Red Vixen Photography

03/09/2026

March 3, 2026 Demolition

03/08/2026

And then there were none.

(Ward Building/Union Hill Commons/Jeserich Building at 31st and Main)

03/08/2026

👏🏼 Pre-order alert: "ABANDONED CAIRO, ILLINOIS: THE DESERTED DELTA" by Regina Daniel at Red Vixen Photography is published in April.

View book 👉🏼 https://sut.pub/Cairo

The story of Cairo, Illinois, is one of constant struggle, beginning with repeated attempts to establish the town. Those efforts eventually paid off: Cairo grew from just a handful of settlers into a flourishing port city and a crossroads of Midwestern commerce.

But the town’s success was overshadowed by a combination of hardships—structural vulnerabilities and devastating floods, decades of racial tension and discrimination, and a steady decline in population driven by ruin and racism. While Cairo recovered from the flooding, the lasting wounds of violence and inequality left residents divided. The rise of interstate highways and modern infrastructure only deepened the isolation, bypassing Cairo and cutting it off from the economic lifelines it once depended on.

Today, collapsing houses mark a community struggling to survive. Yet these same struggles have become the foundation of Cairo’s identity, shaping the resilience and the voice of a town too often forgotten.

03/03/2026

February 25, 2026 Demolition

03/02/2026

18th & Vine Pedestrian Project
February 27, 2026

03/02/2026

February 27, 2026

02/28/2026

👏🏼 Pre-order alert: "ABANDONED CAIRO, ILLINOIS: THE DESERTED DELTA" by Regina Daniel at Red Vixen Photography is published in April.

View book 👉🏼 https://sut.pub/Cairo

The story of Cairo, Illinois, is one of constant struggle, beginning with repeated attempts to establish the town. Those efforts eventually paid off: Cairo grew from just a handful of settlers into a flourishing port city and a crossroads of Midwestern commerce.

But the town’s success was overshadowed by a combination of hardships—structural vulnerabilities and devastating floods, decades of racial tension and discrimination, and a steady decline in population driven by ruin and racism. While Cairo recovered from the flooding, the lasting wounds of violence and inequality left residents divided. The rise of interstate highways and modern infrastructure only deepened the isolation, bypassing Cairo and cutting it off from the economic lifelines it once depended on.

Today, collapsing houses mark a community struggling to survive. Yet these same struggles have become the foundation of Cairo’s identity, shaping the resilience and the voice of a town too often forgotten.

The story of Cairo, Illinois, is one of constant struggle, beginning with repeated attempts to establish the town. Those efforts eventually paid off: Cairo grew from just a handful of settlers into a flourishing port city and a crossroads of Midwestern commerce. But the town’s success was overshad...

02/24/2026

February 23, 2026

02/24/2026

February 17, 2026

02/24/2026

February 17 & February 23, 2026

02/24/2026

All gone.
February 17, 2026