Visiting Cairo, IL Next Weekend (Washington, Shawneetown: low income, appointed, house)

[AnAvidTraveler]

I have always been interested in ghost towns or soon to be ghost towns. Cairo happens to be one thanks to the closing of railroads decades ago.

I plan to stop in Cairo, IL on my way back home next weekend.

Are there any historical landmarks / interesting abandoned parts of Cairo I should check out along with Fort Defiance Park?

Is Washington Ave. the main street in Cairo for remaining businesses?

Is Shemwell's Barbecue still in business? Is it open everyday from 8 AM to 8 PM?

If it is, I ought to eat there because it's pretty famous. Several people in my hometown Seattle, WA mentioned that place often.

Is Shemwell's Barbecue better than other restaurants in Cairo such as Nu Diner and Mack's Restaurant?

Is there still a delicious pizza/drinking bar place in Cairo somewhere that was pretty popular in late 1960s and early 1970s? What is the name of it?

[BLS2753]

Don't know where you're getting your information, but there is nothing to see or do in Cairo. Might be one barbeque joint in town, that's about it.

Nobody in this region goes near Cairo. I see no reason for someone to travel hundreds of miles, unless you have a morbid curiosity about the place.

[BLS2753]

And as for Ft. Defiance. Ft. Massac and Ft. Kaskaskia are far more interesting. Old Shawneetown as well.

[AnAvidTraveler]

I'm finally back home from the Midwest! With my spare time, I visited Cairo, IL.

I don't know what to say but it's really depressing out there. The whole town was literally dead except for very few businesses such as county government offices, police & fire departments, schools, Dollar General store, Mack's Restaurant, Shemwell's Barbecue, one huge factory on Commerical St. by the levee wall and the river, and the guided tours of the Magnolia Manor.

Poverty is widespread throughout Cairo. I saw low income housing projects around Union St. and Washington Ave.

Most buildings on Commerical Street are literally falling apart and they should be condemned so is the old hospital! Why didn't Cairo's city government do their job of tearing them down and to build new ones to bring some small businesses?

I have to admit that I was disappointed with Shemwell's Barbecue. My food was nothing like pulled BBQ pork sandwich, LMAO!

On the other hand, Cairo residents are pretty friendly and down-to-earth regular folks like many poor Americans ignored by politicians in Washington, D.C. except for the people who own the Magnolia Manor. They weren't friendly at all!

By the way, Fort Defiance Park was nothing but empty, overgrown grassy area.

If it weren't for stubborn residents who remain in Cairo today, Cairo would be an empty ghost town on a cape that outlived its importance as a river port.

[cubssoxfan]

Originally Posted by BLS2753

Don't know where you're getting your information, but there is nothing to see or do in Cairo. Might be one barbeque joint in town, that's about it.

Nobody in this region goes near Cairo. I see no reason for someone to travel hundreds of miles, unless you have a morbid curiosity about the place.

And you visit anyway and state..............

AnAvidTraveler I visited the dying town of Cairo.
I'm finally back home from the Midwest! With my spare time, I visited Cairo, IL.

I don't know what to say but it's really depressing out there. The whole town was literally dead except for very few businesses such as county government offices, police & fire departments, schools, Dollar General store, Mack's Restaurant, Shemwell's Barbecue, one huge factory on Commerical St. by the levee wall and the river, and the guided tours of the Magnolia Manor.

Poverty is widespread throughout Cairo. I saw low income housing projects around Union St. and Washington Ave.

Most buildings on Commerical Street are literally falling apart and they should be condemned so is the old hospital! Why didn't Cairo's city government do their job of tearing them down and to build new ones to bring some small businesses?

I have to admit that I was disappointed with Shemwell's Barbecue. My food was nothing like pulled BBQ pork sandwich, LMAO!

On the other hand, Cairo residents are pretty friendly and down-to-earth regular folks like many poor Americans ignored by politicians in Washington, D.C. except for the people who own the Magnolia Manor. They weren't friendly at all!

By the way, Fort Defiance Park was nothing but empty, overgrown grassy area.

If it weren't for stubborn residents who remain in Cairo today, Cairo would be an empty ghost town on a cape that outlived its importance as a river port.

And I end with a BIG "We told you so!"

[bwdevries]

I visited the US CUSTOMS HOUSE MUSEUM this week and found it to be a truly wealth of information about the areas history. The fee is only 2 dollars and it is wonderful how the people of the town have worked to restore this building. They are still working on the 3rd floor. The first floor has a old post office , an Iron Clad civil war ship model with some of the artifacts from the ship on display. There is some unique information about Lewis and Clark. Many maps and photos from the glory days of the city. I only had a few hours to spare but could have easily spend a full day there.
If you are ever close, be sure to visit, it is only a few miles from I 57. In a matter of 5 minutes you can visit 3 states.
I was able to observe 5 river tugs and countless barges.
Very interesting to view the joining of the 2 major rivers, the Ohio is much clearer and slow moving while the Mississippi is fast and muddy.

[BLS2753]

Originally Posted by bwdevries

I visited the US CUSTOMS HOUSE MUSEUM this week and found it to be a truly wealth of information about the areas history. The fee is only 2 dollars and it is wonderful how the people of the town have worked to restore this building. They are still working on the 3rd floor. The first floor has a old post office , an Iron Clad civil war ship model with some of the artifacts from the ship on display. There is some unique information about Lewis and Clark. Many maps and photos from the glory days of the city. I only had a few hours to spare but could have easily spend a full day there.
If you are ever close, be sure to visit, it is only a few miles from I 57. In a matter of 5 minutes you can visit 3 states.
I was able to observe 5 river tugs and countless barges.
Very interesting to view the joining of the 2 major rivers, the Ohio is much clearer and slow moving while the Mississippi is fast and muddy.

I agree that Cairo has attributes for those interested in history and local geography. The problem on this board, is that it receives a disproportionate amount of attention, and for all the wrong reasons. And other, more vibrant, communities at this end of the state receive virtually no interest at all.

[Charlotte Bill]

I lived in Illinois as a young man and had relatives that lived near Cairo so I visited there often in the 50's and 60's. Although the city was already in decline there was a thriving business district based mostly on bars and restaurants. The surrounding areas in Kentucky and Missouri were dry, so folks flocked to Cairo for food, drink and entertainment. As the restrictive liquor laws in their states eased over the years, there was no reason to visit Cairo anymore, so the last viable business's died. Somehow the place holds a "what might have been" fascination for me, and I still am drawn to visit there if only to see what has been lost since the last visit.

Cairo, so favored by it's location was doomed by topography. The city sits in a virtual swamp that regularly flooded in the 1800's until levees were built that surround the town. You enter from the Illinois side through a cut in the railroad embankment that acts as a levee on the only land side. When the area floods, a floodgate is lowered across the highway and the city on it's small penninsula becomes an island surrounded by miles of water on all sides. There is virtually no high ground on the Illinois side to the north or for miles on either the Kentucky or Missouri sides. In the spring rainy season it must be a a depressing place to live, surrounded for weeks by raging water on all sides that is 15 feet higher than the town, lapping at the tops of the levees. If instead the land there was a bluff, the city would have rivaled Memphis or St. Louis. Instead it became a city with no place to grow so it died.

[linicx]

Cairo has been EVACUATED due to flooding. It is uncertain if the town will survive.