All Arts and History

99 South Main Street Ste. Geneviève, MO 63670 Call us at 573-880-7189 Contact the National Park Service for availability The Jean-Baptiste Vallé House is a large and imposing example of the “poteaux-sure-solle” (post on sill) construction. In the 1850s and 1860s, subsequent owners of the house remodeled it to conform to American tastes. In the 1960s, descendants of Leon Vion, who purchased the property in 1867, restored the house to its pre-1850 appearance. Jean-Baptiste Vallé was the commandant of this area at the time the United States purchased the Louisiana Territory eliminating that French/Spanish position. Built in 1794, this house served as both a government center and home. Today it is operated by the National Park Service and is open when rangers are available. Read more…

August 12-13, 2023 The annual Jour de Fête, the second full weekend in August, is southeast Missouri’s largest outdoor crafts fair with 150 vendors, food choices, and music. Held in the heart of Ste. Geneviève’s Historic District, visitors can browse through arts and crafts booths. Shop till you drop and enjoy live music, food, living history demonstrations, and other activities at this family-friendly event. Read more…

Where: Historic District Ste. Geneviève, MO 63670 800-373-7007 573-883-7097 A family-friendly, living history event! Come explore the traditions of the “School of the Soldier.” This is a fully packed weekend of lectures and camaraderie with plenty of events to see. On Saturday, attend a public heritage auction of discovered “desirables” – memorabilia, collectibles, “accouterments,” utensils, and “watcha-may-call-its.” In addition, Ste. Geneviève has the greatest concentration of original French colonial buildings in North America. Plus it is the only surviving French colonial village in the United States. At Ecole du Soldat activities of that early era are reenacted. Read more…

December 31 “Bonsoir le maître et la maîtresse, and everyone who lives here too. Now for the last day of the year, la guignolée vous nous devez.” So begins the song chanted every New Year’s Eve in Ste. Genevieve for well over 250 years! Ste. Genevieve’s La Guignolèe singing troupe will again run their circuit of the Ste. Genevieve historic district in their centuries old New Year’s tradition. Dressed in bizarre and somewhat archaic costumes, the revelers wander from place to place on New Year’s Eve, singing a beggars’ song for favors. Make a dinner reservation at The Anvil, Old Brick, or Audubon’s to see the troupe from a single perspective as they make their rounds, watch them perform in the Valle gym at 7:00pm   Read more…

116 S. Main St Ste. Geneviève MO 63670 Hours Open Saturdays 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., starting on the last weekend in March through the first weekend in November. The Linden House (built in stages from 1811/1812 to the 1930s) features fun and educational colonial-era activities for audiences of all ages: visit and experience colonial crafts and games and learn about the area’s unique French Creole history and culture in the recreated store, the merchant’s living quarters and the “common room.”  Admission is free, courtesy of generous donors. Read more…