State of Illinois acquired the ruins in 1913 as a historic site and restored the powder magazine in 1917. The powder magazine is thought to be the oldest existing building in the state of Illinois. In the 1920s the foundations of the fort's buildings and walls were exposed. In the late 1920s and through the 1930s, the US WPA rebuilt the gateway and two stone buildings. A combination museum and office building, constructed in 1928 on the foundation of an original fort building, houses exhibits depicting French life at Fort de Chartres. The large stone "Guards House", reconstructed in 1936, contains a Catholic chapel furnished in the style of the 1750s, along with a priest's room, a gunner's room, an officer-of-the-day room, and a guard's room. Also on the grounds are an operating bake oven, a garden shed built of upright logs in French Colonial poteaux-sur-sol (French: "post on sill") construction, and a kitchen garden with raised beds of produce typical of French 18th-century Illinois. Partial reconstruction of the fort's walls on the original foundations followed in 1989. The frames of some additional buildings were erected as a display of the post-and-beam construction techniques used for the originals. Other buildings' foundations and cellars were exposed for educational display as well. Today the site has a museum and small gift shop. It plays host each June to a Rendezvous that is said to be one of the largest and oldest in the country, celebrating frontier French and Indian culture. The site is protected by modern levees, but the Mississippi River is still an occasional menace. The flood of 1993 breached the levee and sent waters fifteen feet deep to lap at the top of the walls. See also List of French forts in North America References External links Fort De Chartres Official Site Biography of Francois Saucier Chartres French colonial settlements of Upper Louisiana Chartes History museums in Illinois Military and war museums in Illinois Museums in Randolph County, Illinois Illinois State Historic Sites Military facilities on the National Register of Historic Places in Illinois National Historic Landmarks in Illinois National Register of Historic Places in Randolph County, Illinois Louisiana (New France) French-American culture in Illinois French colonial architecture Chartres 1720 establishments in New France Military installations established in 1720 1772 disestablishments in the British Empire Military installations closed in 1772