Prairie du Rocher, Illinois

Prairie du Rocher
Village
A grain elevator in Prairie du Rocher
Flag
Location of Prairie du Rocher in Randolph County, Illinois.
Location of Illinois in the United States
Coordinates: 38°04′59″N 90°05′45″W / 38.08306°N 90.09583°W / 38.08306; -90.09583
Country	United States
State	Illinois
County	Randolph
Precinct	Prairie du Rocher
Founded	1722
Area [1]
• Total	0.57 sq mi (1.48 km2)
• Land	0.57 sq mi (1.48 km2)
• Water	0.00 sq mi (0.00 km2)
Elevation	394 ft (120 m)
Population  (2020)
• Total	502
• Density	879.16/sq mi (339.24/km2)
Time zone	UTC-6 (CST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-5 (CDT)
ZIP Code(s)	62277
Area code	618
FIPS code	17-61639

Prairie du Rocher ("The Rock Prairie" in French) is a village in Randolph County, Illinois, United States. Founded in the French colonial period in the American Midwest, the community is located near bluffs that flank the east side of the Mississippi River along the floodplain often called the "American Bottom". The population was 502 at the 2020 census.^[2]

Prairie du Rocher is one of the oldest communities in the 21st century United States that was founded as a French settlement. About four miles to the west, closer to the Mississippi River, is Fort de Chartres, site of a French military fortification and colonial headquarters established in 1720. Some buildings were reconstructed after falling into ruins, and the complex is now a state park and historical site. The fort and town were a center of government and commerce at the time when France claimed a vast territory in North America, New France or La Louisiane, which stretched from present-day Louisiana and the Illinois Country to Canada.

The village was founded in 1722 by French colonists, mostly migrants from Canada.