kaskaskia bell

I admit I've only been to this site twice and each time was on the 4th of July when they have a ceremony there. This area is rich with history and if you are into that this stop will be worth your time. If you take a short ride across the river to Chester and the surrounding area you will find much more history of the early settlers and Lewis and Clark. For instance, Chester Illinois had electric street lights before Chicago! Hard to believe but true. You may have to look for the sites around the area but isn't that part of the fun?

Gotta love history to enjoy this attraction. It's a little out of the way, and not much to do besides look at the bell and walk around. That being, said if you enjoy history, it is worth going. My husband and I had been wanting to drive out there, and a lovely autumn drive to St. Genevieve, MO brought us close enough to make the trip. BE SURE and press the button to see the bell. At first we thought the building was closed for the day. If we had not seen the sign to press the button, we would have been disappointed with the trip.

I love history so it was nice to see were Lewis and Clark had been and there was a battle fought there. Not quite what I expected. The bell is locked up and you have to press a button and a door opens. A few signs have some history facts.

There were only two casted and given to the US. This one is actually older, and larger than the one in Philly, and lasted longer too (until 1993).It rang every 4th of July until 1993, when the floods took it's toll on the area. The stand that housed the bell rotted and it fell, also giving a signature crack, but it runs the opposite direction than the one in philly.

We are history buffs so we love anything history. The location of the bell is a wee bit of a drive but well worth the trip. Located n the same location is a historical church. So you actually have two small attractions in one location.

The Kaskaskia Bell, also known as the Liberty Bell of the West, is housed in a brick building with historical murals. This is a nice piece of history and drive to the island where the bell is loated was a scenic drive.

It's a strange place because the bell is not in Chester as it says here, but on Kaskaskia Island. It's pretty much a ghost town with lots of corn and beans in the fields of the 22,000 acre island that actually is in Illinois but can only be reached by a bridge in St. Mary's, Missouri. The bell is in a tiny brick building next to the Catholic parish hall and church. Read the plaque, press a button and the door to the builiding flies open (it's a bit startling). There are bars on the entrance, so you can't enter the building, but you can easily see the bell and the mural.