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Visitors Guide to the
Called the Liberty Bell of the West, the Kaskaskia Bell is older than the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia. Kaskaskia was the center of French colonial administration for the Middle Mississippi River Valley during the 18th century and the 650-pound bell was a gift to The Mission of the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church and the town's citizens from King Louis XV of France. The bell was cast in La Rochelle, France in 1741 and inscribed with the words: POUR LEGLISE DES ILLINOIS PAR LES SOINS DU ROI D’OUTRE L’EAU (For the Church of the Illinois, by gift of the King across the water). On one side of the bell are the royal lilies of France and the other side features a cross and a pedestal with the fleur de lis. The bell was shipped from France to New Orleans and then pulled up the Mississippi River by ropes on a bateau, arriving in 1743. On July 4, 1778, during the American Revolution, the bell was rung to celebrate the liberation of Kaskaskia from the British by the American forces of George Rogers Clark and his Long Knives.
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The
bell is currently housed in a brick building built by the State of
Illinois in 1948. At one time visitors could enter the shrine and actually
touch the bell and hear its soft peal but now it can only be viewed by
looking through a barred doorway. A brief audio program has recently been
added giving visitors a history of the bell. During the flood of 1973, the bell was
washed from its stand, widening a hairline crack that had been discovered
in 1948. In spite of the crack, the bell continued to be rung every 4th
of July. The bell was washed from the stand a second time during the flood
of 1993, widening the crack to a dangerous width and now can no longer be
rung for fear of further damage,
though Independence Day ceremonies are still conducted at the site. Behind the bell is
a wall mural depicting the village of Kaskaskia as it was during colonial
times. Adjacent to the building is the 
Learn more about the 
