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1933 Map of Cairo

Name: 1933 Topographic Map of Cairo
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1933
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1933

About this map

Cairo, Illinois, sits at the strategic confluence where the Mississippi River and Ohio River meet, forming a dense urban grid protected by an extensive levee system. This era reveals a landscape defined by water and heavy rail, with the Illinois Central and Mobile and Ohio railroads converging on the tip of the peninsula. North of the main city, industrial and residential satellite settlements like Future City and Irvindale are visible, while the National Cem at Mound City marks a significant local landmark.

The surrounding bottomlands are a complex network of sloughs and ponds, such as Cane Creek Scatters and Swan Pond, illustrating the hydraulic challenges of the region before modern drainage. Across the river in Kentucky and Missouri, the map identifies rural schoolhouses like Ohio Valley Sch and Thompson Bend Sch, providing critical data points for genealogists tracing family locations in this tri-state river junction during the early 1930s.