Wow! Im from Chicago but moved to Sterling rock falls area and hated it because of such deadness. This is terrible and a rotten shame. Beautiful mansions and worthless.
I was born and raised in Olive Branch Illinois which is really close to Cairo. My cousin is the att. there. My mom and grandma worked at the courthouse there. I remember going there all the time when I was little..
@Boetica1960- Yes, this "Shithole" is why farmland was flooded...have you ever been to Cairo? Or seen its people? It is a helpless town that needs help. How would you feel if people just gave up on your town? It is well worth the loss of valuable farmland to save Cairo. It is getting better, despite what you think. Businesses, families, and tourists are coming back...
Excellent video of a once great bustling community. I was in the National Guard unit in Cairo for 15 years(1977-1992) and saw it's slow decline. I visited/patronized many of the shops & stores shown in the clip.On the north side of town in the 70's there was a drive-in theater & a What-a-burger. If you look closely at the Custom House Museum you can see the multiple bullet holes. A reminder of the race riots that took place there in the 60's & 70's.
Valuable farmland was flooded to save THIS? Can someone explain this to me? Food prices going up, up, up! Don't worry, Obama will give you foodstamps! Yep, the 'Foodstamp President' is right.
My dad, may he rest in peace, was born and raised in Cairo, Illinois. he took me here once in 2003. It just tears a hole in my heart to see the town torn to pieces. I wish my father was still here just to name off all the streets that passed by.
A fossilized example of a place that came into being and grew due largely to government intervention and declined due to the same reason. People never seem to learn, even after it's too late to stop the decline. Look back in history at the beginnings of this town and how government intervention caused it to grow by artificial means.
@1967mustanggta: Had the state used the Obama money we got to do something besides tear up state and county highways (Which DO NOT need that) we could have put life into Cairo but NO..More of the same old shit, we get money and IDOT gets a wild hair up it's ass to tear up a highway whether it needs it or not or make certain ones wider. We need to use that money to revitalize old cities if we ain't blew it all on stupid shit now.
@PolizeiPaul "Obama money?" You mean from his stash? Those stimulus dollars were a joke and a waste. They COULDN'T use that money on revitalizing anything except what it was designated for - roads. That was so Obummer could "save" or "create" more government jobs to appease his voting base of unionized government workers.
This place is not worth saving and you all say the levee breach was to save this place. The most high knows the reason why you all breach this levee and it wasn't to save the city.
Just absolutely heart wrenching tht cairo is like tht. Its the economy that also made this nice community look like this!... nd as far as the flood ur a jackass for say'n it should wipe the ghetto town out... My family lives here... we are far from the ghetto honey... There is a lot to do to make this town boom once again... and my father has a plan!...
So this is town that's been in the news lately? They want to save it from flooding but in the process flood valuable farm land on the MO side of the river? Why not let the flood waters wash this blighted ghetto away? Seems like a reasonable question...good video though, nice quality & good sound track I didn't know anything about Cairo till I watched this. Call it Detroit south I guess an American ghost town.
I've been told that no school will send their teams to Cairo. If Cairo wants to play they have to travel to another school, so all events are away from home for them. I hope that changes but I don't see it anytime soon. If anyone knows otherwise please post.
@TheWaterlily2012 I think they are both worth saving; cairo, despite its awful past and how crime ridden it is, it really was a beautiful city. The architecture is beautiful and amazing. There are some of the fanciest buildings I've ever seen down there. The city of Cairo really is a photographers paradise. What this town needs is some billionaire to rehab the whole place. Some of the buildings look like they could be $500,000+ houses if fixed properly. I've been there, and it really is sad.
@joefrompic Yes, it DID once have some beautiful architecture. I've been through there too (didn't stop) and felt bad that all of the once beautiful things have been destroyed for the most part. I think it would take a whole group of billionaires to fix it back up and then people would have to live there that would keep it that way. I love old buildings and homes myself. In knowing what is planned for this world, and here in the USA, food is going to be of the utmost importance & we need farms.
Believe me, I am in favor of the farms, too. Just, I think that many of the houses there, if fixed up could be expensive houses. I live up in Saint Louis, and there are houses in Kirkwood which are selling for like 400,000 dollars and the architecture doesn't come close to the cairo houses. This whole flooding deal this past year was awful. There are many people who live in cairo and their neat houses as well as many farmers who need land, and the people who need food. Its sad both ways.
@joefrompic The way it's going in this country, no one will be able to afford a $400,000 house except that 1% that own everything anyway. St. Louis still has some decent jobs since it is a big city, but there isn't any work in Cairo. It's just sad all the way around what's been going on with disasters all over, the economy, wars, fighting, crime, and homelessness. In my opinion it's just going to get worse. A lot of people will not be prepared. I'm aware, and am not as prepared as I should be!
Cairo was still a hopping place in the 50's and 60's but the push for affirmative action and the welfare state pushed a long running crime spree that ran off most of the honest hard working people and turned the town into a mostly welfare state.
I grew up there, & it's painful to see it now. The fat cats in town fought to keep any new businesses from coming in, as they were afraid it might take a dollar or two out of their pockets. Then many like myself, didn't want to raise our own children surrounded by the hate and ignorance that is still there, and left. Just saw an example last week when a former Cairo resident went ballistic when a black family moved into her neighborhood in the community she moved to. So glad I left.
Yup, really sad. All one must do is look at the current racial makeup and you'll see it follows the pattern of Balitmore..Detroit...Kankakee, IL..Gary, IN...B'ham, AL..New Orleans...Jackson, MS...East St. Louis...and wow, does that list go on.
@EverydayLife567 No, it's all relevant. Look at the racial make up of a city and you will see the quality of life there along with how the crime is. It's all fact.
@shal0mnurh0me Well, there's Southfield, Michigan, where I live. 60% black - as black as Cairo, and has an ave. income of about $70,000, with low crime. That's the only one I can think of right now, but I'm sure there's much more like it.
racism isnt dead at all it is very much alive and breeding hatred among every one the old timers that started the riots are still alive and clinging to what they beileve in it is a shame that they tell there own children to hate, what a shame it is to hate a your fellow person
I remember Cairo in the 50's. Everyone from Kentucky, and Missouri, went there to shop. It was a real busy town. Then, Koen and others ruined the town and helped destroy any and all prosperity.
This tells the true story of an area where time and prosperity passed over. It is a place as cursed as the land of Egypt was during the days of Moses.
Neglected, rejected and forgotten.
A people never given the proper respect or opportunity to grow and develop in the land of the free and home of the brave....I grew up there and am saddened how it has fallen beyond decay...It is what can and will happen to America one day if we fail to turn from our current paths....
Have a relative who's lived there for many years...still does. Everyone calls him 'Red' (AKA Vincent Doss) owner of Cairo Music Sales. I haven't visited there since 85. Probably the richest man in town...he owns the airport and most of the aircraft there as well.
suprised there was racism in Cairo,IL its a northern city; being north of the Mason-Dixon Line; just suprised it didn't overcome racism as it did in the South.
@redskins1111 There's racism everywhere. Look back in the sixties. Race Riots did not just occur in alabama or memphis, but in northern cities like chicago, newark, omaha, los angeles. Also, this region of illinois is not northern. I've been through here and it might as well be the deep south since it's only 2 hrs from nashville and memphis
@MrBenjammin07 Ohio River is the Mason-Dixon line, sorry still Yankees there Deleware is more Southern even than ANY part of Illinois,Indiana, or Ohio don't care still a NORTHERN CITY being north of the Mason Dixon Line, we cwould call them Yankees and DEEP SOUTH is Missiissippi, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina and Florida
@redskins1111 maybe not deep south, but it's southern in culture. I mean it has waffle house, sweet tea, the KKK (i've heard that Indiana and Illinois have very active KKK to this day). I will agree most of illinois is northern, but south of 1-70 you are in the South, maybe not the deep south, but it is southern in culture
Racism didnt kill Cairo ,the mill closing down killed Cairo. Racism was always there.It was just brought out in the open with the hard times that came about when the main stimulous of the local economy evaporated. This is a good lesson in why the government took the steps it did with the bail out in an attempt to stimulate the natinal economy
Very sad place these days... My first wife is from here... This place is infested with drugs, crime, So much history and not preserved because the people are just dumb asses.
IIBasemanII: Decatur, IL is East of Springfied in central Illinois. Cairo, IL is the further point South in Illinois. It sits on a peninsula at the convergence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. It's a very sad and depressing place seemingly forgotten by the rest of the State. I do not recommend visiting Cairo.
Cairo is at the confluence of Mississippi and Ohio Rivers. great river and rail port. Racial strife killed this once beautiful city. Too much welfare and too many illigetimate children--none wanted to work, just collect welfare.
If you want to see another well done and equally sad video go to "Ruins of an Empire"
The more I think about it - More of our hometowns are headed down this path. The nation won't die but it will regroup on a new front that doesn't require a diversified work force in the center of the country. Therefore, with the exception of government, education and medical facilities, little more than farming will prove out as worthy employment.
Not picking on the place. It sure as hell captures the imagination. If only there was a hard core group of right wing conservative historic builders who would jump at this and it right and not queer, it would be great.
The town is very old yet few of these "old" buildings exist. But to point out a few: at 1:35 are all early 30's. Rhodes Burford is about 1915, at 1:53 are all 20th century. 2 2:31 is around 1925, 2:48 is 1900 or so. Bass sales looks like a converted 1900 building, 3:18, 3:21 are 1920, 3:30 is 1895 - 1905. Get the idea? A few old home - (6:11, 6:23, 6:31 (is great), 7:09, 7:12 and 7:18. The rest are contributing 4 squares of around 1915 or negro shot gun houses from 1880-1930
It's not creepy or haunted. Just sad. You think of generations calling this place home. Think of businesses looking to succeed - always a brighter day tomorrow - but it wasn't to be.
@1967mustanggta I was born there, It was a wonderful small town. We walked downtown, to the park, to church. to Shemwell's bar-b-que. I will always love Cairo for what it was and what it meant to me and my family. My Grandpa McGruder was the meterologist in Cario.
Sad old place. How many historic minded creative people watch this and say damn - if I could come up witha really big idea wouldn't be great to decend upon this place and bring it back.
@1967mustanggta i think the first steps to said Big idea would involve leveling just about everything already existing and starting from scratch. The property is most likely worth more empty than it is with what's on it now.
Perhaps the Corp of Engineers could build a levee there that they can blow up in a few decades....
I noticed comments why Cairo has fell as it has was due to Preston and another person say Al. I don't really know either of these guys, but have heard much about them...some good some bad but as someone else said there were many MANY more involved in those issues. I will admit that the racism that went on was SO WRONG! However, there were faults on both sides...there was no one person to blame. If only peace could have been found, not just for Cairo but for every person there then and now!
@kb4iuj exactly problem is in every state they support the big city to those of Illinois they only care about Chicago, and Springfield; they figure ah Cairo don't mean anything which is said because people there pay Illinois taxes
And our politicians brag and boast ignorantly to the rest of the world how powerful our nation is.... and yet we let historic towns like this rot away like a cancer.
i grew up in cairo during the 70's and it was a pretty good place to live, but there were many racial issues to deal with so i had to move up north were i had a better chance at finding work. it was hard for blacks to get jobs.
Haunting video- We passed through accidentally (detour) on our way from Montana to Georgia- We got there as it was getting dark, and it looked like the set of a hollywood horror movie. We all agreed that it was the town that God forgot. Interesting history.
I was thru Cairo a couple days ago. I was not aware of the past or the current state of the city. I just thought it would be cool to see the Confluence. Very sad, ruined my day actually. I got home and read the history. Again very sad!!!
It's sad what has happen to this place. In '96 I was part of a group that did volunteer work for about a month in S. Illinois and we spent 10 days in Cairo. We met some really good people during our time there. Some of my favortie memories take place in Cairo. I always wondered how the place was all these years later. I always hoped this place would make a comeback.
I was born in Cairo in 1947,and my family was there two generations before me .I have fond memories of the town and it is so sad to see it in the several times i've been back .I was an alter boy at the Church of the Redeemer and enjoyed playing in St. Mary's Park or playing down by Ohio River.Even saw the Delta Queen tied up there playing the caliope.What ruined Cairo was the people that had money didn't want to see change where growth happened and they weren't the master any more.Moved to Fl. '
alot of people dont relize that most of the river industry moved to paducah back in the 1940-50s because of its location near the tennesse and cumberland river, plus since the towboat companies dont let their crews go to town anymore, has further killed small rivertowns like this.
wow.. to me, saving cairo sounds almost impossible. the best thing that could happen to cairo is give the kids money to go to college so they have more oppurtunities.
I was born in Cairo in the late 50s. Instead making the decision to think and plan altruistically and become part of the northern movement; Cairo made the choice to become part of the Jim Crow South. Ewing the white hats and other low brow white supremacy groups were just a symptom of an already terminal disease. Decisions 70 or 80 years ago killed Cairo. This is what happens when a few old men that are long since dead fail to see the big picture. Doug Bevill
I forgot to mention ---it's not that there's no industries there----it's because the large majority of the people didn't want to work and the industries couldn't get rid of them, so they had to pack up and move elsewhere with their companies. East St Louis has access to many jobs---but once there is a way of life you're comfortable with, it's the path you tend to follow. I feel for the ones who really are stuck and want to better themselves.
I love Cairo! I'm going down for the fourth. MOst of my lives down there. It's boring as hell sometimes but we(family) always make it fun. You shoulda showed pictures of the underground prison. It's a very historic town all they need is a damn Mc donalds for when I get the late night munchies when I'm down there. Oh and they have little hole in the wall clubs too. It's aiight. Lil old Cairo... I still love to look around when I go down there.
I remember in the 50's a man caught a catfish where the rivers met, Laid it out in the back of his pick up and the thing stretched the whole lenght of his PU bed and that a true fish tale. I would have given the same odds of catching a job then as I would for the fish. Thats what brought out the bitterness the simple stress of surviving. It has such historic beauty mixed with such sad times.
how dose Preston Ewing have any thing to do about the way Cairo is today, not realy understanding that one if your going to pull a name out the blame hat how bout Al Moss??
This is a good place to visit. Anyone who lived a sheltered life in the 50's-80's could use a dose of this place. Spend some time talking with some of the old folks and you can really learn something.
Yes, Cairo has a fire department. It's mostly paid on call personnel. They have just what they need to cover most residential house fires but, I think they are a little short in fighting industrial fires. There isn't a lot of industry there to begin with but, rail and barge traffic does pass through.
Daytripped to Cairo, Illinois today. Creepy, creepy feel. Almost no signs of commerce, except for the hordes of police looking for someone to go 30.00001 MPH so they can write a revenue-producing ticket. Fort Defiance State Park, however, was pretty, and an interesting geographical point of America (the rivers were pretty high today).
Hoards of police in Cairo? I think there's only one full time officer and the other 4 are part time. You may have seen the Alexander Co. Sheriff deputies there since Cairo is the county seat. They are hard up for revenue so don't hesitate to speed through town! Every dollar counts!
Cairo has an amazing history. It was once a thriving metropolis and was a strategic port during the civil war. Sadly, racism and bigotry destroyed this town. Two many people willing to let this town die rather than embrace diversity.. My family settled in Cairo in 1855. I was born there. So much history.........
Racism, bigotry, regional economy issues and the I-57 bypass. All were factors. The place is ripe for rehab but... not until all the asbestos and other EPA regulated debris can be removed.
This reminds me of the smartgrowth initiative, and the american wildlands project which is basically seeing toll roads on interstate highways, walling off exit ramps to small, rural towns in order to control and inhibit growth in rural areas.
I'll imagine you'll see more small towns across the United States end up this way as well.
It's a shame, Cairo's downtown was probably a good place once. I like small towns.
Moved away 2 years ago... I only visit every now and again for family only. The history of this place is amazing but seeing the buildings during my visits only makes my heart ache at the current situation of this once great town...
Great video!!
kingpinlwf 2 weeks ago
Wow! Im from Chicago but moved to Sterling rock falls area and hated it because of such deadness. This is terrible and a rotten shame. Beautiful mansions and worthless.
kingpinlwf 2 weeks ago
Coming soon oh wait no most town are already starting to look just like this
hutton1415 1 month ago
hope and change!
BeantownJim 1 month ago
Hate to see a town that my brith place and raised in look like that. Still got family there nut have not been there since my grandma past
lataurice1 2 months ago
My grandparents and family members used to tell me that Cairo was the place to go "back in the day". I used to go to Cairo every weekend
MollyPrice102897 3 months ago
I was born and raised in Olive Branch Illinois which is really close to Cairo. My cousin is the att. there. My mom and grandma worked at the courthouse there. I remember going there all the time when I was little..
MollyPrice102897 3 months ago
Is Cairo, IL close to Haddonfield, IL ?
iwineverysingletime 4 months ago
US has got to get it's shit together because it looks like it's gonna get worse before it gets better
gordface 6 months ago
i was just there for a week. got fam there
1120yankees 7 months ago
Thanks for sharing this on Cairo ! Very well done !
laboheme 7 months ago 2
So you're saying Cairo isn't worth saving?
What if your hometown went down just like Cairo did, would you not save it?
God loves Cairo just like he loves everywhere else.
kelseybender2 9 months ago 2
@Boetica1960- Yes, this "Shithole" is why farmland was flooded...have you ever been to Cairo? Or seen its people? It is a helpless town that needs help. How would you feel if people just gave up on your town? It is well worth the loss of valuable farmland to save Cairo. It is getting better, despite what you think. Businesses, families, and tourists are coming back...
royzer914 9 months ago 2
Excellent video of a once great bustling community. I was in the National Guard unit in Cairo for 15 years(1977-1992) and saw it's slow decline. I visited/patronized many of the shops & stores shown in the clip.On the north side of town in the 70's there was a drive-in theater & a What-a-burger. If you look closely at the Custom House Museum you can see the multiple bullet holes. A reminder of the race riots that took place there in the 60's & 70's.
mavtilly 9 months ago
Valuable farmland was flooded to save THIS? Can someone explain this to me? Food prices going up, up, up! Don't worry, Obama will give you foodstamps! Yep, the 'Foodstamp President' is right.
Boetica1960 9 months ago
My dad, may he rest in peace, was born and raised in Cairo, Illinois. he took me here once in 2003. It just tears a hole in my heart to see the town torn to pieces. I wish my father was still here just to name off all the streets that passed by.
YoungC20111 9 months ago 2
This is the most attention poor old Cairo has seen in a long time.
1967mustanggta 9 months ago
A fossilized example of a place that came into being and grew due largely to government intervention and declined due to the same reason. People never seem to learn, even after it's too late to stop the decline. Look back in history at the beginnings of this town and how government intervention caused it to grow by artificial means.
profitleads 10 months ago 3
Kairo LOL
joeblowmha 10 months ago
Go to Mises.org an search for an article called "The Endless Sufferings of Cairo, IL."
miazagora 10 months ago 11
@1967mustanggta: Had the state used the Obama money we got to do something besides tear up state and county highways (Which DO NOT need that) we could have put life into Cairo but NO..More of the same old shit, we get money and IDOT gets a wild hair up it's ass to tear up a highway whether it needs it or not or make certain ones wider. We need to use that money to revitalize old cities if we ain't blew it all on stupid shit now.
PolizeiPaul 10 months ago
@PolizeiPaul "Obama money?" You mean from his stash? Those stimulus dollars were a joke and a waste. They COULDN'T use that money on revitalizing anything except what it was designated for - roads. That was so Obummer could "save" or "create" more government jobs to appease his voting base of unionized government workers.
miazagora 10 months ago
This place is not worth saving and you all say the levee breach was to save this place. The most high knows the reason why you all breach this levee and it wasn't to save the city.
jamesweldonhamilton 10 months ago 2
Just absolutely heart wrenching tht cairo is like tht. Its the economy that also made this nice community look like this!... nd as far as the flood ur a jackass for say'n it should wipe the ghetto town out... My family lives here... we are far from the ghetto honey... There is a lot to do to make this town boom once again... and my father has a plan!...
flockaflamecooki 10 months ago
Is this where the filmed the old Movie called "The Omega Man" ?
Well, at least the homeless people in Cairo IL have shelter beside just card board boxes.
haeema 10 months ago
A modern day ghost town.
Plum369 10 months ago
So this is town that's been in the news lately? They want to save it from flooding but in the process flood valuable farm land on the MO side of the river? Why not let the flood waters wash this blighted ghetto away? Seems like a reasonable question...good video though, nice quality & good sound track I didn't know anything about Cairo till I watched this. Call it Detroit south I guess an American ghost town.
mrkrl 10 months ago
I've been told that no school will send their teams to Cairo. If Cairo wants to play they have to travel to another school, so all events are away from home for them. I hope that changes but I don't see it anytime soon. If anyone knows otherwise please post.
credence911 10 months ago
I think the farmland is 100% more important to save than this dump.
TheWaterlily2012 10 months ago 2
@TheWaterlily2012 I think they are both worth saving; cairo, despite its awful past and how crime ridden it is, it really was a beautiful city. The architecture is beautiful and amazing. There are some of the fanciest buildings I've ever seen down there. The city of Cairo really is a photographers paradise. What this town needs is some billionaire to rehab the whole place. Some of the buildings look like they could be $500,000+ houses if fixed properly. I've been there, and it really is sad.
joefrompic 3 months ago
@joefrompic Yes, it DID once have some beautiful architecture. I've been through there too (didn't stop) and felt bad that all of the once beautiful things have been destroyed for the most part. I think it would take a whole group of billionaires to fix it back up and then people would have to live there that would keep it that way. I love old buildings and homes myself. In knowing what is planned for this world, and here in the USA, food is going to be of the utmost importance & we need farms.
TheWaterlily2012 3 months ago
Believe me, I am in favor of the farms, too. Just, I think that many of the houses there, if fixed up could be expensive houses. I live up in Saint Louis, and there are houses in Kirkwood which are selling for like 400,000 dollars and the architecture doesn't come close to the cairo houses. This whole flooding deal this past year was awful. There are many people who live in cairo and their neat houses as well as many farmers who need land, and the people who need food. Its sad both ways.
joefrompic 3 months ago
@joefrompic The way it's going in this country, no one will be able to afford a $400,000 house except that 1% that own everything anyway. St. Louis still has some decent jobs since it is a big city, but there isn't any work in Cairo. It's just sad all the way around what's been going on with disasters all over, the economy, wars, fighting, crime, and homelessness. In my opinion it's just going to get worse. A lot of people will not be prepared. I'm aware, and am not as prepared as I should be!
TheWaterlily2012 3 months ago
Doesn't look much different from my childhood memories in 1968! Shouldn't we let the river clean this mess up?
biblebrewer 10 months ago
Cairo was still a hopping place in the 50's and 60's but the push for affirmative action and the welfare state pushed a long running crime spree that ran off most of the honest hard working people and turned the town into a mostly welfare state.
rrmcmillan85 10 months ago
@deerheartjhc grow up there as will from 1979-93 . used to go back all yhe time but have noy been back sice my grandma passed
lataurice1 10 months ago
I grew up there, & it's painful to see it now. The fat cats in town fought to keep any new businesses from coming in, as they were afraid it might take a dollar or two out of their pockets. Then many like myself, didn't want to raise our own children surrounded by the hate and ignorance that is still there, and left. Just saw an example last week when a former Cairo resident went ballistic when a black family moved into her neighborhood in the community she moved to. So glad I left.
maggie45876 10 months ago
Life after people-Cairo,IL
redskins1111 1 year ago
A 2011 update from anyone who has been there recently? Anything good to report or is it an ongoing slide.
1967mustanggta 1 year ago
@1967mustanggta check out scott doody, cairo 2011
dickschickenshack 1 year ago
Egypt, Egypt Here is a city name after your capital city in USA. Please send your sons and daughters to save it. Thanks!
harbin88 1 year ago
Brilliant work.
Heartbreaking and stunning.
Superb job.
Mantanhattan 1 year ago 2
one word SKATE!
Jerraldough 1 year ago
Freeside?
mafafacorp 1 year ago
Fat boys? Whoare the fat boys?
jwharehinga 1 year ago
I love how it says "there are still beautiful parts" and then shows pictures of a bunch of shit-hole looking houses. haha
ephesus 1 year ago
@ephesus Accompanied with the hill billy banjo music. Awesome! haha
jwharehinga 1 year ago
fuck this place and southern illinois
TheBigComeDown1 1 year ago
Kindove looks like East St. Louis
bigapeist 1 year ago
Yup, really sad. All one must do is look at the current racial makeup and you'll see it follows the pattern of Balitmore..Detroit...Kankakee, IL..Gary, IN...B'ham, AL..New Orleans...Jackson, MS...East St. Louis...and wow, does that list go on.
shal0mnurh0me 1 year ago
@shal0mnurh0me Cairo's 35% white. Compare that to Detroit's 9%, East St Louis's 2%, Gary's 5%. It's apples and oranges.
EverydayLife567 1 year ago
@EverydayLife567 No, it's all relevant. Look at the racial make up of a city and you will see the quality of life there along with how the crime is. It's all fact.
shal0mnurh0me 1 year ago
@shal0mnurh0me Well, there's Southfield, Michigan, where I live. 60% black - as black as Cairo, and has an ave. income of about $70,000, with low crime. That's the only one I can think of right now, but I'm sure there's much more like it.
EverydayLife567 1 year ago
@EverydayLife567 I know there are nice black towns. Just as there are places with high crime that are majority white.
shal0mnurh0me 1 year ago
racism isnt dead at all it is very much alive and breeding hatred among every one the old timers that started the riots are still alive and clinging to what they beileve in it is a shame that they tell there own children to hate, what a shame it is to hate a your fellow person
stinger7566 1 year ago
a lost city for sure looks creepy
stinger7566 1 year ago
This place deserves what it gets for being full of racist hicks. Did anyone hear about the massive lynching that happened there in the early 1900's?
thrillbilly2 1 year ago
I remember Cairo in the 50's. Everyone from Kentucky, and Missouri, went there to shop. It was a real busy town. Then, Koen and others ruined the town and helped destroy any and all prosperity.
anselb2000 1 year ago
This has been flagged as spam show
Google "An expanded proposal to divide America into two countries" to learn how we can prevent our entire nation from turning into Cairo.
moojeed 1 year ago
This tells the true story of an area where time and prosperity passed over. It is a place as cursed as the land of Egypt was during the days of Moses.
Neglected, rejected and forgotten.
A people never given the proper respect or opportunity to grow and develop in the land of the free and home of the brave....I grew up there and am saddened how it has fallen beyond decay...It is what can and will happen to America one day if we fail to turn from our current paths....
Darkar00 1 year ago
Have a relative who's lived there for many years...still does. Everyone calls him 'Red' (AKA Vincent Doss) owner of Cairo Music Sales. I haven't visited there since 85. Probably the richest man in town...he owns the airport and most of the aircraft there as well.
udidwht 1 year ago
suprised there was racism in Cairo,IL its a northern city; being north of the Mason-Dixon Line; just suprised it didn't overcome racism as it did in the South.
redskins1111 1 year ago
@redskins1111 There's racism everywhere. Look back in the sixties. Race Riots did not just occur in alabama or memphis, but in northern cities like chicago, newark, omaha, los angeles. Also, this region of illinois is not northern. I've been through here and it might as well be the deep south since it's only 2 hrs from nashville and memphis
MrBenjammin07 1 year ago
@MrBenjammin07 Ohio River is the Mason-Dixon line, sorry still Yankees there Deleware is more Southern even than ANY part of Illinois,Indiana, or Ohio don't care still a NORTHERN CITY being north of the Mason Dixon Line, we cwould call them Yankees and DEEP SOUTH is Missiissippi, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina and Florida
redskins1111 1 year ago
@redskins1111 maybe not deep south, but it's southern in culture. I mean it has waffle house, sweet tea, the KKK (i've heard that Indiana and Illinois have very active KKK to this day). I will agree most of illinois is northern, but south of 1-70 you are in the South, maybe not the deep south, but it is southern in culture
MrBenjammin07 1 year ago
Racism didnt kill Cairo ,the mill closing down killed Cairo. Racism was always there.It was just brought out in the open with the hard times that came about when the main stimulous of the local economy evaporated. This is a good lesson in why the government took the steps it did with the bail out in an attempt to stimulate the natinal economy
215jami 1 year ago
Very sad place these days... My first wife is from here... This place is infested with drugs, crime, So much history and not preserved because the people are just dumb asses.
badboymrpappy 1 year ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
Fuck Cairo. Chicago up in here
Nacho773 1 year ago
IIBasemanII: Decatur, IL is East of Springfied in central Illinois. Cairo, IL is the further point South in Illinois. It sits on a peninsula at the convergence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. It's a very sad and depressing place seemingly forgotten by the rest of the State. I do not recommend visiting Cairo.
Tom C.
Bull Valley, IL
TickleYourBareFeet 1 year ago
Cairo is at the confluence of Mississippi and Ohio Rivers. great river and rail port. Racial strife killed this once beautiful city. Too much welfare and too many illigetimate children--none wanted to work, just collect welfare.
MReedBrn 1 year ago
If you want to see another well done and equally sad video go to "Ruins of an Empire"
The more I think about it - More of our hometowns are headed down this path. The nation won't die but it will regroup on a new front that doesn't require a diversified work force in the center of the country. Therefore, with the exception of government, education and medical facilities, little more than farming will prove out as worthy employment.
1967mustanggta 2 years ago
Reminds me of SILENT HILL!!!
Skittlexs 2 years ago
nice video
robRKR 2 years ago
could someone tell me where this is realitive to Decatur?
llBassmanll 2 years ago
if someone with alot of money could rebuild it and bring it up to date some that would be amazing.
desariec 2 years ago
racism is going to win and when it does,the whole USA is going to be a ghost town,just as Cairo is
KYMAMI 2 years ago
Not picking on the place. It sure as hell captures the imagination. If only there was a hard core group of right wing conservative historic builders who would jump at this and it right and not queer, it would be great.
1967mustanggta 2 years ago
The town is very old yet few of these "old" buildings exist. But to point out a few: at 1:35 are all early 30's. Rhodes Burford is about 1915, at 1:53 are all 20th century. 2 2:31 is around 1925, 2:48 is 1900 or so. Bass sales looks like a converted 1900 building, 3:18, 3:21 are 1920, 3:30 is 1895 - 1905. Get the idea? A few old home - (6:11, 6:23, 6:31 (is great), 7:09, 7:12 and 7:18. The rest are contributing 4 squares of around 1915 or negro shot gun houses from 1880-1930
1967mustanggta 2 years ago
It's not creepy or haunted. Just sad. You think of generations calling this place home. Think of businesses looking to succeed - always a brighter day tomorrow - but it wasn't to be.
1967mustanggta 2 years ago
@1967mustanggta I was born there, It was a wonderful small town. We walked downtown, to the park, to church. to Shemwell's bar-b-que. I will always love Cairo for what it was and what it meant to me and my family. My Grandpa McGruder was the meterologist in Cario.
laramy1 2 years ago
Pretty creepy.
Champwsox05 2 years ago
Sad old place. How many historic minded creative people watch this and say damn - if I could come up witha really big idea wouldn't be great to decend upon this place and bring it back.
1967mustanggta 2 years ago 5
@1967mustanggta i think the first steps to said Big idea would involve leveling just about everything already existing and starting from scratch. The property is most likely worth more empty than it is with what's on it now.
Perhaps the Corp of Engineers could build a levee there that they can blow up in a few decades....
ramv36 10 months ago
amazing, and sad. Seems like some of it could be saved.
fadedexile 2 years ago
I noticed comments why Cairo has fell as it has was due to Preston and another person say Al. I don't really know either of these guys, but have heard much about them...some good some bad but as someone else said there were many MANY more involved in those issues. I will admit that the racism that went on was SO WRONG! However, there were faults on both sides...there was no one person to blame. If only peace could have been found, not just for Cairo but for every person there then and now!
pnkldy74 2 years ago 4
@pnkldy74 Face it! It fell because of the blacks and the destruction they bring!
wwefanworld 10 months ago
its like a fucking ghost town. glad I left when I had the chance!
fuzzacon 2 years ago 3
Some of the buildings could be salvaged. As in over 3 storys tall, everything else should come down.
Why there's not a Casino downtown inside the levee wall or by I-57 is beyond me.
Clearly lack of vision by the state of Illinois.
kb4iuj 2 years ago
@kb4iuj exactly problem is in every state they support the big city to those of Illinois they only care about Chicago, and Springfield; they figure ah Cairo don't mean anything which is said because people there pay Illinois taxes
redskins1111 1 year ago
just wondering what cairo looked like since my great grandfather is from there. and i'm tracing my roots
blkthunderbolt 2 years ago
Have you seen a little girl? Short, black hair? About seven years old?
youtert 2 years ago
Of all places, why would you ask people on youtube? If you really cared, you would file a police report, you dumb fuck.
adamakalonghair 2 years ago
He/she was joking about Silent hill yknow...
Reay 2 years ago
well i didnt know that...
adamakalonghair 2 years ago
And our politicians brag and boast ignorantly to the rest of the world how powerful our nation is.... and yet we let historic towns like this rot away like a cancer.
crazypaul34 2 years ago 2
i grew up in cairo during the 70's and it was a pretty good place to live, but there were many racial issues to deal with so i had to move up north were i had a better chance at finding work. it was hard for blacks to get jobs.
Unvme247365 2 years ago
Haunting video- We passed through accidentally (detour) on our way from Montana to Georgia- We got there as it was getting dark, and it looked like the set of a hollywood horror movie. We all agreed that it was the town that God forgot. Interesting history.
rojoification 2 years ago
I was thru Cairo a couple days ago. I was not aware of the past or the current state of the city. I just thought it would be cool to see the Confluence. Very sad, ruined my day actually. I got home and read the history. Again very sad!!!
tmayfield67 2 years ago 3
It's sad what has happen to this place. In '96 I was part of a group that did volunteer work for about a month in S. Illinois and we spent 10 days in Cairo. We met some really good people during our time there. Some of my favortie memories take place in Cairo. I always wondered how the place was all these years later. I always hoped this place would make a comeback.
shroomboy102 2 years ago
Excellent video.
Haunting images.
We went through Cairo today on the way home from Missouri. Took some photos.
Everything looks the same as in the video. Cairo is ne of the saddest places I've ever been through.
Such magnificent structures destroyed by neglect.
Thanks for posting.
Mantanhattan 2 years ago
This is another example of what Elvis Presley did to the Nile river culture. Memphis next and then Luxor.
New Orleans is already gone.
michael2B 2 years ago
I was born in Cairo in 1947,and my family was there two generations before me .I have fond memories of the town and it is so sad to see it in the several times i've been back .I was an alter boy at the Church of the Redeemer and enjoyed playing in St. Mary's Park or playing down by Ohio River.Even saw the Delta Queen tied up there playing the caliope.What ruined Cairo was the people that had money didn't want to see change where growth happened and they weren't the master any more.Moved to Fl. '
47lobster4fun69 2 years ago
alot of people dont relize that most of the river industry moved to paducah back in the 1940-50s because of its location near the tennesse and cumberland river, plus since the towboat companies dont let their crews go to town anymore, has further killed small rivertowns like this.
phildeez1984 2 years ago
RIP Cairo! Good night, sweet prince!
BearNSO 2 years ago
wow.. to me, saving cairo sounds almost impossible. the best thing that could happen to cairo is give the kids money to go to college so they have more oppurtunities.
cyklone36 2 years ago
what happened
carter20081985 2 years ago
Nice piece of work but, unless you've met face to face with the people of Cairo's past and present, the images are meaningless.
pm0501 2 years ago 2
Depressing. Looks like the aftermath of a nuclear attack. If someone thinks war is a nice thing, he should "live" in Cairo for some weeks.
georgie2998 2 years ago
So what did Senator Barack Obama accomplish for the people of Cairo & East St. Louis?
foggytruck 2 years ago
Is there any way to repopulate this town?
gorboy 2 years ago
I was born in Cairo in the late 50s. Instead making the decision to think and plan altruistically and become part of the northern movement; Cairo made the choice to become part of the Jim Crow South. Ewing the white hats and other low brow white supremacy groups were just a symptom of an already terminal disease. Decisions 70 or 80 years ago killed Cairo. This is what happens when a few old men that are long since dead fail to see the big picture. Doug Bevill
dbevill1 2 years ago
I forgot to mention ---it's not that there's no industries there----it's because the large majority of the people didn't want to work and the industries couldn't get rid of them, so they had to pack up and move elsewhere with their companies. East St Louis has access to many jobs---but once there is a way of life you're comfortable with, it's the path you tend to follow. I feel for the ones who really are stuck and want to better themselves.
titusjean 2 years ago
Sounds like what happened to East St. Louis----soooo sad!!
titusjean 2 years ago
I love Cairo! I'm going down for the fourth. MOst of my lives down there. It's boring as hell sometimes but we(family) always make it fun. You shoulda showed pictures of the underground prison. It's a very historic town all they need is a damn Mc donalds for when I get the late night munchies when I'm down there. Oh and they have little hole in the wall clubs too. It's aiight. Lil old Cairo... I still love to look around when I go down there.
miss00jucci 2 years ago
I remember in the 50's a man caught a catfish where the rivers met, Laid it out in the back of his pick up and the thing stretched the whole lenght of his PU bed and that a true fish tale. I would have given the same odds of catching a job then as I would for the fish. Thats what brought out the bitterness the simple stress of surviving. It has such historic beauty mixed with such sad times.
215jami 2 years ago
Civil rights progress. Freedom writers and Preston Ewing is what happened to Cairo. PERIOD !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
gooseripper 2 years ago
gooseripper-
how dose Preston Ewing have any thing to do about the way Cairo is today, not realy understanding that one if your going to pull a name out the blame hat how bout Al Moss??
biggdaddyhawk 2 years ago
Sorry let me back up. It was the railroad that killed river commerce that thusly killed Cairo. My mistake I apologize
gooseripper 2 years ago
its all good and i agree with you the railroad and river commerce, its no reason that cairo shouldn't be as big as Paducah or Cape..
biggdaddyhawk 2 years ago
Preston Ewing stood up against racism and bigotry. The way Cairo is today has little to do with one man's behavior alone. it's too late to name names!
Most of the problems in Cairo today are due to demographics.
pm0501 2 years ago 2
what's goin' on? what happend to this city?
CupidbiquO 2 years ago
i used to deliver at the servicemaster plant on 14th St. for 3.5 years twice a week. I took emtey plastic bodels there
bigtruck1969 2 years ago
This is a good place to visit. Anyone who lived a sheltered life in the 50's-80's could use a dose of this place. Spend some time talking with some of the old folks and you can really learn something.
pm0501 2 years ago
This was a really cool video! I think I'll get some of my friends to help me make one like this...
This looks like a fun place to explore with your friends for a few days, I kinda want to go now...
Flab0b 2 years ago
I noticed the fire engines in the front yard at 5:58, does Cairo have an active fire dept.?
creepingrevenge 2 years ago
Yes, Cairo has a fire department. It's mostly paid on call personnel. They have just what they need to cover most residential house fires but, I think they are a little short in fighting industrial fires. There isn't a lot of industry there to begin with but, rail and barge traffic does pass through.
pm0501 2 years ago
Daytripped to Cairo, Illinois today. Creepy, creepy feel. Almost no signs of commerce, except for the hordes of police looking for someone to go 30.00001 MPH so they can write a revenue-producing ticket. Fort Defiance State Park, however, was pretty, and an interesting geographical point of America (the rivers were pretty high today).
michffl2004 2 years ago
Hoards of police in Cairo? I think there's only one full time officer and the other 4 are part time. You may have seen the Alexander Co. Sheriff deputies there since Cairo is the county seat. They are hard up for revenue so don't hesitate to speed through town! Every dollar counts!
pm0501 2 years ago
Cairo has the best low income dental clinic in SI. They pulled my wisdom tooth. :)
But yea its a crying shame what happened to that city. It now looks more like Silent HIll.
Ruhe1986 2 years ago
Cairo has an amazing history. It was once a thriving metropolis and was a strategic port during the civil war. Sadly, racism and bigotry destroyed this town. Two many people willing to let this town die rather than embrace diversity.. My family settled in Cairo in 1855. I was born there. So much history.........
wingedfree 2 years ago 3
Racism, bigotry, regional economy issues and the I-57 bypass. All were factors. The place is ripe for rehab but... not until all the asbestos and other EPA regulated debris can be removed.
pm0501 2 years ago 3
This reminds me of the smartgrowth initiative, and the american wildlands project which is basically seeing toll roads on interstate highways, walling off exit ramps to small, rural towns in order to control and inhibit growth in rural areas.
I'll imagine you'll see more small towns across the United States end up this way as well.
It's a shame, Cairo's downtown was probably a good place once. I like small towns.
Yourebuying 3 years ago
I love this town, its so creepy.
jaimehatespapi 3 years ago
This may be a stupid question, but could you give me the artist / title for the banjo music?
DakotaFloyd 3 years ago
Moved away 2 years ago... I only visit every now and again for family only. The history of this place is amazing but seeing the buildings during my visits only makes my heart ache at the current situation of this once great town...
ryncspr 3 years ago 3
SMH... EXACTLY WHY i LEFT... (l0l)
lilbabiigurl1989 3 years ago
Comment removed
CopsxCantxDance 3 years ago
......Heaven.
idyegrass3560010 3 years ago