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What happened to Cairo, Illinois?
Posted on 7/7/19 at 8:28 pm
Posted on 7/7/19 at 8:28 pm
Perhaps not the right board but don’t know exactly where to discuss.
Was driving home from Chicago today and decided to take a detour off of I57 to drive through Cairo and cross the hwy 60 bridge. I knew nothing of Cairo other than it was an old town and had held strategic geographical importance. I’d read about it in passing in several books so I assumed there would at least be some history there to see as I drove through.
When I got there it was one of the saddest things I’ve ever seen. Those of you who have been to some shanty towns in the Mississippi delta would be the only ones to know the scale of decay I’m talking about. At least 80% of businesses appeared to be shut down, in fact I couldn’t determine for certain what WAS open. Not only shut down but everything was falling apart. Closest thing to a ghost town I’ve ever seen.
What stuck out like a sore thumb compared to some of these aforementioned MS Delta towns is there were a couple of huge, beautiful government buildings. A federal courthouse and a post office.
I did some quick research and saw in the 1920 census there were 15,200+ people living there, compared to roughly 2,200 now. I have never seen decline numbers like that outside of boom towns from various gold rushes. What the hell happened here?
ETA just in case people don’t know where I’m talking about, the very southernmost tip of Illinois, where the Ohio River meets the Mississippi River
Was driving home from Chicago today and decided to take a detour off of I57 to drive through Cairo and cross the hwy 60 bridge. I knew nothing of Cairo other than it was an old town and had held strategic geographical importance. I’d read about it in passing in several books so I assumed there would at least be some history there to see as I drove through.
When I got there it was one of the saddest things I’ve ever seen. Those of you who have been to some shanty towns in the Mississippi delta would be the only ones to know the scale of decay I’m talking about. At least 80% of businesses appeared to be shut down, in fact I couldn’t determine for certain what WAS open. Not only shut down but everything was falling apart. Closest thing to a ghost town I’ve ever seen.
What stuck out like a sore thumb compared to some of these aforementioned MS Delta towns is there were a couple of huge, beautiful government buildings. A federal courthouse and a post office.
I did some quick research and saw in the 1920 census there were 15,200+ people living there, compared to roughly 2,200 now. I have never seen decline numbers like that outside of boom towns from various gold rushes. What the hell happened here?
ETA just in case people don’t know where I’m talking about, the very southernmost tip of Illinois, where the Ohio River meets the Mississippi River
This post was edited on 7/7/19 at 8:43 pm
20
Posted on 7/7/19 at 8:30 pm to OBReb6
When in doubt blame dims
Posted on 7/7/19 at 8:41 pm to OBReb6
Barge traffic center went to Paducah and other ports. Another bridge routed traffic around it.
Posted on 7/7/19 at 8:41 pm to Strannix
Sounds like culcha.
LINK
quote:
Racial violence in Cairo reached a peak during summer 1969 as the Cairo United Front began leading protests and demonstrations to end segregation and draw attention to its seven demands. The protests led to a rash of violence that was stopped only when Illinois Governor Richard Ogilvie deployed National Guardsmen to restore the peace. In summer 1969, the Cairo United Front also began what became a decade-long boycott of white-owned businesses, which had generally not hired blacks as clerks or staff. The boycott encompassed virtually all the businesses in the town.
LINK
Posted on 7/7/19 at 8:43 pm to OBReb6
Some of the town fell into the rivers. No one wants to invest in a town that will eventually get eroded away. No industry and no prospects.
Posted on 7/7/19 at 8:46 pm to BuckyCheese
sounds like my hometown but worse
It is only down 40%
It is only down 40%
Posted on 7/7/19 at 8:48 pm to OBReb6
Come through Monroe and you will see stores closed all over that once were open.
Monroe, is for all intensive purposes made up of government, medical, lawyers, and churches along with some of the most crooked small business owners this side the Mississippi and then poor folks. The "new" GP plant off Millhaven actually lost jobs for the area.
Most small towns will be ghost towns before 2030.
Monroe, is for all intensive purposes made up of government, medical, lawyers, and churches along with some of the most crooked small business owners this side the Mississippi and then poor folks. The "new" GP plant off Millhaven actually lost jobs for the area.
Most small towns will be ghost towns before 2030.
Posted on 7/7/19 at 8:49 pm to OBReb6
quote:
where the Ohio River meets the Mississippi River
I think Cairo IL has been flooded several times, has it not?
Posted on 7/7/19 at 8:50 pm to troyt37
It has a protective levy system that encircles the town entirely, so I would think not unless the design is flawed
Posted on 7/7/19 at 8:51 pm to OBReb6
quote:
Charles Dickens visited Cairo in 1842, and was unimpressed.[5] The city would serve as his prototype for the nightmare City of Eden in his novel Martin Chuzzlewit.
Apparently you arent the first one. The Wikipedia entry on the place sort of tells the story.
Posted on 7/7/19 at 8:52 pm to troyt37
Floods pretty often. In 2011 they blew up a levee in Missouri to save Cairo from catastrophic flooding. Probably should have just let it go. Terrible land around there.
Posted on 7/7/19 at 8:56 pm to OBReb6
quote:
It has a protective levy system that encircles the town entirely, so I would think not unless the design is flawed
A quick Google search says it floods pretty regularly.
Posted on 7/7/19 at 8:56 pm to OBReb6
A once significant city---there is a Federal Court House there--is a ghost town.
The same issues that face the Mississippi Delta and Arkansas delta towns.
The same issues that face the Mississippi Delta and Arkansas delta towns.
Posted on 7/7/19 at 8:58 pm to I B Freeman
Demographics is destiny. A sobering thought for our nation as a whole.
Posted on 7/7/19 at 8:59 pm to OBReb6
quote:
What happened to Cairo, Illinois?
Commerce starting moving by rail, and then Chicago happened.
Posted on 7/7/19 at 8:59 pm to 187undercover
quote:
for all intensive purposes
Posted on 7/7/19 at 8:59 pm to 187undercover
quote:
intensive purposes
Second time I have seen this on this board. The saying is “intents and purposes”.
Sorry to be a school marm, but this drives me crazy, is a result of shoddy internet culture, and weakens the writers argument.
Thanks, as you were.
Posted on 7/7/19 at 9:00 pm to BuckyCheese
It's population peak was only 15k. Hardly a significant city.
Although the race riots there would make one think otherwise.
Although the race riots there would make one think otherwise.
Posted on 7/7/19 at 9:03 pm to BuckyCheese
A population of 15k in 1920 absolutely is significant
Posted on 7/7/19 at 9:06 pm to OBReb6
I have spent time throughout the Deep South and by far the most depressing place I've ever been was Thomson, Illinois.
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