Where Was Piggott's Fort?

In 1783, James Piggot erected a fort at the foot of the bluff, a mile and a half west of Columbia where a small creek, called by the French the Grand Ruisseau, emerged from the bluff. This fort was home to 14 families--the largest settlement at that time along the entire Cahokia-Kaskaskia Trail--creating the nucleus for the earliest American settlement of the Illinois territory.  It was a celebrated place in those early times, known as Piggot's Fort.

While many believe the stone foundation across from Sackman Field at 11832 Bluff Rd. to be a remnant of Piggot’s Fort, the exact location is open for discussion. Members of the Illinois War of 1812 Bicentennial Commission, Columbia Historical Society, Columbia Heritage & Preservation Commission, and the Sand Bank School Historical Society have joined forces to try and settle the question during this coming year. As a first step, a forum will be held from 3:00 to 7:00 p.m. on November 30th at Sand Bank School, located just north of the currently designated Piggot's Fort site.

Anyone interested in the history of the area should plan to stop by and share information with early Illinois settlement historian Bill Wilson, Monroe County historian and author Gene Haller, and other experts.

Columbia’s Improved Website is Now Live!

The City of Columbia’s official website has been upgraded to better serve the community.  This past Friday, the re-designed site went live, offering many improvements.

First, City staff worked with CivicPlus, the vendor, to completely update the design of the site. In conjunction with that process, the team reorganized the website’s navigation, making it easier to find content. As a result, the whole look and feel of the website has been updated and improved.

Three new features merit special notice:

 The calendar now shows dates in a graphic manner, not just as a list, making it easier to find events via the website;

 Navigation has been revamped to make it easier to find content and functions on the site;

 The website has a new, revolving slide show highlighting content and services of special interest--including some new, high interest content that has recently been added.

Other changes are being made to improve the website’s functionality for new businesses seeking to locate in this area. National studies suggest that more than 98% of site selections are with primary contact via a community’s website.

Further improvements will continue to be made to make Columbia’s website more useful to citizens as well as for visitors and potential investors. If you have a suggestion for improving the website, please send it to Paul Ellis, pellis@columbiaillinois.com or (618) 281-7144.