Railroads and ferries brought prosperity |A. B. Safford Memorial
Museum in Cairo, Illinois, built in 1883| Cairo, Illinois, is at
the extreme southern tip of Illinois, at the point where the
Ohio and Mississippi Rivers converge. I always have mixed
feelings as I drive through Cairo (pronounced "Kay-roh".) Sadly,
the town has endured a long period of hard times and population
loss. In the business district, empty lots suggest that many
deteriorated buildings have been bulldozed and hauled away. Some
old buildings, still standing, are candidates for the next
demolition list. |I'm not sure if this church is in use.| Cairo
became an important railroad hub after the Civil War, and the
town enjoyed several decades of great prosperity. Train cars
(and other vehicles) were ferried across the rivers, and the
ferry business was as important to local fortunes as the
railroad and river-shipping businesses. |The Riverlore in Cairo,
Illinois| Then in 1889, the Illinois Central Railroad completed
the Cairo Rail Bridge acros