The gaggle of Democratic candidates for the 2020 Presidential race have all been telling us how much better off we would be if he or she would be elected President. In Illinois, Democrats hold power in both houses of the legislature and the governor’s office. With the help of the federal government, their ability to “improve” Illinois seems to be great.
So I have a challenge for Illinois and U. S. lawmakers. There is one area of the state that is desperately in need of aid to raise it out of economic stagnation, even poverty. That is the southern tip of the state, centered on the town of Cairo.
It wasn’t always this way. The city is on a delta, formed by the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. Visited by Lewis and Clark, it was early on recognized as a perfect site for a thriving town. Early efforts to establish a community there came to naught in 1818, but by 1838 Cairo began with being recognized by the state. The name of the city was “borrowed” from the North African city of Cairo, for the area was seen as a delta like its namesake. Even today the area is called Little Egypt, and this place has been Egyptian in references.
Because of the low elevation, flooding by both the Mississippi and Ohio was a problem, so a levee was constructed around the inhabited town. Improved over the years, this barrier to flood waters can be readily seen.
One of the major early businesses was the ferry industry. Crossing the Ohio into Kentucky and the Mississippi into Missouri took many workers and brought much needed revenue into the area. Not until the early twentieth century would bridges drive the ferry operators out of business.
When the railroads arrived, first with the Illinois Central’s southern terminus and then with lines from the east and north, business began to boom. But the Civil War intervened, and Chicago took much of the rail revenue away from Cairo. However, the location of the city made it an important focal point for the War in the West. Admiral Foote made Cairo his headquarters for forays down the Mississippi to try to open the waterway to New Orleans, and a floating “dry dock” helped build and repair boats for the efforts. Foote’s fleet would also go up the Ohio to the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers, and down them into the Northern Confederacy.
In addition to the river war, the army made Cairo their jumping off point. A major training camp was established outside the city, and General U. S. Grant used the site for his attacks into Kentucky, Tennessee and Mississippi.
After the War ended, Cairo saw the influx of many former slaves. In addition, the coal mines and farmland products would find their way to the barges that plied the rivers. Cairo’s port was a busy one in the latter part of the 19th century, and the 1920 census placed the population at just over 15,000.
Cairo was the site of a U. S. Courthouse and the U. S. District Court for Eastern Illinois. There was a Customs House and Post Office, which handled a huge amount of mail. Rail traffic increased the economy of the area as the city continued to prosper.
But racial tensions were beginning to take its toll on the city. Between 1909 and 1910 there were lynchings and riots which were put down by the National Guard. After World Wars 1 and 2, more African-Americans moved in and the city continued its slow decline. In 1967, the death of a young black soldier, who was in police custody, began a series of riots and clashes between whites and blacks. There were a number of deaths and the violence was only put down with the presence of the National Guard again.
Race relations continued to deteriorate and slowly the city was emptied of most of its inhabitants. By 2010, only a little over 2800 claimed residence in Cairo.
Just by chance and the road system, we had the opportunity to see Cairo as it is today. We were going to the very tip of Kentucky, where it meets the two rivers, the Ohio and Mississippi. We took I 57 to US 51 which wound up at the Ohio River bridge from Illinois to Kentucky, with 51 running through a major part of the eastern part of Cairo.
Just before the city limits, we passed a sign that read “Future City”, obviously an attempt to build a planned town just north of Cairo. We saw the crisscrossed streets that could be a “suburb” of Cairo, but very few buildings and no businesses were extant. Some houses were occupied, but most were derelict and abandoned. When, after a few minutes of driving, we entered Cairo proper, the first building we saw was a funeral home, perhaps symbolic of the Future City.
Continuing south in Cairo, we looked on a city that was in the throes of dying off. Streets which could be seen both east and west of the highway were mostly only a ghost of its former glory. Empty lots and buildings boarded up and left to decay were obvious, and weeds flourished in any dirt spot available, tall and ubiquitous. Some buildings abandoned still had signs indicating failed enterprises, and so few businesses open for customers that they only emphasized the sorry state of the city. On this strip along the highway we saw no gas stations, no convenience stores and no fast food franchises. A pizza place had perhaps three vehicles in their parking lot, the only “life” witnessed along what had obviously been a busy, bustling city. Indicative of the state of Cairo was a closed fire station, looking forlorn among its neighboring buildings.
A Catholic Church was there, as was the National Guard building. Of course, the school system operated, and a Community College began welcoming students in the Spring of 2019. But from a thriving community to its present state, Cairo is an eyesore for Illinois. Just up the road from the city the towns of Marion and Mt. Vernon are growing, with businesses and people moving in, so it is not the area nor disadvantages of its place that has doomed the city.
Here is my challenge. From Washington, D. C., to Springfield, IL, politicians are decrying the present administration and Republicans as failures and have promised to do better and improve the lot of the common folk. Prove it by making a concerted effort to begin to restore the city of Cairo to its former glory. With the expertise of business leaders at its beck and call, the state can muster money and resources to begin the rebuilding. Incentives to move back to Little Egypt can be put in place. Those who eye the White House could highlight what they would do help out by putting into law those policies which would succeed.
Okay, Democrats. If you are serious, an effort to rebuild the city of Cairo would go far to showing to the populous that you are capable of reversing a trend that has made this city one of the Ghost towns of middle America. Are you up to the challenge? I won’t hold my breath, for it seems Cairo has been written off by state and federal officials for a long time. But surprise me, please.