Original caption
Cairo, Illinois, is often referred to as a "ghost town" or one of America's most abandoned cities. Its population has plummeted from over 15,000 in the 1920s to less than 1,500 today. Once a bustling steamboat hub, the city now features an eerie downtown of boarded-up buildings and crumbling historic mansions. The city's original boom was driven by its prime geographic location at the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers. When the steamboat industry declined and transcontinental railroads were built, the city lost its primary economic engine, leading to mass capital flight. #cairo #illinois #midwest #core #aesthetic