Illinois e-News Release

Thursday, July 13, 2023

Media contact: Molly McKenzie, 618-235-7628

CAHOKIA – The oldest brick building in Illinois will open its doors Saturday to give the public a rare glimpse of this unique mansion and to celebrate the state’s French heritage in honor of Bastille Day.

The Jarrot Mansion State Historic Site is usually only open by request, but the public will be able to tour the site from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, July 15. The site is located near the intersection of Illinois 3 and Illinois 157 in Cahokia. Nearby Cahokia Courthouse State Historic Site also will be open Saturday. Both sites are managed by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources with support from volunteers of the Jarrot Mansion Project.

The Jarrot Mansion was built in 1810 by Nicholas Jarrot, a refugee from the French Revolution. He became a leading landowner and businessman in the formerly French region of Illinois as the area approached statehood. Celebrating his success, Jarrot built an imposing Federal-style mansion, far different from the French-influenced timber buildings that were common at the time. The interior is so intact that Jarrot would find his home familiar today, more than 200 years later.

Bastille Day, July 14, commemorates the day that revolutionaries stormed the Bastille, an armory and political prison in Paris.

During Saturday’s open house, visitors also will be reminded of the legacy of the Marquis de Lafayette, hero of the American Revolution and a man greatly responsible for France supporting the United States during the Revolution. Lafayette returned to America in 1824-1825 and was received as a hero in one community after another. He generated a special pride among French Americans still living in Cahokia at the time.