Prairie du Rocher, IL

Prairie du Rocher is a village in Randolph County, Illinois, United States. The 2020 census counted 502 residents. Founded in the French colonial period in the Midwest, the community is located near bluffs that flank the east side of the Mississippi River along the floodplain often called the "American Bottom". About four miles to the west, closer to the Mississippi River, is Fort de Chartres, site of a French military fortification and colonial headquarters established in 1720. French customs practiced in Prairie du Rocher include La Guiannée, a custom of caroling on New Year's Eve dating back to medieval times in France.

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Prairie du Rocher has been celebrated in Prairie du Rocher every New Year's Eve since settlement in 1722. The town has one elementary school for grades K-8. Prairie du Rocher's local map joins its older history to the places and landscapes that still shape the town today, all within the wider Illinois setting. The local scoop is how Prairie du Rocher's history still shows up in the places people visit, work, learn, and meet.