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Sad Abandonment around Cairo, Illinois
While there is still much good left in Cairo, the truth is that much of the town is devastated. We’ll leave town with this survey of some of the abandonment we saw.
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Thebes, Illinois
Thebes, Illinois, is one of those towns where one has to wonder what could have been. It was the original county seat of Alexander County before the courthouse moved to Cairo. Sitting high up on a...
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Grand Tower, Illinois
“At Grand Tower, too, there was a railway; and another at Cape Girardeau. The former town gets its name from a huge, squat pillar of rock, which stands up out of the water on the Missouri side of the...
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Menard Correctional Center, Chester, Illinois
Is it weird to describe a prison as beautiful? The ancient walls of the Menard Correctional Center stand proudly over the Mississippi River northwest of Chester. The warden’s office looks like a...
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Elsah, Illinois, Post-Tourism
It’s interesting; ten, twenty years ago there were a dozen or more shops and a couple of restaurants in Elsah, and now it’s dwindled down to just a couple. The signs on the highway barely alert...
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Hill Above Downtown, De Soto
We explored the far southern Jefferson County town of De Soto recently, and found these stately homes sitting high up on the bluff above the main street in town. It’s nice to get out and see more wood...
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North De Soto
Heading down the hill, there are more houses, but the lavishness of the houses decreases. Still, there is this magnificent church above and this house below. Down in the valley between two hills are...
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Pana, Illinois
I had never even heard of Pana, Illinois, until we saw it on a map and it was in between our destination and Vandalia. We were pleasantly surprised that the town has some really nice houses. Turreted...
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St. Patrick’s Roman Catholic Church, Pana
Wow, what a church! And to think, this is just hiding in plain view out in the middle of Illinois. St. Patrick’s was constructed in 1926. The church in general is clearly based off the Jesuit home...
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Shelbyville Courthouse
We found one of the most truly stunning examples of Second Empire courthouse architecture in the town of Shelbyville. Based off the architecture of French royal palaces, themselves partly influenced...
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North Washington Street, Shelbyville
North of the courthouse in Shelbyville is a string of handsome houses, in various styles of the mid to late Nineteenth Century. It’s interesting, that the wealthy lived so close to the center of...
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Chautauqua, Forest Park, Shelbyville
A chautauqua was a meeting place where people would gather to hear lectures and other events. The one in Shelbyville is famous for being in relatively good condition. But surprisingly, there seems to...
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First Presbyterian, Later Calvary Baptist Church, Mattoon
We spotted this stunning dome through the trees as we drove through Mattoon, Illinois. As we approached, we came to the realization that the church is abandoned, with wide open windows allowing in...
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Return to Pevely Farms, Lewisburgh, Meramec Valley
The isolated southern side of the Meramec River Valley continues to fascinate us. We had previously spotted this railroad viaduct the last trip, and this time we drove down. It’s developed quite the...
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St. Paul/Jedburgh/Sherman
We returned to one of the most isolated corners of St. Louis County, the small hamlet that goes by different names, including St. Paul (the eponymous road that leads to it), Sherman (the name of the...
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Hopedale National Bank
The bank was established in 1909, and the building above was built in 1919, but sadly, it is now out of business. Hopedale is a small community along the railroad tracks.
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Tremont, Illinois Queen Anne House
It’s always fun to come across these houses in small towns, restored and looking much like they would have originally.
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West From Castlewood
Many of the old lodges from the resort era at Castlewood still stand over on New Ballwin Road, but I’ve noticed an interesting trend recently. As can be seen below, in-fill housing, made to look like...
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