The oldest log building in Illinois

by Walter H. Cheely

The oldest wooden building in Illinois is the Cahokia Courthouse in Cahokia, not far from East St. Louis. This venerable building is maintained by the Historic Preservation Agency as the Cahokia Courthouse State Memorial and is preserved as the oldest structure in the state. Built originally as a private residence by French pioneer Jean Roy Lapance, the principal construction was of hewn logs placed upright rather than horizonally, as were English residential dwellings.

The construction style is called potease sur sole by the French, which means literally "posts on sill." The posts were walnut logs squared with a broad axe and set vertically side-by-side upon a hewn wood sill, which was laid upon a stone foundation. The top of the foundation was above ground level, which kept the wood from contact with the soil. Other French settlers built the same type of structure without the stone foundation, digging a two-foot deep trench along the house perimeter and setting the posts vertically in the trench. This construction method was called Potean aui terre, or "post in the ground." Both construction types are called "pallisaded construction" by architectural historians.

Only three frame buildings of early French architecture remain in Illinois; all three used the post and sill on a stone foundation construction method. The other sites are the Old Holy Family Church, also in Cahokia, and a private residence in Prairie Du Rocher. Both of these structures were later sided with weatherboard, which hides the unusual vertical construction.

Some of the earliest French settlers came to Illinois from Haiti, Jean Roy Lapance, perhaps, among them. His house was built with a typical Caribbean style roof line: steep with extended eaves. This combination of roof and eave provided maximum protection from the ravages of sun and rain.

"The Cahokia Courthouse," photo courtesy Illinois Historic Preservation Agency

The wide eave directed water away from the house and kept the wood beams dry and safe from the destructive actions of insects and fungi. The wide eaves likewise provided a roof for the porch, which extended completely around the house. The roof shingles were split from white oak, one of the most durable hardwoods, and fastened with wood pegs.

The outswinging casement windows were protected from the elements by the wide porch roof and the walls were protected by a coat of whitewash, both inside and out.

The history of the Cahokia Courthouse is well documented in the records of St. Clair County, the first established in the region when Illinois was still a part of the Northwest Territory. In 1790, the territory did not have an established system of laws so the inhabitants petitioned the territorial governor to set up a provisional government in the Cahokia area. The governor, General Arthur St. Clair, responded by traveling from his headquarters in Fort Washington (Cincinnati) to southern Illinois, there establishing the first county, which he modestly named for himself.

The new county government used the living room of the Lapance house for court sessions from 1790 to 1793, when the county purchased the building to he used full time as a courthouse. A palisade of mulberry posts were soon set up in stockade fashion to enclose the courthouse grounds. Likewise, items necessary to can)' out court sentences were set up in the enclosed yard: a log jail, some stocks, a pillory, and several whipping posts. Court was held here for several more years, until the county seat moved to another Kami. At that time, the building was sold to Francoise Vaudry, who used it as a residence. In later years it became a warehouse and by 1881 the former courthouse served as a saloon.

In 1903. Alex Zella bought the building and took it to the St. Louis World's Fair as an exhibit. After the fair closed, the courthouse was disassembled and moved again, this time to Chicago's Jackson Park, where it remained until 1939. That year the State of Illinois acquired the structure and returned it to its original site in Cahokia, where it was faithfully restored and officially established as an Illinois State Memorial.

Walter H. Cheely of River Forest /\ a retired lumberman and long-time member of the Illinois State Historical Society. He has written numerous articles about lumber and other forest products for various lumber trade magazines, usually from a historical viewpoint.

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