Parts of the town were rebuilt in the new area . As the Mississippi continued to flow through its new bed , earth was deposited so that the village land became physically attached to the west bank of the river , which primarily lies within the boundaries of the state of Missouri . Now a bayou , the old channel is regularly flooded by the river . A small bridge carries traffic from the mainland over the bayou to Kaskaskia and its surrounding farmlands in the floodplain . A levee lines the river to the east . In 1893 the people of the town moved and rebuilt the Church of the Immaculate Conception at Kaskaskia . They also built a shrine in a similar style nearby to house the " liberty bell . " By 1950 , only 112 people lived in Kaskaskia . By 1970 , the population had fallen to 79 , and it continued its precipitous decline to 33 in 1980 . The town was submerged under nine feet of water by the Great Flood of 1993 , which reached the roofs of the buildings . By 2000 , with nine residents , Kaskaskia was almost a ghost town , the least populous incorporated community in the State of Illinois
Great Flood of 1993
Great Flood of 1993
Kaskaskia, Illinois