{"nrhp_refnum":"72001480","name":"Old Cahokia Courthouse","other_names":["Saucier,Francois,House"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Corner of W. 1st and Elm Sts.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Cahokia","county":"St. Clair County","state":"IL","lat":38.57087315100006,"lon":-90.19182340899994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1972-11-09","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Politics/Government","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["national","state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A one-story French Colonial house of poteaux-sur-sole construction at the corner of West 1st and Elm Streets in Cahokia, Illinois, built shortly after 1737 as the residence of the Saucier family and later used as a courthouse. It is now a state-owned museum.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the building is one of the few surviving examples of French timber-and-stone construction of its period in this part of the United States. It was also the site of the first United States court sessions and first elections in Illinois, and served as courthouse for a vast area of the Northwest Territory until the county seat moved in 1814.","narrative":"This French Colonial house at the corner of West 1st and Elm Streets in Cahokia, Illinois, was built shortly after 1737 using poteaux-sur-sole construction: heavy squared timbers set upright on a sill over a stone foundation, with gaps filled by stone rubble called pierrotage. It measures about 35 by 43 feet, with four rooms, a fireplace at each end, a steep broken hip roof and a surrounding gallery. In 1793 the building was purchased from Francois Saucier for use as a courthouse. The first United States court sessions and first elections in Illinois were held here, and legal and administrative business was handled for an area reaching Peoria, Chicago, Prairie du Chien and Green Bay. The county seat moved to Belleville in 1814 because of flood threats. The house was later dismantled for the 1904 St. Louis exposition, partly exhibited in Chicago, and reerected on its original foundation in 1939 using surviving original material. The State of Illinois now operates it as a museum.","period_of_significance":"18th Century","architect_builder":"Captain Jean Baptiste Saucier (probable original builder, per supporting survey material); Francois Saucier sold it in 1793","architectural_style":"French Colonial (poteaux-sur-sole construction)","criteria":[],"status_note":"Owned by the State of Illinois and used as a museum; reconstructed in 1939 on its original foundation; condition rated fair on the form, with preservation work in progress.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:35.279892-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/40/8941/28894140/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/72001480.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/72001480/c0c1e45a6f-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/72001480/c0c1e45a6f-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Rklawton","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Old_Cahokia_Courthouse.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Rklawton</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:Old_Cahokia_Courthouse.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28894140","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Cahokia_Courthouse","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7083573"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/st-clair-county/old-cahokia-courthouse-72001480/"}