The Rivers Never Got In: What Really Emptied Cairo, Illinois

In 1920 the census counted 15,203 people in Cairo, Illinois, the city where the Ohio meets the Mississippi. In 2020 it counted 1,733. The rivers never got in. This is the story of what did empty the city, told from maps, archives and the census. Sources for facts: • U.S. Census Bureau, decennial census counts for Cairo, 1850 to 2020, and Vintage 2025 population estimate • National Weather Service, Ohio River at Cairo: crests of 1937, 2011 and 2019; top of flood protection • U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Birds Point to New Madrid Floodway (Flood Control Act of 1928; operations of 1937 and 2011) • Danforth v. United States, 308 U.S. 271 (1939) • U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, Cairo, Illinois: A Symbol of Racial Polarization (February 1973), and hearings in Cairo, March 1972 • U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Alexander County Housing Authority announcements, 2016 to 2019 • National Park Service, U.S.S. Cairo Gunboat and Museum, Vicksburg National Military Park; Network to Freedom • U.S. Geological Survey, elevations of the highest and lowest points in each state • Charles Dickens, American Notes (1842), chapters 12 and 14; Martin Chuzzlewit (1843 to 1844) • Anthony Trollope, North America (1862) • Mark Twain, Life on the Mississippi (1883), chapter 25; Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884), chapters 15 and 16 • Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant (1885) • John M. Lansden, A History of the City of Cairo, Illinois (1910) • Federal Writers' Project, Illinois: A Descriptive and Historical Guide (1939) • Historic American Buildings Survey, Peter T. Langan House (Magnolia Manor), HABS IL-218; Historic American Engineering Record, Cairo Bridge • Map data: U.S. Census Bureau cartographic boundaries and TIGER roads and rails; USGS NHDPlus rivers; Natural Earth Images, via Wikimedia Commons (public domain unless a license is named): • Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons: 29 • Library of Congress: 25 • National Archives: 6 • Illinois Digital Archives: 3 • New York Public Library: 2 • Boston Public Library: 2 • Newberry Library: 1 • Digital Public Library of America: 1 • Cornell University Library: 1 • Smithsonian American Art Museum: 1 • NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, CC BY 2.0: The Ohio and the Mississippi in flood, seen from orbit (2011); Flooding along the Mississippi (2011); The junction in flood (2011) • hickory hardscrabble, CC BY 2.0: The levee (2006) • w_lemay, CC BY-SA 2.0: Commercial Avenue from 7th Street (2024); Commercial Avenue (2024); Commercial Avenue from 5th Street (2024); Observation tower, Fort Defiance State Park (2024); The confluence from Fort Defiance (2024); Mississippi River bridge (2024); Old Custom House, Washington Avenue (2024); Magnolia Manor (2024); Safford Memorial Library (2024); Downtown arch, 8th Street (2024); Fort Defiance State Park (2024); View from the observation tower (2024); Where the Ohio meets the Mississippi (2024); The confluence (2024); Halliday Park (2024) • Ken Lund, CC BY-SA 2.0: The ironclad Cairo at Vicksburg National Military Park • Infrogmation, CC BY-SA 4.0: Cairo, June 1990 (1990); Cairo, June 1990 (1990) • formulanone, CC BY-SA 2.0: Floodwall gate on U.S. 51 (2020) • Paul Sableman, CC BY 2.0: Downtown Cairo (2018) • Chris Light, CC BY-SA 4.0: The Cairo's bow, Vicksburg Every image with its source link: see the pinned comment.