{"nrhp_refnum":"70000851","name":"Church of the Holy Family","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"E. 1st St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Cahokia","county":"St. Clair County","state":"IL","lat":38.56990587750005,"lon":-90.18831276813687,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1970-04-15","is_nhl":true,"nhl_designated_date":"1970-04-15","areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A French Colonial log church on East First Street in Cahokia, St. Clair County, Illinois, built between 1786 and 1799 and dedicated in September 1799 as the Holy Family parish church.","why_significant":"The nomination calls it the finest extant example in the United States of a typical French Colonial church of upright log construction. It is little altered and represents a once common building type. Its poteaux sur sole walls and pierrotage infill are intact.","narrative":"Holy Family Church in Cahokia, Illinois, is a French Colonial church built of upright logs between 1786 and 1799. It replaced an earlier mission church that had disappeared by the time a priest arrived from Baltimore in 1786. Its walls use heavy hewn black walnut timbers set about a foot apart on stone-founded sills, with rubble stone set in clay filling the gaps. The roof trusses are of white oak and black walnut, pinned with wooden pegs. Two small wings were added about 1833, giving a cruciform plan, and siding was applied in the 1890s. The building served as a parish school and hall after a stone church replaced it in 1891. Restoration in 1949-51 raised the structure, repaired the foundations, removed the siding, replaced a few decayed logs and re-covered the roof with wood shingles. The nomination values it as a rare surviving example of a once common building type. It remains in use for services and is open to visitors.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Restoration of 1949-51 supervised by Architect Guy Study; original builder not named","architectural_style":"French Colonial (upright log, poteaux sur sole construction)","criteria":[],"status_note":"Maintained in excellent condition, open to visitors, and used for Sunday services; restored 1949-51.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:35.974181-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/48/8916/28891648/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/70000851_NHL.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/70000851/8d82b46e38-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/70000851/8d82b46e38-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Kbh3rd","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Holy_Family_Log_Church_Cahokia_063.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Kbh3rd</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Holy_Family_Log_Church_Cahokia_063.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28891648","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_the_Holy_Family_(Cahokia_Heights,_Illinois)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5117898"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/st-clair-county/church-of-the-holy-family-70000851/"}