Cahokia

Understand

The main features of the site are the 70 remaining man-made mounds, the largest of which is Monks Mound, around 100 ft (30 m) tall. The rest of the 2,200-acre (890-hectare) site consists of many grass covered mounds that vary in size and shape, several interpretive trails and signage, a reconstruction of the Woodhenge sun calendar, and reconstructions of the palisade/stockade walls.

1 Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site, 30 Ramey Street, Collinsville, ☏ +1 618 346-5160, [email protected].

History

First occupied in small settlements by Late Woodland Indians from about AD 700-1000, the larger community was built by Mississippian Indians between AD 1000 and 1350. Cahokia was the largest prehistoric city in all of what became the United States. Then covering 6 sq mi (16 km²), Cahokia was a melting pot of Indian groups. The city included large fields of corn, pole and thatch houses for thousands of people, grand open plazas, and about 120 earthen mounds. Though the city was abandoned in the 1300s, French and later American settlers arrived in the 17th and 18th century and again began growing crops. Even in the early 1800s, historians recognized that there was something unique here, but the land continued to be used for farming for the next 125 years. In the early 1900s there were local efforts to make the site a National Park or a State Park, and those efforts failed until the mid-1920s after excavations by Warren K. Moorehead proved the mounds were man-made and not natural features. The state of Illinois then purchased an initial 144-acre plot of land including Monks Mound, creating a state park,and continues to expand and operate the land today, which has been reclassified as a state historic site, and is now managed by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site remains one of the few of the 23 World Heritage sites in the United States which is not run by the federal government. Cahokia Mounds was designated a Nati

Getting there

Despite the similarity in name, Cahokia Mounds is not in the city of Cahokia, but is located in Collinsville, Illinois, about 10 miles (16 km) away. The site entrance is on Collinsville Rd in Collinsville, about 8 mi (12 km) from downtown St Louis. The site is located just off of Interstate 55, and not far from historic Route 66, which ran through the site for about six years from 1957-1962, and Collinsville Road is also part of the Historic National Road.

By car From St. Louis or West St. Louis County: Take Interstate 55/70, 64 or Highway 40 & 44 across the Poplar St. Bridge into Illinois. Follow I-55/70, not 64, to Exit 6 (Highway 111). Exit and turn right onto Highway 111 south. At traffic signal turn left onto Collinsville Rd. The Interpretive Center is about 1.5 mi (2.5 km) on the right. From North St. Louis County: Take I-270 East into Illinois to I-255. Take I-255 South (Memphis) to Exit 24, Collinsville Rd. Exit and turn left onto Collinsville Rd at the stoplight at the end of the off-ramp. The Interpretive Center is about 1.5 mi (2.5 km) on the left. From South St. Louis County: Take I-255 across the Jefferson Barracks Bridge into Illinois. Continue on I-255 until Exit 24, Collinsville Rd. Exit and turn left onto Collinsville Rd at the stoplight at the end of the off-ramp. The Interpretive Center is about 1.5 mi (2.5 km) on the left. From Northern and Eastern Illinois via I-55/70: Take I-55 South or I-70 West to the I-255 exit 10, just past Collinsville. Take I-255 South (Memphis) to the next Exit (24) at Collinsville Rd. Exit and turn left onto Collinsville Rd at the stoplight at the end of the off-ramp. The Interpretive Center is about 1.5 mi (2.5 km) on the left. From Eastern Illinois via I-64: Take I-64 to I-255 North. Take I-255 North to Exit 24, Collinsville Rd. Exit and turn left onto Collinsville Rd at the stoplight at the end of the off-ramp. The Interpretive Center is about 1.5 mi (2.5 km) on the left. From Southern Illinois: Take I-255 North

Getting around

There are free parking areas for cars and RVs at the Visitors Center, Monks Mound, and Woodhenge. It is easy to walk around the site. There is an informative self-guided audio cassette tour available from the Visitors Center (free) which guides you around the main points of interest, or you can purchase a guidebook (available in 12 languages) for $1 in the Gift Shop, or rent iPod Touch units for $3 in the Gift Shop (available in English, Spanish and German). All of these include the three outside interpretive trails and the iPod also has an interior exhibit tour as well as videos and dialogue. The Visitors Center/Interpretive Center is wheelchair accessible. Newly-installed cement paths provide accessibility to the Grand Plaza area, Mound 72, and several other parts of the site and there are large interpretive signs at each parking lot and along the trails.

See

Every day Interpretive Center. 9AM-5PM. The starting point for your visit to Cahokia Mounds, the Interpretive Center has a very good introductory video to help make sense of the site. There are also displays of the finds and a recreated life-size portion of a village with houses and mannequins involved in daily activities. Volunteers are available to help explain what is known of the civilization which lived here 1,000 years ago. free, donations accepted. Monks Mound. 8AM-dusk. The largest prehistoric earthen-work in the New World provides nice views over the whole historic site. An easy 154 steps will take you to the top of the 100 ft (30 m) mound, where you can see central St Louis including the impressive Gateway Arch about 7 mi (11 km) away. Completely man-made, Monks Mound contains 22 million cubic feet (625,000 m3) of dirt. If it were made of ice cream, it would be large enough to give every person in the United States a half gallon. free. Parking lot and Interpretive signage Woodhenge. 8AM-dusk. About one-half mi (1 km) west of Monks Mound, you will see a large circle of 48 wooden posts, over 400 ft (125 m) in diameter. It has been reconstructed in its original location and is a solar calendar, with posts aligning with the equinox and solstice sunrises. Free. Parking lot and interpretive signage. Stockade/Palisade. Reconstructions of the defensive post wall system have been built where identified by excavations, north of the Monks Mound parking lot, and along the trail behind the Twin Mounds. This wall was nearly two miles long, enclosing the Central Ceremonial Precinct of Cahokia, including Monks Mound, the Grand Plaza and the Twin Mounds. A sidewalk accesses the reconstructions from the Monks Mound parking lot. Free. Interpretive signage.

Scheduled dates Contemporary Indian Art Show and Spring and Fall Indian Market Days. The second weekend in July, several dozen Indian artists gather at Cahokia to show their creative abilities in sculpture, pott

Do

Every day Public Tours. During June, July, and August public one hour tours are conducted Wednesday through Saturday at 10:30AM