An effort by Calhoun County, Illinois, to preserve a historic home to tell more of its history has gotten a boost from a statewide nonprofit.
The county’s Historic Preservation Commission was one of six groups that recently received $5,000 from Landmarks Illinois’ Preservation Heritage Fund. The commission will use the money to study the possibility of creating a visitor center at Perrin’s Ledge in Kampsville, about 70 miles northwest of St. Louis.
The site is believed to be close to the location where explorers Jacques Marquette and Louis Joliet landed in Calhoun County in 1673 after discovering the Illinois River during their Mississippi River expedition. A local historian, J. Nicholas Perrin, built a house at the site in 1907.
The county’s Historic Preservation Commission will use the grant to help fund a feasibility study, which will help its members learn what would need to be done to turn the house into a public space.
The county depends heavily on tourism for its economy, said commission Co-Chair Kathi Beyer, and historic sites are a key part of attracting people to the region.
“This project enhances that effort to preserve what buildings and structures and sites we can and to make them accessible for not only residents [but] for visitors,” she said.
The commission has secured additional funding for the feasibility study, but Beyer said receiving the Landmarks Illinois grant "validated our belief in the worth” of restoring the site.
Suzanne Germann, director of reinvestment at Landmarks Illinois, said the Perrin’s Ledge project matched well with the organization’s goals.
“They're trying to reuse this building, to really tell their history and share their history with their public,” she said. “It's a perfect example of what we would like to see.”
Calhoun County wants to eventually make the Perrin’s Ledge site more accessible for individuals with disabilities and to clear a trail to the top of its limestone bluffs. In addition, it wants to install interpretive signs at the site, which also contains Indian mounds.
