Visitors Guide to Attractions
Alexander County, Illinois
Alexander County is the southernmost county in Illinois and is the site of the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers. The rivers played a major role in the history of Alexander County and these aspects can be explored at the Cairo Custom House Museum and Magnolia Manor. Horseshoe Lake State Fish & Wildlife Area contains a 2,400 acre shallow oxbow lake which reminds visitors of the Deep South with its abundance of bald cypress, tupelo gum, swamp cottonwood trees, and wild lotus.
Cairo Custom House Museum
Cairo, Illinois
The Cairo Custom House Museum is located in the Historic District of downtown Cairo is. The museum is housed in the building that was completed as the United States Custom House in 1872. The Custom House has served the community in a number of capacities after the need for a custom house ceased. The building has been used by the U.S. Post Office, the Weather Bureau, the Federal Court system, and the Cairo Police Department. Restoration on the first floor is complete and has been transformed into a museum that is open to the public. Many interesting displays are shown in the museum including Civil War memorabilia, a replica of the U.S.S. Cairo gunboat, an 1865 Cairo Fire Department hand-operated pumper, and an exhibit on the 1937 flood in Cairo.
Fort Defiance Park
Cairo, Illinois
Fort Defiance is a former military fortification located at the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers south of Cairo. Fort Defiance Park, formerly a State Park, is owned and maintained by the city of Cairo. The site offers an old observation tower which visitors can use to see the confluence, some picnic facilities, and informational signage.
Horseshoe Lake State Fish & Wildlife Area
Miller City, Illinois
Horseshoe Lake State Fish & Wildlife Area is a 10,200 acre area that includes a 2,400 acre shallow oxbow lake located seven miles north of Cairo. Visitors may be reminded of the Deep South with the abundance of bald cypress, tupelo gum, swamp cottonwood trees, and wild lotus. The first 49 acres of the park were purchased by the Illinois Department of Conservation in 1927 for development as a Canadian Goose sanctuary. The site offers picnic, camping, fishing, wildlife viewing, and hunting opportunities.
Magnolia Manor
Cairo, Illinois
Magnolia Manor is a postbellum manor located in the historic district of Cairo. The mansion is a 14-room red brick Italianate architecture structure which features double walls intended to keep out the city's famous dampness with their ten inch airspaces. Inside the home are many original, 19th century furnishings. The mansion was the site of a lavish celebration when Ulysses S. Grant retired after two terms as U.S. President. Magnolia Manor typifies a fine Southern Illinois home of the period and is open daily except for certain holidays.
Riverlore
Cairo, Illinois
Riverlore is a stately white French Second Empire Style Mansion located in the residential section of Cairo once known as "Millionaire's Row." Riverlore is an 11-room brick home built in 1865 by Captain William Parker Halliday, a prominent Cairo businessman and riverboat captain. The grounds cover 3/4 of an acre and with its exquisitely maintained, landscaped grounds complete with magnolias, flowering trees, shrubs and a 100 year old Gingko tree, it is by far the most picturesque mansion in the Cairo community.
A. B. Safford Memorial Library
Cairo, Illinois
Across the street from the Cairo Customs House is the A. B. Safford Memorial Library. This Queen Anne architecture building was constructed in 1883 as a memorial by Mrs. Alfred B. Safford to her husband. Few changes have been made in the red brick building. The library contains a number of cultural items as well as books, maps, and pictures of importance to Cairo and Alexander County history.
Thebes Courthouse
Thebes, Illinois
This hand-hewn stone courthouse was completed in 1848 atop a bluff overlooking the Mississippi River. The building was constructed with local sandstone, hewn timbers, hand sawed board, plaster, and with a split shingle roof. This courthouse was the county seat of Alexander County until 1884 when the county seat was moved to Cairo. Tours may be arranged with advance notice.
Nearby Attractions
Mississippi County, Missouri
Missouri starts to take on a Deep South flavor in Mississippi County. The Moore House and a museum dedicated to former Governor Warren E. Hearnes can be found in the town of Charleston. The past can be explored by seeing what the region looked like before being drained for farmland at Big Oak Tree State Park or by visiting the site of a prehistoric Native American village at Towosahgy State Historic Site. Visitors can ride the river by crossing the Mississippi River to Kentucky on the Dorena-Hickman Ferry.
Union County, Illinois
The Shawnee National Forest dominates Union County and provides visitors with a number of places to get in touch with nature including LaRue-Pine Hills Research Natural Area, Trail of Tears State Forest, and the Union County State Fish & Wildlife Area. The Bald Knob Cross of Peace sits atop Bald Knob Mountain, the highest point in Southern Illinois that offers wonderful scenic views, particularly in the fall. History can be explored at Lincoln Memorial Park in Jonesboro, the site on e of the 1859 Lincoln Douglas debates or at the Union County Museum in Cobden.
Western Kentucky
Western Kentucky consists of the four rural counties of Ballard, Carlisle, Hickman, and Fulton. Visitors to this region can explore history at the Carlisle County History Museum and the Barlow House Museum. Columbus-Belmont State Park, on the bluffs overlooking the Mississippi River, was the site of a Confederate fortification built during the Civil War. Today the park features a Civil War Museum, hiking trails, picnicking and camping opportunities. The Fort Jefferson Memorial Cross is a 95-foot memorial that stands high upon a bluff at the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers that was the site of a 18th-century fort. Wickliffe Mounds is the archaeological site of a prehistoric Native American village of the Mississippian mound builders. Visitors can ride the river by crossing the Mississippi River to Missouri on the Dorena-Hickman Ferry.
For Travelers Heading Up the River
French Colonial Country
Up river of the Meeting the Ohio River region is French Colonial Country. This five county area was heavily influenced by the French fur traders who inhabited the region from 1700 to 1840. Attractions include the town of Ste. Genevieve with the largest concentration of French Colonial architecture in North America, Forts de Chartre and Kaskaskia in Randolph County, and the Cahokia complex in St. Clair County.
For Travelers Heading Down the River
The Upper Delta of the Mississippi River
The cypress swamps associated with the southern Mississippi can be experienced at Wapanocca National Wildlife Refuge and Reelfoot Lake. New Madrid’s riverfront district has several interesting museums and historical sites. Although inland, the high country along Crowley's Ridge Parkway National Scenic Byway is actually the natural western boundary of the Mississippi and features a number of state parks.
