I was watching a fantastic History Channel show on Saturday called "How the States Got Their Shapes". Really quite entertaining if you ever get the opportunity to watch. One point really caught my attention, though.
Did you know that the original Capital of Illinois is in Missouri?
Well, sort of....
Kaskaskia, Illinois - population 9 (2000 census), is called an island. But before the great flood of 1844, the Mississippi River passed on the west part of the town, making it part of Illinois. The 1844 flood completely surrounded the town and turned it into an island. In 1881 another flood destroyed everything that remained of the town and the Mississippi shifted into the channel of the Kaskaska River passing east instead of west of the town. As the Mississippi continued to flow over the new area, it left deposits of earth so that the bank became physically attached to the bank on the Missouri side. Now a Bayou, the channel is frequently underwater and a bridge was built to carry traffic over it.
Another flood in 1993 submerged most of the town under 9 foot of water, and most of it's residents were forced to move. The remaining Kaskaskia residents have a Missouri zip code, but still maintain their driver's licenses in Illinois.
Who knew?
