Fort de Chartres was built by the French government between 1753 and 1755 as a stone fort replacing earlier wooden forts of the same name. From 1720 to 1763, these forts served France as the military, economic, and governmental center of the Illinois Country, part of the Louisiana colony. Most of France's possessions in North America, including Fort de Chartres, passed to Great Britain in 1763 with the Treaty of Paris, which ended the French and Indian War. British troops occupied the fort on October 10, 1765, and renamed it Fort Cavendish. The fort was abandoned around 1771 as the Mississippi River's channel moved closer, ending its use as a military post.