Abandoned Ghost Town of Cairo, Illinois

Built in the mid-19th Century, Cairo was a bustling little burg that serviced the steamboat industry and became a critical trading post and military base of operations during the Civil War. From 1920 to 2000 the population dropped from 15,000 to 2,000 but as people have left the city efforts have been made to preserve the historic buildings of main street and other abandoned parts of this small but important town.