Exploring the Forgotten City that America Abandoned - Cairo, Illinois
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- Опубликовано: 20 апр 2024
- Cairo has a complex history spanning over two centuries, beginning with indigenous peoples and French colonial era. Founded in 1818, it thrived as a trade and transportation hub during the steamboat era, playing a significant role in the Underground Railroad. However, the city experienced racial tensions, violence, and decline in the 20th century, including a 1909 race riot and economic downturn due to highway construction and industry closures. Despite ongoing challenges, Cairo has seen revitalization efforts, including historic preservation and community development projects, making it a fascinating place to explore, with a rich cultural heritage and strategic location at the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers.
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We got a history lesson, a geography lesson, a total solar eclipse and a ghost town explore. A pretty good way to spend part of my Sunday evening.
I was born in Cairo in 1957. Only lived there till 1966 then moved to Chicago. We always pronounced it Care-oh. It was still a nice town when we lived there. Thanks for the nice video. It's really sad and I haven't been there since 1978. I still want to go there and see it again. My house is still there and being lived in.
Let me welcome you to a term it's called an accent . Also when yall say (worsh) instead of (wash).
For the most part Illinois people speak just like people from Kentucky Tennessee and Alabama except for a few different words that y'all use.
And the correct pronunciation is Cairo not Karo.
But I completely understand it's an accent yall have.
@@robd1859 How about when people pronounce it Ky-ro, as in Cairo, Egypt? I grew up in Cairo, NY, and sometimes people would pronounce it Ky-ro - that always bothered me.
Years ago I had this fantasy of getting a horde of people to buy up property in Cairo and turn it into a sort of Mecca for Art & Music. No investment groups, venture capitalists or holding companies; just like minded individuals owning their own slice of the pie, a Mayberry for punks! Start a community owned trust and refurbish that Gem theater into a concert venue. The whole thing about the confluence of the rivers is awesome!
Right! It’s an absolutely beautiful nature area with the rivers. So much potential. But so expensive to do. A real shame 😔
That would've been awesome crust punks ,free music your own little punk community, sadly even something unused would bring some big wig that want to shut it down. Up the punx!
It's Illinois for starters, maybe fill it with illegals on state and federal dollar, that'll last above 10 weeks
I doubt that it will be there much longer. The rivers are washing it away.
You speak of "refurbish" the Gem. How on earth are you going to refurbish all that decay? It would need to be demolished, and a new one built in its place.
Thank you for the great detail view of the GEM theater. I bought the player piano/pipe organ from it back in the 1970's The theater was nice looking at that time. So sad to see it in such a state as it is not. I have been in the theater pipe organ restoration field for fifty years and see so much of this now. Thanks again for you video.
Was just checking out its history on Cinema Treasures. Did you get a Wurlitzer type instrument or pianola or Fotoplayer? All those are rare and can be valuable in working order.
The instrument is a Reproduco. It has a dual tracker bar so as one roll is playing the other can be rewound and changed out.
This video is worthy of the History Channel- it was so interesting, sad and amazing all at the same time!
I've seen many abandoned towns, but this one really breaks my heart. 😞
It is truly heartbreaking, isn't it?
Hello fellow Wisconsinite.
My wife and I just happened to drive through Cairo in December of last year, which was kind of jarring when you aren't expecting it. We immediately thought of your channel. When returned home a week later we drove though again and took some photos. Got a great shot of the dilapidated town sign. So glad you went there and thanks for the great history lesson.
Cairo reminds me of Centralia, PA before all the brush took over where the buildings were. I don't know if anyone mentioned earlier that a Livery is a place where horses were stabled. Just to let you know, the coal furnace in the caboose was to provide heat to the conductor. Thanks for posting this interesting video and history of this town.
That place still has that underground fire. Who knows when, if ever that will end.
@@scottdavidson526 I've been through there a few times before all the graffiti. It's a shame what happened.
Centralia still has a lot there, brush kinda clears out in the winter, I just visited there, and you can walk around and really take in all the history and unforgettable event that took Centralia off the map.
@@scottdavidson526Centralia, yes the fire is still burning and will probably burn for many more decades. I just walked around there and did an update video on that - also there is Laurel Run in PA which has been burning wayy before Centralia but it doesn’t get as much recognition there since not the entire village was wiped out.
There's still a small population of ~1600 there. But Cairo had a host of issues; losing the water trade, flooding, levees that saved the town but cost it's view, and racial tensions that drove people and business away. A lot of small towns hoping to be big one day got hit by one or two of these challenges, but 3-4 will cause the near ghost town Cairo has become.
🇺🇸🇬🇧Hello from old London Town, uk
Devin, Just a quick note to say how very impressed I am by this superb video.
It’s cultural and historic value to America but also to humanity on the whole is so very significant and that significance will continue and grow more and more as time passes.
The story of that once great town should be a warning to modern day America - and the world in general - if we can’t get along and share the places we live then NO one will and we ALL lose out.
The Eclipse just adds to the melancholy and special atmosphere of the town and your sympathetic respectful narration is to be commended.
Im particularly impressed by the respect you showed the unknown unfortunate person who called that ruin for sale a “home”.
Well done Devin, a very special peace of work - I have instantly subscribed and will be rabbit hole-ing the rest of your content at another time.
Bravo 👌👏
Beautiful reply!
Thanks for this. What’s left of the town is unsettling…it’s like looking at a dead body. Just sadness and devastation.
Great presentation of the history here - thanks for putting this together
What a nice tour of a tragic place. It's surreal seeing the contrast of decaying buildings in one part and actively preserved mansions - Cairo has not quite flatlined yet.
Yup, I'd say there's still a heartbeat, albeit a weak one
At 23:33 AF & AM is the abbreviation for 'Ancient Free and Accepted Masons'. The cornerstone indicates that Cairo Lodge is no 237 on the register of lodges under the Grand Lodge of Illinois, and they still meet at a small venue elsewhere in the city.
True but someone is still paying the electric bill for the larger lodge so they must be actively looking after it I reckon.
It is refreshing to see that a youngster can still be interested in real things...thanks for sharing!
Great video and even growing up not far from this town I never knew much more than the decline of people and jobs. I’ve been wanting to revisit it and see the beautiful old homes before they’re gone. Great videography!! Thank you!
your style & editing is unmatched.
Check out the Proper People. This guy here is, in fact, matched and maybe even beaten.
I like the crackle in the intro. It's quite nostalgic. I remember mama playing those 78s back in the day before radio.
Agreed the music had me transfixed.
That is where Huck Finn was always trying to get to
Jim.
@@egilskallagrimsson2941 both
That are some beautiful street lights.
Glenn Zimmerman - Egyptian. The Murphysboro Paving Brick Co. made ...
Egyptian. The Murphysboro Paving Brick Co. made bricks for many cities including Orlando Fl., the. Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and the ...
Great video again Devin! I love the concept of giving some more info about the history of the object. The fortunously location of Cairo, lying in the middel of nowhere, protects it against the spay-can idiots and vandals that too often just vandalise these objects. Only in the theatre I saw some tags. For the rest even the streetlights were, in majority, still all there.
We were so close to going to Cairo for the eclipse! We ended up on the side of the road next to a beautiful field of yellow flowers near Goreville!! Did you see lots of eagles and hawks gliding around when you were there?? We all remarked that the birds were so amazing that day!!
Also - during flood season in 2011, the city was allowed to flood extensively to spare farmers who's land was in the designated flood zone - the city was found expendable cuz, well, the tensions of the 60's still percolate.
One of my favourite explores so far :) I appreciate the historical voice lent to the video as well as a total eclipse, lol. It was sad to see the ruins of a once promising city, but I'm glad there are still folks who love it and call it home.
There's at least one "bright spot" in Cairo's history...
It was the home of a man named Ray Butts.
He invented and manufactured a guitar amplifier called The EchoSonic.
It was a key part to the sound of early Rock n Roll.
The 30 watt tube amplifier had a tape operated echo unit built into it's cabinet.
Stars like Chet Atkins, Merle Travis, Carl Perkins, Luther Perkins and most notably Scotty Moore (Elvis Presley's lead guitar player in the Sun Records days) all had them... Along with numerous other great Rockabilly and Blues Artists of the early and mid 1950s.
Mr. Butts also designed guitar pickups for the Gretsch Guitar Company.
So I suppose that bright spot is that if it weren't for Cairo being where it is, and Ray Butts not living there, modern music as we know it might sound incredibly different.
How strange to see an entire town with no residents. Interesting. Thanks, Devin
There are still people living there. He’s showing all the empty buildings. He did say 1700 people still live there.
I have two friends who live there, it isn’t exactly empty but is pretty sparse.
All the towns in southern Illinois are mostly small towns with populations around 200-3500, except Marion, Carbondale & Murphysboro.
Town is still pretty active. Most of the abandoned buildings are in the historical downtown area, residents live else where.
@@HollyCranfan 1700 as of 2020, four years ago. I have no doubt that the population number is less now.
I rewatch this video over And i even liked it better the second time around
Fireman 🔥🔥🔥👍
I had no idea about Cairo. I live in southern Indiana and I'm so saddened by this. Thank you for telling this story.
Thank you so much for sharing! I appreciate that you shared some history of the area in the beginning, it was like a documentary. Thanks for all the time spent making this video!
What an interesting location. It’s a shame it fell into such disrepair.
Those mansions are still stunning though.
Another fantastic video mate.
I think it is so sad. That once a populated city is now abandoned. Like the silence is deafening. It should be filled with smiling faces.
Nice explore that. Enjoyed the mix of history and walk arounds etc.
Another brilliant vid. Thanks for making it.
Really appreciate all the effort that goes into your explores & video edits. They don’t go unnoticed. Thanks Devin - hope your wrist is ok! 😀✌🏼
You offer so much in one video. Very in depth and full of information I greatly appreciate a RUclipsr who puts this much effort into their content.
Love the format and the history. Great journey!
Amazing the Red Velvet Curtain is at least partially still in tack and portions of it still in their original place to be pulled back for the beginning of the many movies once shown in the building.
There’s something very haunting about abandoned building. But an entire town, WOW, So sad. I’ve seen a lot of your videos, this one by fat is the best of them all. You did your homework and gave us a great history lesson. The eclipse was cool thanks for sharing. Keep up the good work.
This was amazing! Better than the documentaries i watched in High School and College!
Awesome job as always! Perfect narration, use of old footage and mixed in with how the town looks today! Keep up the amazing work. Always look forward to a new vid of yours! 👍🏼
I am a lifelong Illinois resident and of course have heard about Cairo's very violent and bloody past. It's just unbelievable how much violence there was over skin color! There are earthquakes in that area as well. It is right on the New Madrid fault line. I've never been there but have always wanted to go see it for myself so thank you for this video!
Thoroughly enjoyed this! Professionally done with appropriate music to accent scenes. Thank you for all the work you put into this video for us!! I'd never get to see this on my own, so appreciate this tour. 😍👍👍
Thank you so much!! This was fascinating.
Please find more of those little towns, I love them, very interesting. Watching from the UK, always enjoy your explorations🙂
Cairo, Detroit (making a bit of a comeback), east st.louis, and that’s about it for towns like Cairo. It takes a very special kind of corruption and incompetence to make a town like Cairo. So it isn’t that common thankfully… yet
He can find similar towns all around Southern Illinois, the population is very small in most of these towns…. Many with only 200-500 people.
@@coloradorocky1298 That would be great🙂
You have a knack for making complex topics accessible. Keep it up!
I'm new to the channel. Thank you for sharing this stuff that I would never see in my lifetime if it wasn't for people like you, that have huge balls to go out there and explore this stuff. I really hope your armed when you're out here alone? Just because you never know. I look forward to watching some of your older videos on the channel. This is very sad to see. Whole towns just decrepid and pretty much shut down because nobody gives any of the businesses any business anymore. That's happening throughout the US due to internet shopping too. You see a lot of old stores just disappearing and it's sad.
Just got foot note. I couldn't find the original artist via Google search to the opening song. However the artist for his time is a very popular artist of his time. The name of the song is: When you drop off At Cairo, Illinois in 1916 Vaudeville songs by an artist by the Name of Billy Murray of his time. Much love from the Detroit metropolitan area. History will make us a mature nation as time goes on. ❤❤❤ Love all out there!
What a great documentary again, Devin! I never knew about this place. Always nice how you bring the history in a respectful way. Mqybe go back at night once in the future 😅
Oil stove in the caboose.
Coal had been out for a while.
Had one like this in my boyhood home.
What's up Devin. As again, your video does not disappoint. Keep on outdoing your video with each new one. I really enjoy your video's and content overall. You are the best at this exploration stuff. All the best for your future endeavors! Much luck and good vibes!
This was a fascinating explore!
Thanks for posting this! New subscriber to your channel, can’t wait to binge watch. This stuff is right up up my alley!❤️❤️❤️👏👏
Excellent as usual love the history gives it life
Wow, I used to go through this town once a week working for my grandfather when I was 12-14, that was '75-'78 and it looked a whole lot better then. We used to post billboards in that area and there used to be a restaurant there where you could get 5 hamburgers for $1.
Great Video. YOU DO THESE ABANDONED CITIES VERY WELL. KEEP ON ! Thank You BE SAFE. ❤😊✌️
Three things... love your videos. I am glad you included the history. We need to know about these things so we don't repeat it. Finally, as a fan of historic movie palaces I now want to find out more about the Gem. Typically anything built before the talkies did have records synched up to the picture or an organ. Also, you are correct in that the space in front of the stage was for an orchestra. Some old movie theatres have an organ below that comes up from the floor (Tampa Threatre in Tampa Fl is ab example.)
Ive drove through that town on several occasions.. it literally looks like something out a post apocalyptic movie!... this town is the prime example of what economic decline looks like ... once the river trade ended it ended the town as well and not to mention the town floods periodically
Love places like this. Great documentation 👍
Sad and fascinating history! Those brick pavers stamped Egyptian, were made by the Egyptian Brick Paving Co or Murphysboro Paving Brick Company. Awesome Explore
Your videos never disappoint.
Amazing video, so very well done! Thank you
Absolutely interesting video. Thank you❤
I loved this, thank you
Well done. I look forward to more of your videos!
AF & AM stands for "Ancient Free & Accepted Masons".
This lodge is still chartered and active there in Cairo. They have a website.
I'm a Freemason myself.
That actually has the potential of being revived into an awesome vacation spot
Awsome explore very good job loved it
LOVE ALL YOUR EXPLORES!
Wow nice exploration. Ty
A Livery is what planes are painted up in, a Livery (Live-ery) like the building here is a stable for horses, so it's an old place from the times of horses riding down the street. They also sold tac and equipment for horses and carriages, etc.
The Maxine Shoppe, 8th Street was a women's clothing store that was still operating during the thirties and forties.
Came to say something similar. The top picture in this image.
alexander.illinoisgenweb.org/cox/1938view/IMG_0746.jpg
Also this image.
i.pinimg.com/564x/bd/e4/b7/bde4b7d81cd0bad5d4109f7c2d176b0a.jpg
I urge any idealists here to not get any ideas about turning this place around. This place is effed legally, bureaucratically, politically, culturally, socially, and traumatically. For every person that would love for Cairo to succeed, there are 750 people that would like to see you fail. And some of those 750 will happily take your money while pretending they want you to succeed.
The Book "Cursed In Cairo" lays it all out quite well. Even the electric company is run as a co-op with absurdly high rates for businesses that choke out any hope of development.
Any place can rise from the ashes with determination and hard work. Are you saying that the properties are being held by people who are purposely allowing it to rot?
49:18 oh you don’t know! I didn’t know when I first got to southern Illinois. There is all kinds of similarities and lore surrounding southern Illinois and Egypt. So, lots of places are named after Egyptian things. All of Southern Illinois is called “Little Egypt” and Cairo is pronounced K-Row. There was a famous belly dancer from there (was her name “Little Egypt” too?). She was a hit with the fellas at the world’s fair in Chicago. There are so many things…
Also a bit ago you visited the Magnolia manor. I visited there one time. It was open for a Christmas event on the day I went to town for an assignment (student at SIU). There were dogs roaming the streets and we were going to explore the GEM when this friendly guy came up to us. We had no idea what to do. Others were in town and told us to take him to the manor. The lady working there has rescued and helped so many stray dogs. The streets used to have pack of them. Now they’ve all been adopted. I imagine that’s why there were 4 dogs in the yard. Good to see she’s still helping the local animals.
This was quite enjoyable to watch. HOWEVER, I heard several non-standard pronunciations of the town's name. (My mother was born in Cairo, and my parents met and married there; I visited several times as a youngster and have been correcting pronunciations of the town name. The song at the head of the piece pronounced the name a K-Eye-ro. That's the city in Egypt. You called it at least once as Kay-ro. That is a Southern pronunciation. The correct, non-Southern pronunciation is Care-oh. The county name is Alexandria (not Alexander as shown on one mural panel). There was once a delta at the confluence of of the Ohio and Mississippi, hence the connection to Alexandria and Cairo, Egypt. My great-aunt Eunice once owned and operated the Po' Boy's Market on the main drag, and my late aunt Elizabeth lived in the town her entire adult life - that's how I know that the former delta became, after landfill, Fort Defiance Park. She passed in the late 1980's.
The song pronounced KyeRoh andthe song said "Illinois". Guess it's different with each person?
Potato potHAto 😜😂@@jenniferpeters9552
Thanks for this video. Good choice of music for this.
Wow. This entire town looks way more overtaken by nature than I'd expect for a town that died in 2011. Insane video
Great job, Devin.
I’m not local to the Cairo area, but I’m a lifelong Central and Southern Illinoisan who lives about 2 and a half hours away from Cairo.
Devin pronounces Cairo, IL the way that I was taught it was pronounced and the way that I have always heard others pronounce it in real life here in Illinois which is Kay-Ro.
It’s not pronounced the same as its namesake in Egypt.
There are several towns in Illinois that are not pronounced the same as their namesakes such as Athens, New Athens, Berlin, New Berlin, and San Jose.
Interestingly, I have seen several online posts by people who claim to be Cairo locals both here and elsewhere stating that it’s locally pronounced as Care-oh.
In the film clip of the marching women, they seem to be chanting Care-oh.
Perhaps, there are alternate local pronunciations, similar to how there are people from Missouri who pronounce it as Muh-zur-ee and Muh-zur-uh.
I’m going to continue to call it Kay-Ro like Devin.
Don’t fret over the people calling out your pronunciation of Cairo, IL, Devin, as most Illinoisans pronounce it like you did here.
I can also confirm that Cairo is in Alexander County and not Alexandria County as stated by another poster here.
Their county website confirms this: alexandercounty.illinois.gov/
I have been to Cairo. My mother and grandparents once called it home. I haven't been there since 2000. I also used to live in New Athens, IL. Pronounced New AY-thens. I'm now near the Quad Cities, and there's Orion, Pronounced ORE--ee-un, and Rio, Pronounced, RYE-o. I always called Cairo CARE-o.
Go figure
Loved the video!! While You were filming the eclipse on top the levy there was a vertical metal bar that "crossed" one of the parking curbs on the ground and it made a perfect shape of a cross. 😊 Im not really religious, but that was pretty neat.
Thank you for this video. Today to many don’t want to hear about history and are therefore doomed to repeat its mistakes. Please continue the good work.
Wow what an interesting place to catch the eclipse! You’d think the location itself would be advantageous for some kind of industry.. even historical tourism.. but it seems like it’s haunted by its past.
The Gem Theater was built 1910 burnt and rebuilt twice and closed 1978. About 900 seats. Now gutted. Surprised to see it was equipped with early platter film feed and take up system 21:26
There was some major federal funding in the mid '90s to early 2000s which resulted in some partial renovation to the entry foyer, marquee etc, but to no avail as it never came to any use. It was donated to the council before the grants. When you see photos of the street-scape around the Gem in the 1940s and 1960s its hard to believe it is the same town.
Great Explore Devin, was probably a great booming town at one point, but a sad story too
So sad that this town fell the way it did. Thank you so much for sharing the history of Cairo, Illinois
Enjoyed that DEF ! Thx
Thanks for the video good know about the past i enjoyed watching
Very interesting. Thank you!
That was very interesting. What great editing and I loved the music
Glad you enjoyed it
I really enjoy your videos! Just subscribed 😎✌️
I used to drive a truck OTR and would often pass through Cairo, I always wondered how it became a ghost town when it seemed to me like somewhere that should still be active with all the travelers that went through there. I'm so glad i found your video it was very interesting and the solar eclipse was definitely a plus!
Thank you. That was interesting!
I remember in about the year 2000 maybe 2001, I was contracted to put a "radio station translator" on the air very near Cairo. It was for a religious station. A "radio station translator" is simply a reception of the original station being re-broadcast at much lower power on a different frequency. I am a broadcast engineer. Anyway, I was not met with any love from the remaining people in Cairo. To them, I was an outsider and was clearly not welcome. I was met several times with very angry folks wondering what I was doing. I told them what I was doing and why I was there and for the most part they were fine with it. I haven't been back in years. If you visit, in my opinion, be prepared. I was working on the outskirts of this town and I was not welcomed then. Just my 2 cents!
I wonder if when they found out you were doing work for a religious station, they decided to back off a bit and seem fine with it 🤔
I rode with a guy who got on the boat in Cairo once. Had to get another guy off late at night, boat was going to be at the cityfront around 0030-0100. Said he got there around 0000 and it didn't take 15min for an officer to pull up with spotlights on and ask him what he was doing. When he told the cop he was getting on a boat he responded with, "Oh you're a towboater? You don't need to be here after dark man. You need to leave and come back when the boat gets here." When he told the cop the boat was about there he just ended up staying and watching after him and the guy getting off. Damn when you tell a towboater this is too sketchy of a place for you that's a real sketchy place.
Great video have seen a few tour vidoes of the town but have been curious about the history of it I love seeing all the old building sad to see them fall to rack and ruin thanks for the upload watching from aust
Great information sir, thanks
Thanks for the History lesson. Being raised in Florida I was Not aware of the Unrest in this small town
Great presentation! One of your best vids! No gothic friend on today's trip?👍👍
Thanks for your videos
This very cool video 📸 but sad ,.came over here to this channel from RNK all day.
one of the best videos of cairo, sure wish it could come back to all its glory...very sad
I was waiting for your pronunciation, expecting "Ky-Row" but you nailed it correctly. Great video!
This town had so much potential and in the end became another tragic case of urban decline.
Great tour.
“Urban decline” wtf.
Nothing urban about it.