Cahokia, Illinois

Cahokia
Location of Cahokia in St. Clair County, Illinois.
Location of Cahokia in St. Clair County, Illinois.
Cahokia is located in Illinois
Cahokia
Cahokia
Location of Cahokia
Cahokia is located in the United States
Cahokia
Cahokia
Cahokia (the United States)
Coordinates: 38°34′15″N 90°11′24″W / 38.57083°N 90.19000°W / 38.57083; -90.19000[1]
Country United States
State Illinois
CountySt. Clair
Government
 • MayorCurtis McCall Jr.
Area
 • Total10.31 sq mi (26.70 km2)
 • Land9.75 sq mi (25.26 km2)
 • Water0.56 sq mi (1.44 km2)
Elevation407 ft (124 m)
Population
 (2020)
 • Total12,096
 • Density1,423.15/sq mi (549.46/km2)
Time zoneUTC-6 (CST)
 • Summer (DST)UTC-5 (CDT)
Area code618
FIPS code17-10370
GNIS feature ID426287[1]
Wikimedia CommonsCahokia, Illinois
Websitewww.cahokiaillinois.org

Cahokia is a settlement and former village in St. Clair County, Illinois, United States, founded as a colonial French mission in 1689. Located on the east side of the Mississippi River in the Greater St. Louis metropolitan area, as of the 2010 census, 15,241 people lived in the village. On May 6, 2021, the village was incorporated into the new city of Cahokia Heights.[3]

The name refers to one of the clans of the historic Illiniwek confederacy, who met early French explorers to the region. Early European settlers named the nearby (and long-abandoned) Cahokia Mounds in present-day Madison County after the Illini clan. But the UNESCO World Heritage Site and State Historic Park was developed by the Mississippian culture, active here from AD 900 to AD 1500 some connection to the clan is possible but unknown. The area was part of an extensive urban complex, the largest of the far flung Mississippian culture territory through the Mississippi and Ohio river valleys.

French Canadian colonists founded Cahokia village in 1696 as a Catholic mission. The historic Church of the Holy Family is the oldest continually active Catholic parish in the United States, as well as the oldest church west of the Allegheny Mountains. Other significant colonial and Federal-period buildings listed on the National Register of Historic Places include the Cahokia Courthouse (c. 1740, in the French Colonial style); and the Jarrot Mansion (c. 1810).

  1. ^ a b c U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Cahokia, Illinois
  2. ^ "2019 U.S. Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved July 14, 2020.
  3. ^ "3 Metro East cities officially merge to create Cahokia Heights". KMOV. May 6, 2021. Retrieved May 6, 2021.