Cairo
[key], city (2020 pop. 1,878), seat of Alexander co., extreme S Ill., on a
levee-protected tongue of land adjacent to the confluence of the Mississippi
and Ohio rivers (spanned by several bridges); inc. 1857. It is a center for
shipping by river, rail, and highway and the processing and distribution
point for a fertile farm area. Cotton and grain are grown, and manufactures
include polyurethene, lumber, and cleaning products. The city and its
environs are popularly called “Little Egypt” because of the
deltalike geographical similarity. Permanent settlement began in 1837. In
the Civil War the strategic location was a crowded military camp, a Union
supply depot, and General Grant's headquarters during much of his Western
campaign. Fort Defiance State Park, the site of a Civil War fort, offers a
magnificent view of the convergence of the Ohio and Mississippi.
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