Church of the Holy Family

The Church of the Holy Family is one of the last standing examples of French Colonial log construction in North America, built using an upright log technique (poteaux-en-terre) that was standard in the French settlements of the Illinois Country in the early 18th century. The current building dates mostly from the 1790s but incorporates timber from the original 1699 structure. It is a working Catholic parish and has been in continuous use since its foundation.

The church is small and unassuming from the outside, a white-painted log building in a residential neighborhood — easy to miss if you are not looking for it. Inside, the construction is clearly visible: the vertical logs forming the walls, the heavy timber frame, the plaster infill. There is a small museum display. It is on the National Register of Historic Places and is one of the most historically significant buildings in Illinois.

things to do sight
A story
The Church of the Holy Family was built by French settlers in 1699, making it one of the oldest surviving churches in the United States. The construction method — upright logs set vertically in the ground, called poteaux-en-terre — was a French colonial technique brought from Canada. It used no nails, relying entirely on the interlocking timber frame. The church survived because it was rebuilt twice using the same method, the last time in the 1790s, using some of the original timbers.