The mournful town of Cairo, Illinois

Pictures: The mournful town of Cairo, Illinois

In the era of steamboats and river commerce, Cairo was one of the most prosperous places in America, and Mark Twain made it famous in literature as well. It's where Jim and Huck actually wanted to go, although they ended up sailing past. It is the very place where the East, the South, and the Midwest come together, right at the confluence of the Ohio and the mighty Mississip'. Although it's in Illinois, the closest neighbors are in Kentucky and Missouri, making it a strategic location for the Northern generals during the Civil War.

In an alternate universe, Cairo's strategic location might have made it as important as Pittsburgh or Chicago, but we do not live in that particular universe, so we just keep driving past Cairo on our way from Chicago to Memphis. The decline of river commerce and a legacy of racial violence led to the town's virtual disappearance.

It is essentially a ghost town, and a flood waiting to happen.