Recession Lessons Road Trip Part IV: Cairo Illinois
Lesson #4: You’re not that special, fucker.
I ended up in Cairo, Illinois completely by accident. My only goal was to escape the malaise of franchised, interstate towns that seem to chase you across the country no matter how fast you drive. I also thought there would be something distinctly historic and romantic about crossing the mighty Mississippi River on a smaller, two-lane bridge. There isn’t.
Nevertheless, I had expected this route to take me from the Missouri side of the river, directly into Kentucky. Instead, the bridge delivers you to the southern tip of Illinois – a little strip of land at the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers. So, a little confused as to how I had managed to drive into an entirely unexpected state, I hung a left to drive around and get my bearings.
Welcome to Cairo, Illinois.
The main road in Cairo is a lot like any other strip in a poor city. A lot of services and dollar stores, you’ve got a check cashing place, a bar and maybe a liquor store or two. And being a warm summer day there was a lot of life on this strip as well. Young men swapped stories as they polished oversized chrome rims at the car wash, a thrift store had set up tables for sidewalk sales and young mothers and seniors sifted through piles of last year’s fashions looking for gold. On the other side of the street two industrious little girls sold lemonade while a mangy dog panted on the sidewalk beside them.
My first impression of Cairo was that it seemed like a nice place but I was glad I didn’t live there. I was ready to leave. And then I drove one block over.
Right on the levee of the Ohio River was what I can only describe as a modern day ghost town. It was as if a prosperous little downtown area with high-end hotels, restaurants, supper clubs and streets lined with ornate lamps had been abandoned overnight.
Strangely, it was beautiful.
I couldn’t resist. I had to snap some photos. I found a dilapidated old hotel and got my camera out. While I was working on my composition, there wasn’t another soul or sound around. But this silence was suddenly interrupted by a low rumble and a horrible scraping noise. I looked over my shoulder to see a slow moving truck emerge from an alley with a lawn chair crumpled and dragging underneath it. Instead of getting out and dislodging the lawn chair the driver just carried on, business as usual. That is, he carried on until he decided that what was important enough to interrupt this progress was calling out to me, “You’re supposed to take pictures of something pretty, fucker!”
At first I figured my new friend, this lawn-chair-scraper-guy was just bored and thought it would be funny to shout at me, the only other soul on this stretch of nothingness. But I’d later learn that there might be more to his commentary than meets the eye.
And not to be one that scares that easily, I still wanted to get an idea of what had happened here, so I looked for signs of life. I found only two open businesses on what had to be a mile stretch of abandoned downtown – a bar and the Maytag man. Normally, the bar would have been the perfect place for me to do some sleuthing, but after my little conversation with the lawn-chair-scraper-guy I decided that perhaps the Maytag man would be a little less hostile. I was right. Sort of.
The Maytag man looked as if he had decided to not change anything about himself since the day the town was frozen in time. As if he was the only remaining actor still in wardrobe on this otherwise abandoned set. He wore an old, one-piece mechanic’s jumpsuit and a pair of Buddy Holly glasses. Oh, and he looked to be about 90 years old.
Even in his advanced age he was deceptively quick. The moment I started at him he briskly walked away. Unfortunately for him, his body was built for sprints so within a block I was able to wrangle him in long enough to ask him a few questions, even though he clearly didn’t want to be bothered by the ‘fucker’ with California plates on his car. Here’s our exchange:
Me: Hi there, how are you doing?
Maytag Man: What?
Me: I said how are you?
Maytag Man: No. What do you want?
Me: Oh, sorry…I was just curious…I took a wrong turn back by the bridge and I’m just surprised to find this strip of town. It’s like a modern day ghost town….
Maytag Man: (laughing out loud. I couldn’t tell if he was being sarcastic or not. I’d like to believe that I’m just that funny.) That’s exactly what it is! It’s a modern day ghost town! That’s a good one!
Me: So what happened here?
Maytag Man: (gesturing wildly with his hands and speaking very loud.) ALL THE JOBS! THEY WENT TO CHINA!!! THERE’S NO JOBS ANYMORE!
Me: Really? When did that happen?
Maytag Man: What, are you a reporter or somethin’?
Me: Kind of, not really…it complicated. I was just curious.
Maytag Man: Alright then, it just happened. Started in the 1960’s…and then the blacks rioted…all the business owners didn’t want to be here anymore so they just left.
Me: Can I take your picture?
Maytag Man: No.
At this point I was beginning to wonder if the Maytag man really wanted to be talking to me. So I did the rest of my research online.
Once the importance of riverboat trade began to wane in the early 1900’s, so did Cairo. And although the town has seen some decline due to industrial jobs leaving for overseas, the real tragedy here is that most of its economic wounds are self-inflicted. As the Maytag Man eluded, civil rights riots had torn through town in 1969, but those riots were just the tip of the spear. Much of Cairo’s white population had supported the racial segregation of the south and this created a tension that simmered for decades, then boiled into the late 1960’s. A civil rights organization named the United Front of Cairo led a decade-long boycott of white-owned businesses in Cairo. And instead of simply hiring black employees, white business owners resolved themselves to shut down and move away. As a result, downtown Cairo simply died.
Forty years later Cairo enjoys an unemployment rate of over 14% and more than 33% of it’s 3,600 citizens live below the poverty line.
A once important stop along a boat’s journey down the Mississippi River, Cairo is now simply passed on by. Along Ohio Street, where upper class vacationers used to stroll the banks of the Ohio River bathed in the flattering light of gas lamps, today you find nothing but empty liquor bottles, broken windows and graffiti.
Despite this blight, the Maytag man says that people still come to Cairo. Guys like me. Or as he put it, “Yeah! You’re not so special. People come through here all the time…they get out, they take their pictures, and then they’re on their way. No, you’re not so special at all!”
Perhaps that’s what my friend, the lawn-chair-scraper-guy, had meant to say when he suggested I find a better subject for my photo. That I’m just like every other guy he’s seen roll through town to take a picture of what has come to symbolize the pain that is his town’s history. To him and everyone else in the rust belt, there’s nothing beautiful about empty buildings and the jobs that were abandoned along with them. But the guys like me, as un-special as we are, keep driving in from nearby St. Louis or Chicago because we’re looking for something historic and romantic on our cross-country road trips to New York City. People who hear about these ghost towns from the internet and come to see for themselves that which is strangely beautiful so they too can have their own pictures to post to blogs, Flickr and Facebook. But these un-special people, like me, never spend a dollar in Cairo. Not a dollar at the car wash or the thrift store, or even at the lemonade stand run by the industrious little girls and their mangy dog. Instead they just get out to snap a quick pic of something ugly and drive on to greener pastures.
Next time in Cairo I’ll find something pretty to take a picture of for my blog. Ok, fucker?
Very interesting.
I live in Cairo… And Grew Up here. I am 60 now. More or less “Left” when I was 18… Returning for short visits now and then. Then in 1990 I came back to Cairo to help My Mom out (My Dad had died in 1985)… While I was waiting for My Divorce to come through. Had only planned to stay for a Year or two… And move on. But, My Mom got Parkinson Disease… So I have been here ever since. I have been planning My “Escape from Cairo” for years… But “Here I Sits”.
Anyway… Just wanted to tell You that for someone who was “Just Passing Through”… You did a pretty good job of Summing Cairo Up. I thought it was Insightful of You to be able to see past the past “Racial Conflicts” though as “The Reason” that Cairo Atrophied into the Ghost Town that it is today. Obviously, it would take Volumes to come anywhere close to Completely Explaining the Demise of Cairo… But “In a Nutshell”… It was more “Corruption” that was the Seed of Cairo’s Destruction than anything else. And… It is that Same Reason that it Will Not and Cannot Grow Today. “Potential” has always been a Reality of Cairo. But the “Mentality” that spawns Racism is the same Mentality that Paralyses a Town that “Could Have Been”.
I ran for Mayor of Cairo in 2007… Simply because I figured “Someone had to do Something”. But… Not too many people were interested in what I had to say. Or better put… Those “Who had the Power”… Was Not Interested in Supporting Me. If You are Interested… My Campaign Web Site Is: Vote4Lonnie.Com.
Keep “Scaling That Wall Fucker”! And I mean that in a “Good Way”!
Best of Life, Love and Friendship,
very nicely written.
Nice story, John. Real interesting!
Mmmmhmmm dem racest ass crackers in dat shitty ass town gets to feel how it bes to be a nigga. How do tha pj’s feel bitches jus wait till dem govment niggas cum and thro yo asses out you homes and knock em all down cabrini green nigga. I gots dat rodny king sufferin in muh blood…crackas is payin fo what use gets…Neh!
that above statement is a reason why the usa is bankrupt–fiscally, educationally, and work-wise.
Excellent story. We, ServiceMaster, use to have a plant down in Cairo. Someone posted on our bulletin board about another plant closing and how the people there had left Cairo to go to this new plant and now are out of jobs again. Sad. May God bless those people.
The state three ones above mine is stupid. It shows how stupid people think america is and makes me pissed. Besides 61% of the town is black, so calm yo ass down nigga!
what is the part most important of illinois
Looks like another town us gay folk are going to have to move into and renovate and decorate everything until everyone wants to be there!!!!
Heading for Cairo this week. I was just there a month ago and can’t wait to go back. Once you get past the main street, the town is full of good people who call one another “neighbor”.
Perhaps, should you ever return to Cairo, you will take the time to stop in at the library or the City Hall and say ‘”Hi”. A visit to the Custom House museum would also be a pleasant experience. And for a *real* hamburger or barbecue, Cairo can’t be beat.
Cairo has a fascinating history; a real train wreck of a town. I wish more of it could have been preserved for some kind of revival in the future, but the old buildings are just collapsing in on themselves. I was there a few weeks ago and also took pictures, though no one called me “fucker”. I found some century-old postcards online and you can see all the same stores right where they are now. Must have been a helluva town back then, probably a real partyin’ river town. Now a scary ghost town with banging shutters and skinny wild dogs.
makes me sad to think that something as stupid as the color of skin has made the world full of hatred. im only 16 years old and i understand that racism isnt acceptable. now knowing half the us adults are racist well that just shows theres little hope for the world when it comes to racism NOW I DONT KNOW WHO YOU ARE “DEENDA MYDICK” BUT TO ME BY THE LANGUAGE YOUR USING, ALL THEM CUSS WORDS YOUR MAKING IT ROUGH ON YOURSELF HOW I SEE IT IS THERES 2 TYPES OF BLACK MEN ONE THERES THE KIND THAT ACTS DECENT AND PROVES TO THE WORLD THAT THE BLACK MAN IS JUST AS GOOD AS THE WHITE MAN AND THEN SECOND THERES THE KIND THAT WERE BAGGY CLOTHING CUSS AT PASSING BY STRANGERS SMOKE POT AND THINK all WHITES ARE TRASH NOW TO ME THE SECOND ONE, ITS LIKE YOUR TRYING TO PROVE TO WHITES THAT BLACKS ARE BAD PEOPLE
Great story. I was born in Cairo and lived in a couple of the surrounding communities as young child. My Grandfather owned a Grocery Store on 10th St. which was later relocated to Urbandale. My family moved away in late ’68. I visited Cairo about 12 years ago. I almost fell out of my chair when I read your description the Maytag Man. During our visit, he was standing in the front window staring thoughtfully towards the old Sewing Factory building. We drove past several times just to reassure ourselves that he was in fact, inanimate. He was so still. My wife thought he was a card board cutout or display until he swatted at a fly or something that disturbed his pondering. We both burst into gut wrenching laughter: so much so that we almost careened into the only other car parked on the street. We drove up the street, whipped out the video camera, and filmed him as we drove back past; he had returned to his previous fixation, Buddy Holly glasses and all. Absolutely, amazing! Thanks for the reminder. Jay
Well, yes a intresting look into Cairo, where I was born and raised for a big part of my childhood. Unfortunately I havent been back in about 20 yrs. Fortunately, Im going back in about 4 weeks, to show My kids and husband what and where I called home for so many years. I absolutely can not wait. Look out Cairo cuz her I come.
About ten years ago, I was sitting at work reading an article in Time magazine, about life on the Mississippi. Cairo was one of the towns featured. It showed an abandoned Commercial Avenue, although the buildings hadn’t started falling down back then. The photo spread looked like a street abandoned since the 1970′s, which is exactly what it was. I had never heard of this place before, but was fascinated by it’s history and current state of affairs. I knew that one day I would have to visit. That day came in 2006. Some folks understandably couldn’t believe that I had traveled all the way from upstate NY to visit there, but I didn’t regret it. Most of my photography wasn’t of the abandoned (and by that time) disintegrating downtown district, although I couldn’t resist a few shots. Places like Magnolia Manor, Riverlore, the Mississippi & Ohio confluence, and the Custom House provided plenty of opportunities. I returned to southern Illinois last June, and paid a quick visit to Cairo. Things haven’t gotten better, but I suppose the one advantage here is that things can only get better… one person at a time.
Ur a god be damned mother fucking admirably ingenous clan of nigge bum shit faces with tha pyramid on top niggas we be hoppin de nile since 1983 nig nig watt gogo
I am very glad to find this blog as I like you got lost once as I was coming back from Chicago to rural Tennessee to see my Grandparents . I was 17 my first car first trip on my own to start to Tennessee. I think it had more life then as I seem to remember more ppl on the street and in yards. I did stop by a house where a lady in her 80′s I’m sure was bending over pulling weeds from her walk. I asked for some info how to get unlost when she just laughed at said to me ” well young man , If you will pull these weeds Ill get us a glass of water and get you back on your way ” as she smiled just like my southern granny would
This was in 1975 and I was driving a 1973 Pinto ( for those to young to know that was a Ford Car ) with no air so the glass of water sounded better to me that the way home
I bet we sit and talked for 2-3 hrs and for the time we did I know we liked and cared for each other if only for what now was a moment
I just knew I would stop and see her each summer as I came to Tennessee, but as all plans that matter , they seem to slip away so easy
Today I think about my grandparents the trips from Chicago to Tn and the friend I found in Cairo one day
I have drove back there 3/4 times over the last 30 yrs and looked for the house and lady that made me smile
I now know of a house at 616 34 st thats for sale and I think I may look into buying it
I now live 4 hrs from there and think if I fixed it up to go to on week-ends or to rent I could give back some smiles and laughes that THE LADY OF CAIRO gave me one hot day.
Anyone from Cairo have any thoughts about the house or 34th st ??
back in the fall of 2008 my father and I were driving back from checking out graduate schools in Atlanta to Springfield Missouri where we are from.
My father has always been an urban adventurer, said we had to veer off and drive through Cairo.
We crossed the same bizarre area, only it was about 2 am when we did it.
As we crept slowly through the dark and deserted streets in my fathers gold BMW convertible we were stopped by the town’s volunteer”policeman” in his own unmarked black ford truck. He immediately inquired if we were lost. When my father explained to him that he was just showing his daughter a town that he had been fascinated by for years we got quite an unexpected response.
Charlie,(the policeman’s) face lit up and he immediately offered us a tour (which lasted well over an hour) by foot of some of the more prominent buildings complete with history. He even showed us the inside of a few. Told us some lesser known facts and explained Cairo’s demise. Is was the most eerie feeling encountering all of this in the dead standstill of a fall night. So symbolic of the town it’s self really.
We learned that our new friend had lived there for years growing up. then moved to Chicago and returned when he retired from his job as a police officer. He said it was the biggest mistake moving back because it was so sad watching his home town disappear.
I will never forget that evening or the man who was so intrigued by the weary travelers passed through a town that he had obviously once loved. Too bad you couldn’t have encountered the same.
Great story Lane! I do wish I met that guy. Thanks for sharing.
- john
My daughter Lane (obviously my name sake) couldn’t have described this better. I remember that return trip from looking at the Portfolio Center in Atlanta, which is a small prestigious creative school for writers, designers, art directors and producers. Ultimately that is where she moved to begin the final journey on her career path before employment. She was facing a grueling 2 years with an almost guarantee of a great career that followed in my footsteps. We are both in the media business. She in the first third of her life and me in the final third of mine. As I read this and remember that night, I am fully aware of the changes that have taken place in my career and how time has changed my world. The mere fact that I was reading an obscure blog called Unemploymentality, posted on my preferred social media, a very well written article, from a guy obvously pushed to the internet by a change in his times, is the living indication that the world is also in a state of change as an old way falls prey to the new. So metaphorically like Cairo, the populaton that was once held by newspapers, television, and radio, which supplied guys like myself, with a great career is falling to the wayside as a new world takes over and moves towards a different landscape. A landscape where the listener is in charge and customer is in control with infinite choices and information. A landscape we so candidly refer to as a shift in a paradigm. Which is a clinical way of saying change or die. A landscape dominated by Net Neutrality, Google, Blogs, Ning, Bling, Ding, Swing, You Tube, His Tube, Her Tube, Facebook, Twitter, My Space, Your Space, Their Space, Everybodies Space. You know the drill.
I was amazed that Lane remembered Charlie’s name as she recounts the 2 am rendezvous with this lost place. When I pulled off the road to show her what I felt was a most unusual sight, just for a diversion from the all night drive, little did I know it would mark a passage in both of our lives. This was monumental moment in our most ordinary American existence. It was almost like a scene out of the Twilight Zone without the tinkling soprano drone of those ivory keys, tickled into the all to familiar de,de, de, de, de, de, de, de theme song and Rod Serling narrating in the background. You know the set up, the establishment of time and place as two strangers pull off the road into an abandoned town, in the middle of the night, and anything weird can start happening because they had just entered da, da…The Twilight Zone. The town at one time had apparently received some funding to purchase these wonderful reproduction street lamps which were ablaze everywhere, illuminating the rust, dilapidation, and unkempt buildings. The light they evoked, an iridescent glare that could have only be described as a strange looking Hollywood set. Now you must know, I have been traveling the road that leads to the narrow two lane bridge at the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi since I was a kid. I remember going through Cairo with my parents on our annual road trips to Fort Meyer, Florida in the 60′s. A place where we stopped for gas in a station with a seperated drinking fountain and bathroom for whites usually marked by an arrow pointing to the rear with an arrow and a solitary directive that just said Coloreds. A place where breakfast was served with grits instead of hash browns. A place as different to my now as it was then. I was always intrigued by the National Customs House on the main drag and never understood why a town like that needed a Customs House. I mean after all there was no commerce. Just lots of waste paper blowing, grass rising up from the cracks and traveler dust as an occasional skinny, drab white t-shirt clad black man walked the street, with a slinky gait, headed to somewheres or no wheres unknown. Well, then that night came and Charlie gave us the tour of a lifetime and I understood for the first time that this small piece of real estate at the tip of the Land of Lincoln was brought to its demise by the very thing Old Abe tried to unite. It had prospered at a time when white elites strolled the streets and their black counter parts, not unlike the town itself, lived downstream in the river of life. A time when virtues were taught and practiced by white folks, for white folks. Everything then was seemingly fine with Cairo but times they were a changin.
As an adult I have pulled off the road many times to take a whirl down the vacant streets and to look for some glimpse of new hope for Cairo. But, each time I have only found the buildings headed into further ruin and decay. It was almost like God punished this town because they never could deal with their own inequities. And, the town is still locked in conflict, in a border state where blacks and whites have never learned that we all bleed red, we all cry tears that are clear, and in the end we are all committed to the same dust. So a small town commits to that very dust and the world moves from newspapers to blogs. And, our predisposed attitudes, that cause us to think that the more things change the more they should stay the same, kill us all from within and without. As I watch my daughter interact with her generation I realize there is a new world they are building and embarking on. And it is a better world. They are more in touch, more aware with a greater reach into a world much bigger than the confines of the small monded, white picket fenced, “Leave it to Beaver” lily white middle class world we grew up in. She and her friends don’t see a world with difference as an obstacle to brotherly love. They see people and a world that is one color. And it is a better place for all.
So I will close with the way this began. I received a post on Facebook from Lane today and all it said was “Check this out, I found it very interesting.” And, there attached was your blog. It just another story repeated as you described. A quick snapshot and the experience of the traveler who veered too far off the road only to find a place forgotten by time. A special time for a father and his daughter. A time I am so grateful to have had. I will close with my reply to her just to let you and everyone who reads this know that the town forgotten by time has etched a memory in our life that we will never forget and I thank Cairo for that special moment. A moment marked by time and change in my life, her life, and the world. My post to Lane; “That’s funny Lane. Kind of sounds like us in the middle of the night on the way back from Atlanta. Only difference is, we were entertained by the local sheriff instead of the grumpy Maytag Man, which is obviously, not the nice smiley friendly Maytag Man portrayed in those old television commercials. Oh well, I guess that guy has been forgotten in time too. I remember how spooky it was the night we got out and walked Cairo. We had fun and it was a good memory. I was glad I got to make that trip with you. Kind of an interesting out of the way Dad thing. Love you honey”.
My boyfriend and I took a day trip Saturday from Northwest Tennessee into Western Kentucky and, for the heck of it, crossed the bridge from Wickliffe, Kentucky, into Cairo. I was awestuck by the beautiful old mansions, the wide streets and the gorgeous architecture of the library, the churches and the customs house. The decaying ghost town is something to see and I regretted having left my camera at home. I want to return soon, on a pretty day, with my camera. Oh, and we did not leave Cairo without contributing to the economy. We had barbecue sandwiches at Shemwell’s barbecue and, while they were different from what we are used to in Tennessee, they were quite good!
Was there several years ago at the Elks Club, and had a great jam session with the local musicians… I see no sense in calling names as the previous people did… I’m a peacemaker, and feel that you should all join together, gather your resources and talents and either clean it up, burn out by controlled fire some of the eyesores that are unsafe or harboring more serious problems… and attempt to get some pride back… Here in Pennsylvania, we took it to the city and asked and received a tax break for a ceiling limit on improvements, painting up the store fronts, etc. The city looks good. Now we do silly stuff, call it OctoberFest, AppleFest, you name it, and every other month there’s food, jazz, rock, whatever the city is comfortable with… and either indoor in the bad weather or outside when it’s nice….
MUSIC to soothe the savage beast, and food for whoever needs some… My wife and I support a monthly dinner, and with the cost being $8 for adults, $7 for senior citizens, $6 for students, and 10 years old and younger are free…..
Our church uses the money for missions, local or not, sometimes for a local family in need… and we do the whole meal, with the church community donating the extras, rolls, desserts…. we put on the meal.. for example, Chicken & biscuits, vegetable, salad, beverages… and, like I said, the ladies of the church volunteer their time and efforts to help with serving, cleaning up and all, and making the desserts…
The need is there, those who don’t have the money, or live in the assisted living homes, we ask for a donation of $5 to cover expenses, and if you can’t afford it, the dinner is free…. and we still make money at them… and it’s brought the people together, the community….
We American’s are proud people, you either walk in and pay, or just stop at the table and talk to Sue or Wanda, or whoever is watching the store…. and then come in and sit down and enjoy a dinner….
We deliver to the high rises…. have them write on an order slip, and deliver to the meal count that’s on the slip on Friday night….
This is all on the 2nd Saturday evening of every month, except for a downtown Christmas Dinner and three months of the summer when everybody is on vacation….
It’s cleaned up the neighborhoods, and shown that “community” is tight and a helping hand…. very few people come and cause any problem whatsoever…. because it would effect everybody…..
The gang that hangs out at the lottery ticket and tobacco shop all buy the $5 dinners, just dinner and the dessert, no beverage…. and we deliver anywhere from 30 to 60 meals… plus have the sit down meals at the church for whoever walks in the door, and stretch it as need be…
God’s peace, and happy trails to all of you… and the Journey continues, Ozzie
My dad grew up in Mound City just a few miles from Cairo. I have always felt a fondness for that area of the country. My grandparents are buried there, and friends of the family who had such a big part in my childhood. Cairo and Mounds has been a sad and economically challenged place as long as I have been visiting there yet I still love it. I try to imagine what it was like when my dad was little and things weren’t quite as bad. The architecture is stunning and though so much of it is now falling apart if you look very close you can still see evidence of the beauty. It is a shame you didn’t receive a more warm welcome. There is something magical about Cairo; it is like a place frozen in time.
Hey i am from cairo. i see that this was don a couple yers back. and i wanted to know if the bloggers or the rticle writer would be willong to help me do some community orgnizing. or find ome one that is willing to my home town rebuild and b restoed back to wht it once was. shoot me an email! thnks
I was born in Cairo in the early 60′s and lived there until 1973. It was a great town back then. I remember going downtown with my mom shopping on Saturdays and the place was packed with shoppers. It had everything you needed. It really went down hill fast though. I still love the town and enjoy going back to visit and see the house where I grew up. It is sad that that the city has died.
I lived in Cairo with my grandmother when I was 14 (I am now 24) I only lived there for a year. My parents didn’t want me to go to the school there so every morning we would drive up to my aunts house in Anna to go to Anna-Jonesboro and then drive back to Cairo after school was over.
We Lived in the sister house of the River Lord Mansion it was big and blue I remember but unfortunately burnt down to the ground a few years after I moved to Chicago with my parents. (luckily my grandmother wasn’t in it) but she had put a lot of money in to that house trying to restore it.. I remember the beautiful brick roads and an old condemned school just behind her house. I remember there being a lot of stray dogs which made me sad..
I am glad some of the Mansion’s Like Magnolia Manor and the River Lord are still standing. I haven’t been to Cairo in many years but I would love to visit the ghost Town someday soon.
It is sad that Cairo has died for I’m sure it was a beautiful town.
My husband and I were in Cairo yesterday and fell in love with this beautiful old Victorian house which we are going to try to purchase. I have driven through Cario on my way to Kentucky for many years and my sister and brother-in-law live in a small town not far from there. I was born in Cape Girardeau, so I do have ties to the area. I pray that the rejuvination of Cairo begins in earnest, as it is a beautiful place to go old. To everyone out there that reads this, visit Cairo, spend some money and check into buying a house or some land. You can restore your new home and have a great weekend get away and a place to retire too! If we work together, we can rebuild this amazing little town.
I was born in Cairo in 1941, as were 3 brothers. We first live on 34th St and then 38th St.
On 38th St we lived close to the guy who ran all the illegal activities in Southern IL. He had a 38 or 39 armored Cadillac, a body-guard and a beautiful lady who befriended us kids.
We went to the Uptown Theater almost every Friday night. And we attended Elwood School.
My father worked for Illinois Power Company, and an uncle worked for Hunley Barge Lines.
It was a nice town. Everyone was friendly.
I delivered the Cairo newspaer to many citizens and that included the owner (then) of the Magnolia Manor and what was originally named the Holiday House across the street.
One of my favorite places was Shemwell’s BarBQ. Great stuff!
We moved to Pocatello, ID after my father got laid off from the power company, and I graduated from HS there and entered the Marines.
I still go through Cairo when I’m back visiting kin down in NW TN.
It’s a shame what has happended to it. Almost all of the old businesses are gone, and there’s trash and empty, dilapidated buildings all over town, in particular, on Commercial.
When I’m going through there I am glad to always have, legally, a firearm to protect myself and family.
God help Cairo!
Was just informed by my older sister that my granmas side of the family is actually from Cairo! Any Rollison’s still live there? I am thinking of taking a road trip there in the near future.
“im only 16 years old and i understand that racism isnt acceptable. now knowing half the us adults are racist well that just shows theres little hope for the world when it comes to racism”
@Jay:
How do you know that half of the Adults in the United States are racist? Would those be the ones that didn’t vote for Barack Obama? Did you stop to think that maybe there were other reasons not to vote for him? I think racism played more of a role in the people that voted FOR him, those who never vetted his record, and those that didn’t care that he had not one day of experience running an organization that contributed to the economy in any way. They (people like you) got excited because he is an African American who envisioned a perfect post-partisan future and had a slick campaign team.
And you know what? I’m white and in 2008 I voted for a black guy, Bob Barr, Libertarian Party. So am I part of that “racist” half or are you?
I lived in Cairo from 1965-1970. This little town was a great place to live in until Jesse came to town; after the riots, everyone started moving out. This is when the Fields’ family lived their. Clifford Sr., Belvia, Anne, Clifford Jr., David, Lendall, Larry, John, Debbie and finally little Gary. This was one big happy family living in the project. I married Clifford Jr. I’m glad I got to share this!
Does anyone in Cairo remember a Nile Cigar Store, that had a wooden Cleopatra standing outside? For years that Cleopatra has been standing in my living room, and I’ve always wondered what about her story.
my mom is from Cairo. i used to spend my summers with her two sisters. they both lived in the infamous pyramid court housing project. i made lots of friends that i remember to this day. i used to wonder why my aunts could only go downtown on certain days or go to certain stores at certain times. since i am from northern indiana i was only 11 or 12 when the problems started in cairo and my aunts were supporters of the united front movement. i met some of the brave people who wanted a better life. i played with some of the participants in the pyramid courts who went on to march for a better life. I intend to return toCairo just to see if i can lo
as i was saying when my computor crashed, i intend to go back to cairo soon just to see how much its changed. My aunts lived across the street from johnny johnsons store. one of my aunts on my fathers side lived next door to the public swimming pool(that i never got to swim in)i wandered all over the pyramid court, played with the whitfields, hung out with a couple of the garrett brothers. went downtown on saturdays (the only day my aunts would go.) i have great memories of shemwells when my mom would come from south bend to pick me up at the end of the summer. my aunt used to sell ice cream cones under the tree on saturdays. best ice cream i ever had. so andrea, and joyce (two of my best friends at that time) where ever u are i remember you and cairo with the fondest of memories.
I first visited Cario in 1995. My Dad and I were on a road trip to Florida from Frankfort, IL. Finding highways boring we decided to follow the river side roads to New Orleans then to Ft Lauderdale. Once we were in southern Illinois I had to visit Cairo.In the book Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, characters Jim and Huck needed to get up river to Cario so Jim would no longer be a slave. That was the only town I knew on the river in Illinois. So we had to check it out. Arriving in town about sunset, the town was sad and had a desolate-dangerous feel to it. Then we saw the mansions Magnolia Manor and Riverlore, the customs house and the 130 year old clay brick streets. Finally the old town on the Ohio river , the most beautiful buildings lined up all in a row decaying naturally by the weather. There was only 2 business that occupied a storefront out of maybe 50 buildings. The contrast of the beauty and decay is forever ingrained in my mind. My Dad and I were so impressed that we had to grab a beer at the bar. We met a retired school teacher and talked about the history of the town. Upon leaving Iknew I would be back, I felt a very strong connection to Cairo fo some reason. In 2005 I drove to Cairo by my self from Ft lauderdale. I stopped at Magnolia Manor and I was lucky to get the tour and I was the only one that day in the cold Janurary snow. Impressed by the homes beauty and historical signifiance, I needed to see more. I drove around and saw a bed and breakfast antique mansion. I thought maybe I will stay there someday. I left Cairo with more romantic thoughts. In 2008 I took a road trip along the Mississippi River with my younger sister Paulette. Of course I have been talking about Cairo all year. On the way down I called the library about getting a tour of the Riverlore mansion. I told them my student sister at U of I may do a paper on Cario. The gentleman to me to meet him at the library for our tour of the mansion that is not available for tours. He turned out to be the towns treasurer I believe and was in the process of writing a 2nd book about Cario. The first book documented the nazis march through Cairo in the 1960′s. Riverlore mansion is so attractive from the outside, we had to get in. It was gourgeous and the town board watched the superbowl there once a year in the homes 3 story 1800′s theater room. The we toured the customs house and it was amazing along with the man who was an interrpeter. Finally off to the bar. The first bar we went to old town was gone with a spray painted message across the boarded up corner that read 50 years in business and gone. It read something close to that but had an air of defeat and desperation to it. But about a block down in the old town was Fat Boys a new bar in a very old place. The building was probably from the 1820′s and guess who I intoduced my sister to? The retired school teacher from 13 years ago! We talked and laughed and remembered each other. Immediatly he bought us a beer, then we bought him a beer. We ordered hamburgers and another beer, said good bye to the teacher and others we talked to. It is 2011 and I will be driving back to Illinois from Florida. Cairo is on my mind……. Jim Bertrand 35 years old
Looks like the town has new street lights.
Well there still are pretty good jobs in cairo…my husband supports our family very well thanks to cgb waterfront. The big thing is the lazy ass residents that live in cairo that want everything handed to them because they are black…they need to all get over and stop playing the black card!!!!!!!!!!people of cairo get a hell of a whole lot more gave to them than I ever would want.
I recently read this article and found it to be very interesting. It so vividly brought back many memories. I was born in Cairo in 1957. My great grandparents, grandparents, parents, and extended family lived there for generations, as do many family members today (April 2011).
I lived in Cairo in stages of my life, birth to age 7, after graduating from high school for two years, and eight years after college. The writer’s description of the modern ghost town is so true, as well as the people and the community itself. It’s amazing how much it has changed between the middle 70′s-90′s.
Even so, I have wonderful memories of my early childhood in Cairo, as well as a few unjust memories. Summers spent with my grandmother and extended family, some of the best fried fish and Bar-B-Q in town. Sitting at the river, and churning homemade icecream on those hot summer days. Going to college at Shawnee Community College, later to graduate school at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, and eight wonderful years of teaching kindergarten at Egyptian Consoliated (Elementary ) School, in Tamms.
Here are just a few examples of the prejudice that stays with me, a hand grenade being thrown in my grandmother’s backyard by an unknown racist. Thank God it didn’t explode.
A child’s fear at night sleeping on a pallet on the floor, scared that the “white hats” would come over the bridge from Kentucky and Southeast Missouri into Cairo. Not really realizing that some of those “white hats” were neighbors and people from surrounding counties.
I also have proud and fond memories of my family members standing up for their rights, boycotting, in Cairo during those turbulent times, going with my aunts to the capital at Springfield to protest with Rev. Jesse Jackson at age 10 or 11. My uncle s serving in the military and coming back to Cairo where there was little change in racist attitudes, economics and employment for younger blacks. Who would have thought back then, that my uncle would later become the mayor of my beloved homeplace.
Cairo once described as “The Gateway to the South”, had the atmosphere of true south and southern politics, though we resided in rural Midwestern America. Described in this article (2009) as a modern ghost town by an outsider, causes me to remember and reflect. How different a person I might be were it not for those experiences in Cairo.
RMLN
Fascinating blog. I attended SIU-C 1987-90 and took a day trip to cairo one day, i always wanted to go back, but i never knew why. i never realized it contained so much history-good or bad. To think in the late 60′s LBJ and Robert Kennedy(Atty Gen at the time)kept close watch on the racial tension there was surprising at best.
I stopped in Cairo about 2 months ago on my way to Houston. I wanted to see the “Ace of Cups” coffeehouse/bookshop that was featured in TIME magazine just over a year ago by some idealistic but naive entrepreneur. The coffeehouse was closed, sadly but predictably. Another well-intended but hopeless adventure which doubtless left the shopkeeper wounded. There was a Catholic mission right there so I went over to ask some questions. A nun explained: “You have to understand these townspeople aren’t the types to sit around drinking coffee and reading books.” Seems prophetic. The mission was handing out food baskets to the locals and I took some pics of the folks and the town. The nun also remarked how someone had stolen the air conditioner which had been located in the back of the mission between the buildings. She took me out back and showed where the thieves had cut through the wire mesh and carted off the A.C. unit. Seems difficult to grasp that someone could steal from a charitable organization which is there to serve, but there it is. Fortunately they had insurance but it was still a $1000 deductible to absorb. I gave a small donation, ate some cookies and went out to see the rest of the town – should say GHOST town. It is hard to believe that a town outside of Detroit or East St. Louis could be so impoverished and bleak. Utter devastation! I believe the entire situation could be explained by the usual matrix of problems: jobs moving out, little educational attainment, poor attitudes of local inhabitants, welfarism and, of course the “sociological factor.” If you have to ask what the “sociological factor” *IS* then you haven’t been in a ghetto city lately. Even the nun, in a moment of un-PC fashion, indicated this as a major issue. Perhaps the theft to the A.C. unit had put her in a state of mind where she wasn’t going to ignore the obvious. So I read up on the history of Cairo and it sounds like a replay of most American cities affected by the “sociological factor” (figure it out yet?). An absolute tragedy which realistically I see cannot – and I do mean CANNOT change. Never. Yet for some reason I have been unable to get the town of Cairo out of my mind. I sit in my nice home, far from Cairo and wonder if anything can be done, but I know it cannot as I stated earlier. I feel sad, somehow, but I also recognise reality as it stands in places like Cairo, Illinois.
35 years ago I had started my trucking career and was fascinated at the place where two bridges, less than 250 yards apart, crossed the continents largest waterways. A place that at one time must have been the crossroads of the continent before westward expansion made St Louis, the Gateway City.
In many respects, I felt as if I was south of Memphis…(Illinois, from North to South must cover three climate zones).
The humidity and the heat came off the river from above and below and the summer heat kept my truck moving just enough to keep the air flowing thru the cab. I drove fast enough to avoid suspicion from the local Constable and a possible shake down, but slow enough to experience Cairo’s history as best I could from the road.
Being caught between sightseeing and the deadline for a steel pick-up in Chicago, after rush hour, kept me rolling and pray’n the scale house was closed. I half expected the scale master to stop me at the Illinois scale near the bridges, and ask what the hell are you do’ in here, and “let me see your log book”. If I made it past the scale house, I would want to just keep moving, thinking the DOT would come and get this trucker from 550 miles to the North…
Those skinny two bridges were just the antidote to keep you awake. While meeting another trucker as I crossed the river from MO, I caught his mirror side bracket and cracked my driver side mirror. The fractured glass stayed in its frame for the most part, with chards landing in my lap.
How a place so important and its people could fall into disrepair and depression, is what makes me less a capitalist. Especially if your carrying cheap stereo equipment out of California to Rent-a-Centers in the South Chicago burbs.
A driver in the trance of fatigue and falling in to a midday dream at a run down fuel stop near the interstate, made the near reality experiences of Cairo a mystery that kept me coming thru for 20 years and in love with a the tainted history of a place I could not understand and though I tried, could never feel welcome.
Jim, John, Joe and Rhonda…
I really enjoyed your stories. It is heartening to hear your stories of the good and the bad.
Reality has taken hold.
Mike
I have visited Cairo on three occasions and plan to stop there again on my way from KY to NM the next time I move, an event that is coming up shortly. I’ve always gotten good photos, especially at night-I am attracted to desolation, what can I say. The people I’ve met there are friendly and interesting but—-as far as I can tell, Cairo has the same problems that cripple many small towns in Eastern Kentucky and West Texas. The people tend to be suspicious and angry and have given up on themselves. Attempts at a better life for the community fail due to a lack of interest or initiative and a tendency to hate and blame others for their problems, with a special hatred for people who don’t have to live there. A note to the racists in both races-the folks in Cairo are primarily Black and the folks in KY and TX are white so obviously-unless you’re a bigoted moron with a minus I.Q.-the reasons go much deeper than skin color-Whoa! Do you think that the racists on both sides helped cause the problem? Having said that, I noticed that the one of the few thriving businesses in one of those Kentucky towns was the Mexican restaurant, which was owned and staffed by Mexicans. Also, I was raised in the West and am going home to the West, and one of the things I love about the West is the presence of all those Mexicans. Maybe there is a racial aspect to the problem or at least a geographical aspect. Or maybe out West we believe in ourselves.
I note that my comment of May 3 is still awaiting moderation.
Its neat stumbling across this blog. I work in Cairo at least a couple times a week. Cairo has changed a bit since you have been there. Cairo has been plagued with fires recently and some of those buildings on commercial have been torn/ have fallen down. However somethings are still the same. For instance I found myself in the Maytag store a couple days ago. Still the same old man although he was quite polite with me. Sure, Cairo is in pretty rough shape but there is something that I like about the place. Maybe its the history or the excellent food available. I don’t know. Its just its own place. I have met great people there and enjoy spending a lunch hour there. Yet I have found many bullet casings on the ground and while there are many great people there don’t forget your not in Kansas. I wish Cairo the best going into the future. There are people who want to turn it around.
I have been researching my family tree and came across your blog. My mother is from Cairo and she hasn’t been back since the early 60′s. She was pretty excited when I showed her Cairo on Google Earth but coming across current pictures and your blog, she wasn’t interested in going back anymore. She actually lived in the Pyramid Housing Projects that were the hub of the racial uprising. (I don’t think the housing projects are there anymore because we couldn’t find them on Google Earth). This is by no means a slam on your blog; we thought it was very interesting. Thank you for insights.
I am originallyt from Cairo Ill and I am 23 just moved away four years ago Cairo might look horrible but the people that live in it are very interesting once you get to know them……there has been alot of promise to make Cairo better but everytime something came back to us about someone opening up a building to make either a food franchise or shopping franchise they never go through with it…I LOVE my hometown and would not trade it for the world Cairo has been through alot but no one cares to see that, all they see is what bad they can find there smh.