Kaskaskia Village served as the Randolph County seat of government from 1795 until 1844, when a massive Mississippi River flood extensively damaged the village and the county seat moved to Chester. In 1881, flooding broke through the narrow isthmus connecting Kaskaskia to the Illinois mainland and began cutting a new main Mississippi River channel from the lower 7 miles of the Kaskaskia River, severely eroding the village. Over time, this channel placed the Mississippi River between Kaskaskia and the rest of Randolph County, creating a 17000-acre Illinois island accessible feasibly only from the Missouri side, and as the channel grew the village relocated 3 miles south toward the island's center, establishing a new village in 1893. Most of the old village was gone by 1930. The Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, whose parish is over 300 years old, was moved in 1894 brick by brick to the relocated village and remains an active parish. The village cemetery was relocated to the east side of the river on Garrison Hill, where Fort Kaskaskia and the Pierre Menard home historic sites are the only remnants of the original village on the Illinois side. In 1918 a ring levee was initially built around the island for minimal flood protection, and the Federal government greatly improved flood protection levees from the 1950's through the 80's. Notable modern floods affecting the island occurred in 1973, 1993, and 1995. Today, vehicle access to Kaskaskia Island from Illinois requires using the Chester Bridge or the Modoc Ste. Genevieve ferry, then traveling through Missouri to the Village of St. Mary and crossing the Mississippi River remnant channel bridge. The K-C Trail, a 60-mile corridor through Randolph, Monroe, and St. Clair Counties, dates to Native American use as long ago as 11,000 BC, played an integral role in French colonization, remained a main road through Illinois statehood, and continues as a heavily traveled route in the Metro East St. Louis Region.