed the town. The bell is now housed in a small chapel on Kaskaskia Island.

Mississippi River Crossing — Clark's Route

Trail · Near Kaskaskia Island, Randolph County, IL

The strategic geography that made Kaskaskia significant: the confluence of the Kaskaskia River with the Mississippi, where Clark's men crossed on the night of July 4–5, 1778. Clark's force had marched overland from the Falls of the Ohio, then used boats to descend the Ohio and cross the Mississippi near Fort Massac before marching overland to Kaskaskia. The approach route — crossing hostile, largely unmapped territory in summer heat — was a feat of frontier endurance. Historical markers along the Mississippi River bottom trace portions of the approach.

Old Kaskaskia Island (Submerged Town Site)

Landmark · Kaskaskia Island, Randolph County, IL 62233

The original site of Kaskaskia, once the largest European settlement in the Illinois Country and the town Clark captured on July 4–5, 1778. The island was largely submerged and destroyed when the Mississippi River shifted its channel during catastrophic floods in 1881, washing away the physical remnants of the colonial town. Today a small portion of the island remains accessible by a bridge from Missouri, accessible only during periods of low water. A marker indicates the site of Fort Gage, the British fortification Clark captured, and the ruins of the old town lie beneath the river.

Pierre Menard Home State Historic Site

Historic House · 4230 Kaskaskia Rd, Ellis Grove, IL 62241

The preserved home of Pierre Menard, first Lieutenant Governor of Illinois, built around 1802 near the site of old Kaskaskia. While Menard came to prominence slightly after the Revolutionary War period, his home is the best-preserved example of the French Creole architecture that characterized the Kaskaskia settlement Clark captured in 1778. The house is operated by the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency and offers interpretation of French Creole frontier life and the broader history of the Illinois Country.