Old Cahokia Courthouse facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Old Cahokia Courthouse
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Old Cahokia Courthouse
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 Location in Illinois
Location in the United States
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| Location | Cahokia Heights, Illinois |
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| Built | c. 1740 |
| Architectural style | French Colonial, Poteaux-sur-solle |
| NRHP reference No. | 72001480 |
| Added to NRHP | November 9, 1972 |
The Cahokia Courthouse State Historic Site is an old French-Canadian building. It was first built around 1740. You can find it today at 107 Elm Street in Cahokia Heights, Illinois.
Over the years, this building has been used as a home and a courthouse. Today, it looks like a frontier courthouse from around 1800. This was when the area was part of the Northwest Territory. The courthouse was added to the National Register of Historic Places on November 9, 1972.
People believe this log home was built in 1737. It was a four-room private house for Jean le Poincet. Later, Jean Francois Saucier got the house. It was part of his first wife's family dowry. Jean Francois Saucier had six children born here. They were from his first two wives. This building is thought to be the oldest house in Illinois. It is also the oldest in the Midwest.
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French Settlers Arrive
In the 1670s, explorers like Marquette, Jolliet, and La Salle explored the Mississippi Valley. This area then became part of New France. The French had explored a lot of land. But they did not have enough people to settle it all. They soon focused on a special part of the valley. This was south of the Missouri River's mouth.
This region is now called the American Bottom. It had very rich, fertile soil. The local Native American tribes, called the Illiniwek, were friendly.
In the early 1700s, French-speaking people moved here. Most came from Canada. They settled villages in the American Bottom. Some of these villages were Kaskaskia, Prairie du Rocher, and Cahokia. They lived peacefully with the Native Americans. They even named some villages, like Cahokia, after the local tribes.
The building known as the Cahokia Courthouse started as a French-Canadian log cabin. A settler built it around 1740. French builders often placed logs vertically. This was different from English settlers. English settlers usually placed logs horizontally. This French style is called poteaux-sur-sol construction. It means "posts on sill." The building's posts stood on a strong wooden base. This helped stop the wood from rotting.
Becoming an American Courthouse
After the American Revolution, the Treaty of Paris was signed in 1783. The Cahokia area was then given to the new United States. It had been part of Great Britain. The fertile area east of the river was called the American Bottom. This helped tell it apart from the west bank. The west bank was a colony of Spain at that time.
American settlers wanted to govern themselves. They spent a lot of time and money to set up local governments. On April 27, 1790, St. Clair County, Illinois was formed. It was the first county in the Illinois region. Soon after, the 1740 Cahokia house became a courthouse. It was a very well-built structure.
Territorial law books show what kinds of decisions were made here. Records of who owned land were kept here. Businesses like frontier taverns and ferryboats needed licenses. These licenses were given out from this building. Decisions were made about people who broke the law. Votes were also counted here.
In 1804, the government opened its first land office in Illinois. It was in Kaskaskia. This office sold land that used to belong to Native Americans. Soon, St. Clair County grew too big. The small log cabin was no longer big enough to be the courthouse.
Moving and Rebuilding the Courthouse
In 1904, people planning the St. Louis World's Fair found the old Cahokia courthouse. It was one of the oldest buildings left in Illinois. They bought it and took it apart. They moved the wooden pieces across the river to St. Louis. They rebuilt it there as an attraction for the fair.
The courthouse survived this move. People from Illinois became very interested in it. After the fair, the cabin was taken apart again. In 1906, it was rebuilt in Jackson Park in Chicago.
People in Cahokia were not happy. Their oldest building had been moved far away. In the 1920s, they worked hard to get it back. They wanted the old log cabin bought and rebuilt a third time. This time, it would be on its original spot.
However, very little of the 1740 cabin was left by then. Each time it was taken apart and rebuilt, many old wooden pieces were replaced. The third rebuilding was mostly a new building. The state of Illinois said that the rebuilt Cahokia courthouse still had some pieces of wood from the original structure.
Visiting the Courthouse Today
The rebuilt Cahokia Courthouse is an important historic site in Illinois. It is also one of the oldest in the United States. Since 1985, the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency (IHPA) has managed it.
Exhibits inside show what kinds of issues the court handled around 1800. They also tell the story of how the building was moved around. A visitor center has more exhibits. These explain how the French lived in the area in the 1700s. You can also learn about the nearby Nicholas Jarrot Mansion.
Due to state budget cuts, the IHPA closed the Cahokia Courthouse for a short time. It was closed from December 2008 until April 2009.
