Jim Fredlund Photography

Jim Fredlund Photography My photography is driven by a deep passion for history and a love for capturing the enduring beauty of America’s most iconic landmarks.

My focus has always been on American Civil War battlefields, national monuments, and historic covered bridges.

08/13/2026

DRIVING THROUGH CAIRO — COMMERCIAL AVENUE NORTHBOUND

Commercial Avenue was once at the heart of Cairo’s business and industrial district, lined with stores, businesses, warehouses and the activity of a busy river and railroad town.

Today, much of that landscape has changed.

This drive begins near 2nd Street and travels north along Commercial Avenue to 19th Street, passing surviving buildings, former commercial blocks, public facilities and stretches of open ground where generations of Cairo residents once worked, shopped and gathered.

There is no attempt here to recreate what Commercial Avenue once was or to make a judgment about what it has become. This is simply a drive through the street as it exists today — Cairo, Illinois, August 2026.

For those who remember Commercial Avenue differently, I hope you'll share what you remember in the comments. The businesses, the buildings, the people — what was here?

See you along the road.

08/13/2026

LANSDEN PARK — CAIRO, ILLINOIS

I grew up knowing it simply as Cannonball Park. In fact, it wasn’t until I returned to Cairo years later that I learned its official name was Lansden Park.

Funny how the names we give places as kids are sometimes the ones that stick the longest.

Here’s a quick drive around a small piece of Cairo that will probably always be Cannonball Park to me.

08/13/2026

DRIVING ANTIETAM — WESTWARD ALONG CORNFIELD AVENUE

A quiet drive west along Cornfield Avenue at Antietam National Battlefield.

Today’s peaceful landscape witnessed some of the fiercest fighting of September 17, 1862, as Union and Confederate forces struggled across the fields surrounding what became known simply as “The Cornfield.”

On this gray, wet morning, we simply follow the road through the landscape and let the battlefield speak for itself.

See you along the road.

08/13/2026

BACK TO SCHOOL IN CAIRO

Today marks the first day of a new school year in Cairo.

The current Cairo High School was completed in 1980. The Class of 1981 became the first senior class to attend its senior year at the new school and graduate there — a class I happen to know pretty well.

So on this first morning back, come along for a drive out to the school — approaching from US 51, passing beneath the familiar underpass, and making our way around the campus.

More than four decades have passed since those first students walked these halls. Today, another generation begins another year.

To the students, teachers and staff of Cairo School District #1 — have a great school year.

See you along the road.

08/12/2026

DRIVING THROUGH CAIRO — PARK AVENUE

Another drive through Cairo, this time along Park Avenue.

We begin at 33rd Street and travel south to 22nd Street, following the east side of the avenue. From there, we turn around and head north, taking in the west side on the return trip.

No cuts, no edits — just a continuous look at Park Avenue as it appeared in August 2026.

This one does have a little personal significance for me. Park Avenue was once my home street.

See you along the road.

08/12/2026

Mound City National Cemetery | Mound City, Illinois

Burials began here in 1862, as the enormous Civil War military hospital complex at Mound City treated wounded and sick soldiers from across the Western Theater. In 1864, during the Lincoln administration, the burial grounds were officially designated Mound City National Cemetery, making it one of the nation’s oldest national cemeteries.

Today, more than 4,700 Civil War soldiers rest here — roughly half of them unknown.

Come along for a quiet drive around the grounds, with a brief passage inside, as row after row of white markers stretches across the landscape.

Some bear names.

Others simply read:

UNKNOWN U.S. SOLDIER

No narration. Just a few quiet minutes at one of Southern Illinois’ remarkable historic places.

See you along the road.

08/12/2026

Tennessee at Shiloh

Among the monuments scattered across the fields and woods of Shiloh, Tennessee’s memorial tells its story through the faces and figures of its soldiers.

Rather than simply photograph the monument as a whole, I moved closer—studying the expressions, the hands, the equipment and the individual figures that make up the larger work.

From a distance, it is a monument.

Up close, it becomes something much more human.

A quiet study of the Tennessee Monument at Shiloh National Military Park.

See you along the road.

08/12/2026

Cairo From Above — Commercial Avenue

Sometimes history is simply waiting to be rediscovered.

While looking through the library’s vault, we came across a folder containing roughly 80 aerial photographs of Cairo, taken by local photographer Jimmy Wissinger.

We don’t yet know why the photographs were made or who commissioned them, and they are not individually dated. But the photographs themselves provide clues.

One of the best is St. Mary’s Hospital. By comparing the stages of construction visible there, we’ve been able to place the series in the early 1950s. You’ve already seen some of that history in our recent look at St. Mary’s—you just probably didn’t realize it was helping us date another collection.

There is an extraordinary amount of Cairo preserved in these photographs, and we’re going to take our time exploring it.

For our first look, we begin above Commercial Avenue between 2nd and 4th Streets, following the railroad before turning down Commercial and into downtown Cairo.

Next time, we’ll make that journey again.

From the street as it exists today.

Original aerial photography by Jimmy Wissinger, Cairo, Illinois.

08/11/2026

DRIVING GETTYSBURG | Along the Chambersburg Pike

No narration. No rushing through it. Just a ride through Gettysburg.

This drive follows the Chambersburg Pike through the battlefield, loops around at the Stone Avenue rest area, then returns east across McPherson Ridge before turning onto Seminary Ridge.

For those who know these roads, enjoy the ride. For those who haven't been back in a while, maybe this will take you there for a couple of minutes.

See you along the road.

08/11/2026

Driving Through Cairo — Washington Avenue, 8th Street & the Ohio River

Come along for another drive through Cairo.

This time we’ll head south on Washington Avenue, turn onto 8th Street, pass through the river wall, and spend the final stretch alongside the Ohio River before leaving the river road at 4th Street.

No cuts, no narration — just an uninterrupted drive through Cairo as it looks today.

If these streets are familiar to you, tell me what you remember along the way.

See you along the road.

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