During one of the westernmost military campaigns of the American Revolution, the city fell on July 4, 1778, to George Rogers Clark and his force of 200 men, including Captains Joseph Bowman and Leonard Helm.
 The parish rang the church bell in celebration, and it has since been called the "liberty bell".
The brick church was built in 1843 in the squared-off French style and later moved to the restored village of Kaskaskia.

As a center of the regional economy, Kaskaskia served as the capital of Illinois Territory from 1809 until statehood was gained in 1818, and then as the state capital until 1819.
The first Illinois newspaper, the Illinois Herald, was published here on June 24, 1814.

The city's peak population was about 7,000, before the capital was moved in 1819 to Vandalia.
Although the introduction of steamboats on the Mississippi River stimulated the economies of river towns, in the 19th century, their use also had devastating environmental effects.
Deforestation of the river banks followed steamboat crews' regular cutting of trees, which were used to feed the engine boiler fires as fuel to power the steamboats.
River banks, through rapid, man-made erosion, became unstable, causing massive amounts of soil to collapse into the flowing water.
During one of the westernmost military campaigns of the American Revolution, the city fell on July 4, 1778, to George Rogers Clark and his force of 200 men, including Captains Joseph Bowman and Leonard Helm.  The parish rang the church bell in celebration, and it has since been called the "liberty bell". The brick church was built in 1843 in the squared-off French style and later moved to the restored village of Kaskaskia.
As a center of the regional economy, Kaskaskia served as the capital of Illinois Territory from 1809 until statehood was gained in 1818, and then as the state capital until 1819. The first Illinois newspaper, the Illinois Herald, was published here on June 24, 1814.
The city's peak population was about 7,000, before the capital was moved in 1819 to Vandalia. Although the introduction of steamboats on the Mississippi River stimulated the economies of river towns, in the 19th century, their use also had devastating environmental effects. Deforestation of the river banks followed steamboat crews' regular cutting of trees, which were used to feed the engine boiler fires as fuel to power the steamboats. River banks, through rapid, man-made erosion, became unstable, causing massive amounts of soil to collapse into the flowing water.
Kaskaskia, Illinois