Holy Family Log Church - Cahokia, Illinois

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Holy Family Log Church - Cahokia, Illinois

The Holy Family Parish Log Church in Cahokia, Illinois is the oldest continuously sited church in the state of Illinois. The Holy Family Parish is the second oldest Catholic Parish in the state being established in May of 1699 when the French priest Father Jean St. Cosme and two workmen erected a missionary cross, a chapel and a log rectory. The original log church built by Father St. Cosme was destroyed by a fire in the 1730’s and the subsequent church was also destroyed by fire in 1783. Only a bell suspended from a tree in the churchyard, a missal printed in 1683, a monstrance made in 1717, a chalice, and a paten were saved from the 1783 fire. Pope John Paul II used the chalice in his Mass when he visited St. Louis in 1999.

Then construction on the present church, with a capacity of over 100 people, was begun but it was not until 1799 that the Church was dedicated. The church’s construction is typical of the French Creole architecture of the era. Built in the poteaux-sur-solle (post-on-sill) manner, a vertical log style that uses hewn walnut logs placed upright on a horizontal base. The roof timbers are oak, and the roof itself is made of cypress clapboards covered by sycamore and the church is held together entirely with wooden pegs instead of nails. In l949, Father Joseph Mueller "rediscovered" the old log church that had been covered over with white clapboarding and the Log Church was restored in time for the parish’s 250th anniversary.

An old cemetery that contains the graves of many of the parish’s priests and the locally prominent Jarrot family is located behind the church.

Visiting the Holy Family Parish Log Church

       Visiting Hours

          (Times subject to availability of the volunteer docents)

          Open for Latin Mass each Sunday at 9 am

          Open for tours with advance notice  10 am - 4 pm from Memorial Day through Labor Day

There is no charge to visit the Holy Family Parish Log Church.

 Location: Cahokia, Illinois The Holy Family Parish Log Church is located near the intersection of IL-157 and IL-3.