The French Colonial Historic District is a historic district that encompasses a major region of 18th-century

French colonization The French colonial empire () comprised the overseas colonies, protectorates and mandate territories that came under French rule from the 16th century onward. A distinction is generally made between the "First French Colonial Empire", that exist ...

in southwestern

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

. The district is anchored by

Fort de Chartres Fort de Chartres was a French fortification first built in 1720 on the east bank of the Mississippi River in present-day Illinois. It was used as the administrative center for the province, which was part of New France. Due generally to river floo ...

and

Fort Kaskaskia Fort Kaskaskia State Historic Site is a 200-acre (0.8 km²) park near Chester, Illinois, on a blufftop overlooking the Mississippi River. It commemorates the vanished frontier town of '' Old Kaskaskia'' and the support it gave to George ...

, two important French settlements and military posts in what was then the

Illinois Country The Illinois Country (french: Pays des Illinois ; , i.e. the Illinois people)—sometimes referred to as Upper Louisiana (french: Haute-Louisiane ; es, Alta Luisiana)—was a vast region of New France claimed in the 1600s in what is n ...

. The

Kaskaskia The Kaskaskia were one of the indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands. They were one of about a dozen cognate tribes that made up the Illiniwek Confederation, also called the Illinois Confederation. Their longstanding homeland was in t ...

village site is also included within the district; it includes the

Pierre Menard House The Pierre Menard House, located in Ellis Grove, Illinois, U.S.A., was the home of Pierre Menard, a trader who became the first lieutenant governor of Illinois from 1818 to 1822. History Pierre Menard was born near Montreal, Quebec on October ...

, the only surviving building from Illinois' first state capital. Over a dozen French houses in

Prairie du Rocher Prairie du Rocher ("The Rock Prairie" in French) is a village in Randolph County, Illinois, United States. Founded in the French colonial period in the American Midwest, the community is located near bluffs that flank the east side of the Miss ...

are also part of the district, including the

poteaux-sur-sol Poteaux-sur-sol ("posts on a sill" – sol is also spelled sole and solle) is a style of timber framing in which relatively closely spaced posts rest on a timber sill. Poteaux-en-terre and pieux-en-terre are similar, but the closely spaced posts ...

Creole House The Creole House is a historic residence in the village of Prairie du Rocher, an old French settlement in present-day Randolph County, Illinois, United States. Built at the end of the eighteenth century and later expanded, the Creole House is ...

and the 1735 Meilliere House. In addition to the French sites, the district also includes several Native American archaeological sites, such as the Modoc Rock Shelter, the

Kolmer Site The Kolmer Site is an archaeological site in the far southwest of the U.S. state of Illinois. Located near Kaskaskia and Prairie du Rocher in western Randolph County, it lies at the site of an early historic Indian village from the French per ...

, the Waterman Site, and the Henke Site. The district was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

on April 3, 1974.

References

National Register of Historic Places in Monroe County, Illinois National Register of Historic Places in Randolph County, Illinois French-American culture in Illinois Louisiana (New France) Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Illinois {{MonroeCountyIL-NRHP-stub