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COLLINSVILLE – The Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site, the ancient remnants of a huge Native American city here, would be declared a national park under a bill introduced by an Illinois congressman.
The designation, Rep. Mike Bost and other advocates say, would mean more protection, more status and more tourism.
“Cahokia Mounds is a significant archaeological treasure,” said Bost, R-Murphysboro, Ill., in a written statement introducing the bill this month.
“Making Cahokia Mounds and associated mounds sites in the region part of our national park system will help elevate this resource in our nation’s consciousness and deepen our understanding of the peoples and cultures of our past.”
The mounds are remnants of a major city and trading center built by a Native American Mississippian culture that thrived in the St. Louis area from A.D. 600-1300. One of the largest Native American sites north of the great pre-Columbian cities in Mexico, it is believed to have had at least 20,000 inhabitants by A.D. 1100, more than London at the time.
Named “America’s First City,” the 2,200-acre site was made an Illinois state historic site in 1923. It is one of 24 World Heritage sites in the U.S. as designated by UNESCO, a United Nations agency, and is a National Historic Landmark on the National Register of Historic Places.