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Cahokia, village, St. Clair county, southwestern Illinois, U.S. It lies along the Mississippi River, opposite St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1699 by Quebec missionaries and named for a tribe of Illinois Indians (Cahokia, meaning “Wild Geese”), it was the first permanent European settlement in Illinois and became a centre of French influence in the upper Mississippi River valley. In 1769 the Ottawa chief Pontiac was killed at Cahokia. On July 4, 1778, the area was captured for the United States by George Rogers Clark. In 1790, when St. Clair county was formed, Cahokia was made the seat (removed to Belleville in 1814). The Jarrot Mansion (completed in 1810 and made a national historic landmark in 2001), the Church of the Holy Family (built in 1799 and designated a national historic landmark in 1970), and the Cahokia Courthouse (originally constructed as a home in 1737 and now a state historic site) exemplify French pioneer architecture. Northeast of the city (near Collinsville) is Cahokia Mounds, a large prehistoric Mississippian culture city; a state historic site, it was designated a World Heritage site by UNESCO in 1982. Tourism contributes to the local economy, but modern Cahokia is primarily residential. It has a petroleum terminal and some aviation interests. Inc. 1927. Pop. (2000) 16,391; (2010) 15,241.
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