Illinois had just gained its statehood and legislators began searching for a place that was more centrally located than Kaskaskia. In 1818, the state capital was moved to the new city of Vandalia, in the central part of the state. There was only one tavern in town and it was said to be constantly overcrowded by state officials, soldiers, adventurers and land speculators. The city also boasted a post office and a number of general stores, a hat shop and three tailor shops. Half of the inhabitants were French or French-Indian mixtures who raised cattle, horses and hogs and worked small farms. The town was made up of stone mansions and homes of typical French architecture, which according to contemporary sources, were inclined to be "shabby". The area grew and in 1804, Kaskaskia became a land-office town and the territorial capital in 1809. It also served as a springboard for explorations to the west and in time, became the state and territorial capital of Illinois. The vanished town was founded by the French settlers and it was once considered the "metropolis" of the Mississippi Valley and the main rendezvous point for the whole territory. There are only a few scattered buildings left here, including the Kaskaskia Bell Memorial site, which indicate that the city ever existed. It is the only physical link this desolate spot has to either state. Mary's which crosses the Mississippi to the island. The remains of the town, while still considered part of Illinois, can now only be reached from Missouri. Much of the area was flooded at that time and it is now largely a ghost town, consisting of a few scattered homes and a handful of residents. There still remains a portion of what was once Kaskaskia, which is accessible from Illinois today, but the peninsula is now an island, cut off from the state by a channel change in the Mississippi River that took place decades ago.
Many years ago, Kaskaskia was a part of the mainland of Illinois, a small peninsula that jutted out just north of the present-day location of Chester. Strangely, many believe that the city was destroyed because of an old curse, leaving nothing but a scattering of houses, and ghosts, behind. Little of the city remains today, although it was once a prosperous and thriving settlement. For more than a century, it was the commercial and cultural capital of Illinois.
A new settlement was started along the western edge of the Illinois region in 1703 and it was called Kaskaskia.
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