Southeast Missouri / Lead Belt / Mississippi Corridor
A National Historical Park preserves French Colonial Ste. Genevieve
The historic core of Ste. Genevieve is a federally recognized National Historical Park, which shapes how the town's French Colonial buildings are interpreted, protected, and visited.
Ste. Genevieve is the county seat, and it sits on the Mississippi River. The historic core of town is now part of Ste. Genevieve National Historical Park, a unit of the National Park Service. Congress authorized the park in 2018, and the Park Service says it was formally established in 2020. The park preserves and tells the story of the town’s early French settlers.
If you want to visit or learn more, the Park Service site is the best place to check hours, tours, and which buildings you can see.
The town is known for a rare kind of French Colonial house. Builders set vertical logs upright in the ground or on a sill. The Park Service calls this style poteaux-en-terre, and it notes that only a handful of these houses still stand in the whole United States. The Park Service also says Ste. Genevieve was the first permanent European settlement in Missouri.
Where to see it
- Ste. Geneviève National Historical Park
Use NPS for current hours, tour details, and which historic buildings are open to visitors.
References
More from Ste. Genevieve County: browse every local note for the county.
Last checked against the sources above: June 20, 2026.