Cairo, Illinois – Death by Racism
Cairo, Illinois, a town steeped in history and shadowed by tragedy, stands at the confluence of the mighty Mississippi and Ohio Rivers, marking the southernmost point of Illinois. Pronounced "Care-O," this city, once envisioned as a bustling metropolis rivaling major urban centers, now presents a stark contrast to its grand aspirations. A visit to Cairo, Illinois, evokes a sense of both intrigue and profound sadness, with its silent streets and crumbling architecture whispering tales of a bygone era.
The initial impression of Cairo, Illinois, is unforgettable. Passing beneath the archway proclaiming "Historic Downtown Cairo," one is immediately struck by the emptiness. Commercial Avenue, the city’s main thoroughfare, is lined with buildings in varying states of disrepair. Open doorways reveal interiors filled with debris, windows are either shattered or boarded up, and kudzu vines relentlessly climb the brick facades. Faded, rusty street signs and cracked sidewalks choked with weeds paint a picture of abandonment. The once-elegant Gem Theatre stands forlornly beside the Chamber of Commerce, a poignant reminder of lost grandeur. Further into the city, a large brick hospital is consumed by vegetation, boarded-up churches stand as silent sentinels, and restored mansions stand in stark juxtaposition to crumbling, abandoned homes.
The question that immediately arises is: What happened here? The proximity of Commercial Avenue to the Ohio River initially suggests a devastating flood. However, the true story is far more complex and deeply rooted in the insidious history of racism. An encounter with an elderly gentleman along the riverbank provides a glimpse into the truth. He shares a brief account of how the town was destroyed by its own residents, pointing to a building that once thrived as a fine dining and dancing establishment, a place he and his wife had enjoyed decades ago.
Further research reveals the grim reality: Cairo, Illinois, succumbed to the destructive forces of racial prejudice and systemic inequality.
A History Forged on the Rivers
The history of the peninsula where Cairo, Illinois, now rests dates back to March 1660, when Father Louis Hennepin, a French explorer and missionary priest, first set foot on the land. Subsequent traveling priests also noted its strategic location. However, the first attempt at settlement didn’t occur until 1702, when French pioneer Charles Juchereau de St. Denys and a group of approximately 30 men established a fort and tannery a few miles north of the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. The group experienced considerable success in collecting thousands of animal skins for shipment back to France. Unfortunately, their prosperity was short-lived. In the following year, the fort was attacked by Cherokee Indians, who killed most of the men and seized the valuable furs, effectively bringing an end to the fort and tannery.
Nearly a century and a half later, in November 1803, Lewis and Clark arrived near the future site of Cairo, Illinois, after departing from Fort Massac, Illinois. They collaborated on their initial scientific research, focusing on studying the geography at the juncture of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers. On November 16, they commenced the diplomatic phase of their expedition, visiting the Wilson City area of Mississippi County, Missouri, to meet with Delaware and Shawnee Indian chiefs. They concluded their surveys at Cairo on November 19 and proceeded up the Mississippi River, now navigating against the current.
Early Aspirations and Initial Setbacks
The first serious attempt at settlement occurred in 1818 when John G. Comegys of Baltimore, Maryland, secured a charter from the Territorial Legislature to incorporate the city and the Bank of Cairo. He acquired 1,800 acres on the peninsula and named it "Cairo," drawing a parallel to Cairo, Egypt, based on the perceived resemblance of their locations. Shadrach Bond, the first governor of Illinois, collaborated with Comegys in this endeavor. Together, these men and other investors invested heavily, hoping to transform Cairo, Illinois, into one of the nation’s premier cities.
The plan involved dividing the peninsula’s land into lots for sale, with a portion of the proceeds earmarked for improvements and the remainder for capitalizing the new bank. The peninsula was meticulously surveyed, and the city was platted. However, Comegys’s death in 1820 brought an abrupt end to his ambitious plans. Nevertheless, his legacy endured in the city’s name, and "Egypt" became a popular nickname for southern Illinois.
A second, more successful, attempt at settlement commenced in 1837 when the Illinois State Legislature incorporated the Cairo City and Canal Company, with Darius B. Holbrook, a resourceful businessman from Boston, Massachusetts, as its president. Holbrook promptly hired several hundred workmen who constructed levees, a dry dock, a shipyard, sawmills, an ironworks, a large two-story frame hotel, a warehouse, and several residential cottages. A store was even established on a boat.
The city’s future appeared bright as the construction of the Central Illinois Railroad drew numerous people to Cairo, Illinois. Meanwhile, several farms were established, and neighboring villages in the county prospered.
The settlement was widely promoted in England, where bonds issued by the Cairo City and Canal Company found eager buyers through the London firm of John Wright & Company. However, the failure of the London firm in November 1840 triggered an immediate decline in the fledgling town of Cairo, Illinois, causing its population to plummet from 1,000 to less than 200 within two years. Those who remained primarily operated shops and taverns catering to steamboat travelers. The census of 1845 recorded 113 residents in 24 families.
Growth, War, and a Glimmer of Hope
For more than a decade, the "town" languished. However, in 1853, the company began selling lots in anticipation of the railroad’s arrival. The town experienced renewed growth following the completion of the Illinois Central Railroad in 1856, which connected Cairo to Galena, Illinois, in the northwest corner of the state.
At that time, expectations were high, with predictions that Cairo, Illinois, would surpass St. Louis, Missouri; Louisville, Kentucky; and Cincinnati, Ohio, as a major urban center. Some even suggested that the city become the capital of the United States. Despite these grand pronouncements, the city never achieved such prominence.
In 1858, the town was incorporated, and two years later, its population exceeded 2,000. It quickly evolved into a vital steamboat port, facilitating the movement of goods and supplies further south to New Orleans. In 1859, the city shipped six million pounds of cotton and wool, 7,000 barrels of molasses, and 15,000 casks of sugar. In 1860, Cairo became the county seat of Alexander County. An elegant courthouse was constructed in 1865 and served until the 1960s when it was demolished and replaced with a new one.
Before the Civil War, the city also served as an important transfer station on the Underground Railroad. With the completion of the Illinois Central Railroad, fugitives were transported north by river before being transferred to railroad lines heading toward Chicago.
Cairo During the Civil War
By 1861, when the Civil War commenced, the population of Cairo, Illinois, had increased to 2,200, with only 55 African-Americans. The port quickly became a strategically important supply base and training center for the Union army. For several months, both General Ulysses S. Grant and Admiral Andrew Foote maintained headquarters in the town. Several federal regiments were also stationed there during those turbulent years.
The Confederacy also recognized its strategic importance. Illinois Governor Richard Yates immediately dispatched 2,700 men with 15 pieces of field artillery, along with several six-pounders and one twelve-pound cannon, to Cairo from Springfield. Additional troops were stationed nearby, and by June 1861, 12,000 Union soldiers were stationed in and around Cairo. Another 38,000 men were stationed within a 24-hour ride.
To further fortify Cairo as a military camp and naval base, Yates sent more artillery to the city in the fall of 1861, including 7,000 new guns, 6,000 rifled muskets, 500 rifles, and 14 artillery batteries. The soldiers then constructed 15-foot-high levees around the city, transforming it into a formidable installation.
Camp Defiance was established at the very tip of the peninsula, south of Cairo, near the riverbank, and Camp Smith was located a short distance to the north. Camp Defiance was initially named Fort Prentiss after Union officer Benjamin Mayberry Prentiss, who had served with distinction in the Mexican-American War.
The post initially consisted of a flat-topped mound upon which three 24-pound cannons and an 8-inch mortar were placed. The site also included a command house and a ship’s mast for the colors. The name was later changed to Camp Defiance upon the arrival of General Ulysses S. Grant.
Lines of sentries were posted along the levees, and all boats along the river were stopped and searched. Camp Defiance became a vital supply depot for General Grant’s Western Army and a naval base as the Union and Confederacy vied for control of the lower Mississippi River. The Union transported supplies from Chicago to the far tip of Illinois via the Illinois Central Railroad, fueling Grant’s push deep into the Confederacy and significantly altering the course of the Civil War.
The city transformed into an enormous military camp, featuring a vast parade ground and clusters of barracks on all sides. The fortified city rapidly captured the nation’s attention, attracting numerous reporters to observe the military build-up. The New York Times famously dubbed Cairo "the Gibraltar of the West."
Post-War Challenges and Racial Tensions
The Civil War dramatically reshaped the city’s social, cultural, and demographic landscape with the influx of thousands of runaway slaves, whom the government referred to as "contrabands." Additionally, in 1862, the Union Army deposited large numbers of African-Americans in Cairo until government officials could determine their fate. These black men, women, and children lived in a "Contraband Camp" established by the Army. The camp was later abandoned as the African-Americans found little work and, lacking funds to purchase farms, many returned to the South and became sharecroppers.
After the war ended, the city became a staging area for many freed slaves arriving from the South. While many of these individuals returned to the South or moved elsewhere, over 3,000 chose to remain in Cairo, Illinois. The decidedly Southern influence of most white residents, coupled with the large influx of African Americans, fueled racial tensions that would persist for over a century. During the subsequent two decades, Cairo, Illinois’s African Americans coalesced to create a new society with their own institutions and culture, particularly as they encountered prejudice and hatred from white citizens.
A City Divided: The Seeds of Destruction
Despite the economic progress, Cairo, Illinois, was also experiencing escalating racial polarization, tension, and violence by this time, inhibiting black activism until the Great Depression.
The first decade of Cairo, Illinois’s 20th-century history was marred by a violent episode on November 11, 1909, when the city witnessed one of the most gruesome lynchings in American history. A black man named Will James, accused of murdering a shop-girl, and a white man, charged with murdering his wife, were lynched by a mob numbering in the thousands.
The racial tensions and violence that permeated Cairo, Illinois, reached a boiling point in the mid-20th century, ultimately leading to the city’s decline.
The Civil Rights Era and the City’s Demise
The push for racial equality occurred in 1946 when black teachers filed a lawsuit in federal court to secure equal pay. By 1960, the town supported only about 9,000 people. That number would, unfortunately, drop more drastically over the next few decades as racial tensions in the town escalated into a full-blown "war."
By this time, the old scars of racism had hardened, and Cairo, Illinois’s racial divide was starkly drawn. The city’s black citizens couldn’t get work in white-owned businesses, and when rural whites from Kentucky and Missouri were hired instead of local blacks, the African Americans rebelled. Full-out "war" began in 1967 after the suspicious death of a 19-year-old black soldier on leave occurred while he was in police custody. Led by Cairo native Reverend Charles Koen, they rose in protest against Hunt’s death and a century of segregation. Resulting in a riot, the whites quickly formed Vigilante groups, and the violence increased to such an extent that the Illinois National Guard was called in to quell racial hostilities.
Despite the state government’s involvement, white residents continued to hold mass meetings in public parks, while African Americans held Civil Rights rallies in churches. Even though the federal and state governments had gotten involved, they were ineffective in controlling the continued segregation and inequality in Cairo.
The demonstrations and violence continued into the 1970s, producing over 150 nights of gunfire, multiple marches, protests, and arrests; numerous businesses were bombed, and more declared bankruptcy.
The boycott continued for the remaining establishments for the rest of the decade. Once, Commercial Street was lined with businesses. They are all closed now, and most of the buildings are gone.
A Ghost of Its Former Self
In the end, Cairo, Illinois, would become the city that died from racism. By 1990, the town sported a population of a little less than 5,000. Its citizens tried valiantly to save the town when Riverboat Gambling was legalized the same year. By the year 2,000, Cario’s population had dropped to only about 3,600 residents. Today, it is called home to about 2,200 people.
Built to support over 15,000 people, Cairo, Illinois, is a semi "ghost town" today. A third of its population is below the poverty line. The city is predominately African-American at almost 72%, compared to Caucasian at about 28%. The median income for a household in the city was just $21,607 in the 2000 census. The town continued to face significant socio-economic challenges, including education issues, high unemployment rates, and lack of a commercial tax base, which contributed to the sadness of Cairo. In the 2010 census, the median income for a household in the city dropped to $16,682.
The city and its residents have worked hard over the recent years to stabilize the small town; however, these attempts are often short-lived, as there is simply no money. For many years, there were efforts to promote the area for tourism.
In the last decade, numerous buildings have been torn down in Cairo, Illinois, for safety and "cleaning up" the city. This demolition created a housing crisis for numerous residents, which was yet another blow to this isolated rural town.
Still, this historic city provides history buffs and photographers with opportunities to explore Cairo’s historic downtown, beautiful churches, and government structures that continue to stand. The community continues to fight for its existence. Hopefully, these efforts will work as the clock continues to tick on Cairo, which, without revitalization, is destined to become a true "ghost town."