Halliday Hotel Cairo's premiere hotel, the Halliday Hotel, as shown in this 1888 perspective map of city. The Hallidays purchased the hotel in the early 1880s. Gen. Grant knew it as the St. Charles Hotel when he lived there during the Civil War.
Click on the image to see the whole map at the Library of Congress site.
Underground Railroad
Check out the Underground Railroad page for more information and links.

Check it out!
 Preston Ewing's
"Let My People Go"
Let My People Go
Softcover Version
Hardcover Version
In association
with Amazon.com
Cairo Pictures
— Click on the images for larger views —
Birdseye View of Cairo Birdseye-View — Published by John Miller, a jeweler in Cairo.
37k — postmarked 1907
Boatman's Memorial at Fort Defiance State Park Boatmen's Memorial - The memorial still stands at the southernmost tip of Illinois in Fort Defiance State Park at the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers.
50k — 1960s
Cairo skyline from Ohio River Cairo Skyline — View of Cairo from a riverboat in the Ohio River looking west.
34k — 1911
City Motel City Motel.
54k — date unknown
Colonial Hotel Colonial Hotel and First Bank & Trust Co.
11k — 1940
Commercial Avenue looking south to 8th Street Commercial Avenue - This scene is looking south from 9th Street to the metal arches over the intersection of Commercial and 8th.
32k — Postcard from 1911
Commercial Avenue aerial looking south Commercial Avenue - Aerial shot looking down the main shopping district in Cairo.
69k — date unknown
Eighth Street facing west from Commercial Eighth Street - Vantage point starts at the intersection of 8th and Commercial looking west.
55k — 1910
El Patio El Patio — Located at the junction of Illinois Route 3 and U.S. Route 51.
35k — 1950s
Halliday Hotel - General Grant's room Halliday Hotel — Formerly the St. Charles Hotel.
50k — Postcard from 1920s
Halliday Hotel - General Grant's room Halliday Hotel (St. Charles Hotel) - Interior showing room occupied by Gen. U.S. Grant from September 1861 to April 1862. During the Civil War, this establishment operated under the name of the St. Charles Hotel.
38k — Postcard from early 1900s
Hotel Cairo Hotel Cairo.
44k — 1950s
Illinois Central Railroad Bridge over the Ohio River Illinois Central Railroad Bridge - Shows man walking down the Ohio River railroad bridge of the Illinois Central Railroad.
24k — Postmarked 1909
Cairo levee and waterfront Levee and Waterfront — The cars lined up are waiting for the ferry boat Kiwanis shown in the picture.
55k — 1938
New highway bridge over the Ohio River New Highway Bridge — This is the bridge over the Ohio River.
33k — unknown
Ohio River Levee looking south from 8th Street Ohio River Levee and Train - This scene is taken from the vantage of 8th Street and the levee looking south. The building at the right is the only one still standing in that block.
52k — Postcard c. 1908
Morse Motel Morse Motel.
28k — postmarked 1962
Mound City National Cemetery Mound City National Cemetery — Not actually inside Cairo, but north on Route 51 toward Mound City. The cemetery started operations in the Civil War.
170k — 1938
Ohio Street and riverfront Ohio Street - Unknown vantage point on Ohio Street facing south along the levee and railroad tracks.
47k — Postmarked 1913
Ohio riverbank in the 1850s Riverbank — This sketch is one of the earliest known of Cairo and predates the Civil War.
57k — 1850s
St. Mary's Infirmary St. Mary's Infirmary.
55k — 1910s or 20s
Steamer Ferd Harold Steamer Ferd Harold - Color photo of a steamer paddle wheel boat the Ferd Herold/Harold/Herald. A sign on the ship reads, "LEE LINE ST.LOUIS & MEMPHIS."
38k — Souvenir Post Card Co. — New York. Postmarked 1907
$3 Bill from Bank of Cairo at Kaskaskia Three Dollar Bill - Issued in 1840 by the Bank of Cairo at Kaskaskia, Illinois.
15k — 1840
U.S. Marine Hospital U.S. Marine Hospital — This is an early hospital in Cairo, not to be confused with the hospital of the similar name during the Civil War upriver in Mound City.
33k — postmarked 1906
Washington Avenue looking north from 22nd Street Washington Avenue - Vantage point starts at 22nd Street looking north in this top residential neighborhood of Cairo.
41k — date unknown

Special Features: Cairo | Indians of Southern Illinois | Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock
Last updated Feb. 2, 1999 — Back to the Southern Illinois History Page
©2000 Jon Musgrave