Located near Kaskaskia and Prairie du Rocher in western Randolph County, it lies at the site of an early historic Indian village from the French period.

Under René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers were discovered and explored for the first time,[dubious – discuss] and claimed as part of New France.

The earliest explorers were soon followed by Catholic Christian missionaries led by Jacques Gravier, who soon won converts among the Illini, and some of these praying Indians founded riverside villages at Cahokia, Kaskaskia, and Peoria.

Here the flickering light of civilization grew for little more than thirty years before it was unexpectedly snuffed out: in 1752, a confederation of the Fox, Sioux, and Cherokees came up against the village suddenly,[2]: 3  and although it had been fortified with a stockade,[2]: 2  the inhabitants were unable to hold off the invaders.

For these reasons, Kolmer is significant for its potential to yield information about the late Illini period, but its importance is greatly expanded because of its inhabitants' relationship with the French.