Located
on Illinois Route 155, four miles west of Prairie du Rocher, the
site marks the location of the last of three successive forts named
“de Chartres” built by the French during their eighteenth-century
colonial occupation of what is today Illinois. The first two forts
were erected in the 1720s and were square palisaded wooden structures
with corner bastions. The third fort, erected in the 1750s, was
a massive square stone structure enclosing six buildings, including
a still-standing powder magazine that may be the oldest building
in Illinois. This fort served as the French seat of government and
its chief military installation in the Illinois Country. In 1763
France ceded much of its territory in North America, including Illinois,
to Great Britain. British troops occupied the fort from 1765 until
1772, when encroachment by the Mississippi River caused a collapse
of the south wall. Subsequently, the remaining walls and buildings
fell into ruin.
The site features an imaginative reconstruction of portions of
the third Fort de Chartres. The fort gate, built in the 1920s, has
been remodeled several times. Portions of the fort's walls were
reconstructed on original foundations in 1989. The site was declared
a National Historic Landmark in 1960 and was added to the National
Register of Historic Places in 1976.
Inside
the fort are the “restored” powder magazine (portions
of which are original), several reconstructed stone buildings, and
the exposed foundations of other buildings, which have been “ghosted”
in wood. The powder magazine is stocked with reproduction barrels
and barrel racks. A combination museum and office building, built
in 1928 on the foundation of an original fort building, houses exhibits
depicting French life at Fort de Chartres. The large stone “Guards
House,” built in 1936, contains a Catholic chapel furnished
in the style of the 1750s, along with a priest’s room, a gunner’s
room, an officer-of-the-day room, and a guard’s room. Also
on the grounds are an operating bake oven, a garden shed built of
upright logs in “post-on-sill” construction, and a kitchen
garden with raised beds of produce that would have been grown in
eighteenth-century Illinois.
Interpretive signs at various locations guide visitors around the
site, and every weekend at least one costumed interpreter offers
information on the history of the three forts. The museum is open
daily. A trading post, housed in a structure resembling the fort’s
reproduced stone buildings, offers souvenirs, snack foods, and reproductions
of items that might have been found in eighteenth-century Illinois.
Recreational facilities outside the reproduced fort include a day-use
area with a picnic shelter and horseshoe pits.
The site hosts a number of special events, including the “Fort
de Chartres Rendezvous” held in June, the “French and
Indian War Winter Encampment” in February, “Kids Days”
in May, the “French and Indian War Assemblage” in September,
“French Colonial Crafts and Trades” in October, and
“La Guianne” in December. Contact the site for details. |