Kaskaskia, IL

Kaskaskia is a 38-person island community in the Mississippi River, reachable only through Missouri via Route 3 from Chester. Once Illinois' first capital, it became an island when the river shifted in 1881. The hour-plus drive from St. Louis follows I-64 to Route 3 south. The island houses the Liberty Bell of the West, a 650-pound bell gifted by France's King Louis XV in 1741.