Named for Louis d'Orléans, Duke of Orléans, the son of France’s regent, and located about 43 miles south of St. Louis, Missouri is Fort de Chartres State Historic Site. The fort of today is actually the third and last fort to stand in the area and was made from locally quarried limestone prior to the end of French control of Louisiana and the Illinois Country. After the French departed, the British took over control of the fort and would remain in the area until early in the American Revolution. Today, what is left of the third fort is preserved as a state park and is also listed on the National Register, as a National Historic Landmark and as an Illinois State Historic Site for its significant part to American and Illinois history. The Inn St. Gemme Beauvais and the Microtel Inn & Suites Ste. Genevieve are the closets hotels to Fort de Chartres State Historic Site.
The fort’s history dates back to 1673, when France had claimed control of what was then called the Illinois Country. At the time, this part of North America was an undefined portion of the continent whose territory went from lakes Michigan and Superior to the Ohio and Missouri rivers. The French government hoped that this area would turn into a rich source for fur and precious metals. To account for this, the French government, in 1718, updated the supervision of their property in America. As part of this, control of the area was turned over to the Company of the Indies and by December of that year, the government in New Orleans sent a large group to the Illinois Country that included army officers, soldiers, government officials, mining engineers and other workmen in order to set up a civil government. It was hoped by leaders that this presence would put an end to attacks by the Indians in the area. At the same time, the workers that were a part of this group started to build a wooden fort on the banks of the Mississippi River some 18 miles north of the village of Kaskaskia. Upon completion in 1720, the stockade was named Fort de Chartres after Louis duc de Chartres, the son of the French regent at that time.
The fort was simple in its design, consisting of a palisade of squared logs that were surrounded by a dry moat. This fort would last until the 1720s when flooding in the area severely damaged the fort. Building of the new fort started in 1725 and was larger than the first. This fort would last until 1742 after many bad business deals, poor relationships with the Indians and the fact that none of the promioused metals were found. In the 1750s, the current stone fort was built and would remain active until 1772. Today, the remains of the fort are preserved as a state historic site, were it serves as a link to Illinois’ early history.
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