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133-671: The Peninsula Extension which created the Peninsula Subdivision of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O) was the new railroad line on the Virginia Peninsula from Richmond to southeastern Warwick County . Its principal purpose was to provide an important new pathway for coal mined in West Virginia to reach the harbor of Hampton Roads for coastal and export shipping on collier ships . Completed on 16 October 1881,

266-669: A Civil War base, was located here in 1862 by Union General Ulysses S. Grant to control strategic access to the rivers, and launch and supply his successful campaigns south . The town also served as a naval base for the Mississippi River Squadron to pursue the Anaconda Plan to win the war. Developed as a river port, Cairo was later bypassed by transportation changes away from the large expanse of low-lying land, wetland, and water, which surrounds Cairo and makes such infrastructure difficult, and due to industrial restructuring,

399-618: A rail trail in Waller Mill Park. The Fort Eustis Military Railroad is a United States Army rail transportation system existing entirely within the post boundaries of the United States Army Transportation Center and Fort Eustis (USATCFE), Fort Eustis , Virginia. It has served to provide railroad operation and maintenance training to the US Army and to carry out selected materiel movement missions both within

532-494: A city whose site had been selected in 1632 for the very reason that it was on the center ridge, or spine, of the land between the adjacent rivers. After the capital of Virginia had moved to Richmond in 1780, Williamsburg had been reduced in prominence. It was not sited on a major water route and in the 18th and early 19th century, transportation in Virginia was largely by navigable rivers and in some cases, canals. A canal project linking

665-604: A distance of about 75 miles (121 km) were several rivers and some wetlands down the Peninsula to reach Newport News. The initial solution to overcoming that major obstacle in Richmond was the Church Hill Tunnel . The tracks to the new tunnel left the old Virginia Central line west of 17th street and curved southeasterly to enter the tunnel east of N. 18th Street and north of E. Marshall Street under Cedar Street. The east end of

798-587: A few activists of the civil rights struggle formed the Cairo United Front , a civil rights organization to bringing together the local NAACP , a cooperative association, and a couple of black street gangs. The Cairo United Front was formed to organize the efforts of the black population in Cairo to counter the White Hats. The United Front formally accused the White Hats of intimidating the black community, and presented

931-471: A hospital. The C&O built a spur track on the Peninsula Subdivision from a point about 2 miles (3.2 km) east of Williamsburg (mp 33) to Penniman. The C&O depot at Penniman opened on 1 June 1916. By the fall of 1918, Penniman was a town of about fifteen thousand inhabitants, and there were three passenger trains a day each way between Williamsburg and Penniman. After World War I, the area

1064-477: A large black powder and shell-loading plant facility six miles northeast of Williamsburg in York County . The plant as built was large enough to have ten thousand employees. The new plant and the new town for the workers and families were named Penniman . At its peak, Penniman had housing for 15,000, and included dormitories, a store, a post office, bank, police station, church, YWCA, YMCA, Mess Halls canteen, and

1197-521: A list of seven demands to the City of Cairo. The seven demands included appointment of a black police chief, appointment of a black assistant fire chief, and an equal black-white ratio in all city jobs. Racial violence in Cairo reached a peak during summer 1969 as the Cairo United Front began leading protests and demonstrations to end segregation and draw attention to its seven demands. The protests led to

1330-519: A museum. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places . After the Civil War, the city became a hub for railroad shipping in the region, which added to its economy. By 1900 several railroad lines branched from Cairo. In addition to shipping and railroads, a major industry in Cairo was the operation of ferries. Into the late 19th century, nearly 250,000 railroad cars could be ferried across

1463-559: A nickname that had been used colloquially for the railroad for several years, after the mascot kitten used in ads since 1933. Under Watkins' leadership, Chessie System then merged with Seaboard Coast Line Industries , holding company for Seaboard Coast Line Railroad and several other great railroads of the Southeast (including Louisville and Nashville Railroad , Clinchfield Railroad and others) to form CSX Corporation , with Chessie and SCL as its leading subsidiaries. Watkins became CEO of

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1596-564: A number of well known passenger trains including the George Washington , Fast Flying Virginian , Sportsman , Pere Marquette , and Resort Special . While the George Washington was the railroad's flagship, the Sportsman (which connected Detroit with Washington, D.C., and Newport News) and the Resort Special were also well-traveled trains on the system. Much of the reason for

1729-532: A number of years. At Old Point Comfort, in addition to the Army base at Fort Monroe, the Hampton Branch served both the older Hygeia Hotel and the new Hotel Chamberlin , popular destinations for civilians. During the first half of the 20th century, excursion trains were operated to reach nearby Buckroe Beach , where an amusement park was among the attractions that brought church groups and vacationers. No place on

1862-596: A plan offered by the Virginia General Assembly , in 1868, the new project was merged with the extant Virginia Central Railroad , connected Richmond with the westernmost point at the time. The new enterprise was to be known as the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O). The head of the Virginia Central Railroad was former Confederate General Williams Carter Wickham of Hanover County, Virginia . He

1995-512: A railway line from Richmond to the mouth of the James River. To extend the line east to Hampton Roads from the end of the former Virginia Central Railroad at Richmond in the Shockhoe Valley, there was only a single major obstacle: Richmond's Church Hill , occupied by some of the city's older and nicer buildings. From there east, the only significant obstacles across the gentle coastal plains

2128-505: A rash of violence that was stopped only when Illinois Governor Richard Ogilvie deployed National Guardsmen to restore the peace. In summer 1969, the Cairo United Front also began what became a decade-long boycott of white-owned businesses, which had generally not hired blacks as clerks or staff. The boycott encompassed virtually all the businesses in the town. In December 1969, violence escalated again and several businesses were burned on Saturday, December 6. Early that morning, residents of

2261-469: A significant role in the development of the city. The hotel dominated the landscape, and was the civic and commercial center of the area during its early years. The first bank at Newport News, the first newspaper, the U.S. post office, the federal customs office, and even the municipal government of Warwick County were each located within the Hotel Warwick, at least for a time. It was also the site in 1886 of

2394-481: A warehouse in Cairo were burned to the ground, and windows were broken out of numerous other buildings. The National Guard unit at Cairo was activated to respond to the violence. On July 20, 1967, one of the leaders of the violence in Cairo warned white city officials, "Cairo will look like Rome burning down" if city leaders did not meet the demands of the black groups in Cairo by Sunday, July 23, 1967. The spokesman represented approximately one hundred black residents of

2527-403: Is largely credited with prevailing upon the railroad to build the branch line to Old Point Comfort. From Phoebus, an extension across Mill Creek to reach Fort Monroe required a 2,800-foot (850 m) long trestle and was not completed until 1890. At that time, a passenger and freight facilities were also added. On the base, the U.S. Army built connecting tracks and operated its own locomotive for

2660-825: The Alleghany Mountains , were the falls of the Kanawha River . They similarly marked the head of navigation, but from the west. From the falls of the Kanawha, ships could follow the river to its confluence with the Ohio River, which in turn, flowed west to the Mississippi River. In the earlier periods during which a transportation link was contemplated, the Colony of Virginia (according to the British and its own calculations) extended all

2793-719: The Cairo Citizen weekly newspaper. Radio station WKRO is licensed to Cairo. Cairo is located at the confluence of the Ohio River with the Mississippi, near Mounds, Illinois . The elevation above sea level is 315 feet (96 m). The lowest point in the state of Illinois is located in Cairo at the Mississippi River . According to the 2021 census gazetteer files, Cairo has a total area of 9.11 square miles (23.59 km ), of which 6.99 square miles (18.10 km ) (or 76.72%)

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2926-622: The Chickahominy River south of Bottoms Bridge , Diascund Creek south of Lanexa , and the Warwick River east of Lee Hall. Construction on the tracks between Richmond and Newport News began in Newport News in December 1880. In a method used before by Huntington, work also began from Richmond the following February, and crews at each end worked toward each other. The crews met and completed

3059-763: The Eastern Continental Divide in the Allegheny Mountains which lead to the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico . He had mapped out several potential routes, and in 1785, he been an early investor in a canal venture. The James River was navigable east from the Fall Line at Richmond and Manchester to Hampton Roads , the Chesapeake Bay , and the Atlantic Ocean. However, from these sister cities at

3192-614: The Second Empire Riverlore Mansion , built by Capt. William P. Halliday in 1865. Across the street from the customs house, the Cairo Public Library was constructed in 1883 of Queen Anne-style architecture , finished with stained glass windows and ornate woodwork. The library was dedicated on July 19, 1884, as the A. B. Safford Memorial Library. Anna E. Safford paid for the construction of the Library and donated it to

3325-587: The U.S. Army base at Fort Monroe was a fortress situated to guard the entrance to the harbor of Hampton Roads from the Chesapeake Bay (and the Atlantic Ocean). The tracks were completed about 9 miles (14 km) to the town which became Phoebus in December 1882. A passenger and freight station was opened. When the town was incorporated as a political subdivision of Virginia in 1900, it was named Phoebus in honor of its leading citizen, Harrison Phoebus , who

3458-634: The civil engineering skills of Claudius Crozet . Both railroads and canals had conquered the Blue Ridge Mountains and entered the Shenandoah Valley region when the American Civil War broke out in 1861, bringing new work to a virtual halt. By the end of the War in 1865, many of Virginia's railroads, turnpikes, and canals lay in ruins, although the related debt which had helped fund building them

3591-595: The head of navigation , seven miles (11 km) of rapids marked the transition to the Piedmont Region , and only very shallow craft such as bateau boats could navigate portions of the river from that point west. Over 250 miles (400 km) from Richmond, across the Blue Ridge Mountains, the Shenandoah Valley, and what was called the "Transmountaine" region in old Virginia, better known in modern times as

3724-548: The "guerrilla warfare tactics" that had left the town in a state of turmoil for over two years. To enforce the boycott, African-American picketing of businesses continued throughout 1970. In December, the city enacted a new city ordinance banning picketing within 20 feet of a business. Another large violent clash erupted as a result of the new city ordinance. Following the violence, the United Front called for another large rally and resumed picketing at white-owned businesses despite

3857-615: The 1880s when coal resources began to be developed and shipped eastward. In 1881 the Peninsula Extension was completed from Richmond to the new city of Newport News located on Hampton Roads, the East’s largest ice-free port. Transportation of coal to Newport News where it was loaded on coastwise shipping and transported to the Northeast became a staple of the C&;O’s business at this time. In 1888

3990-528: The 1890s, the C&O acquired the Richmond and Allegheny Railroad (R&A) which had been built east from the Blue Ridge Mountains along the towpath of the James River and Kanawha Canal , proving an alternate "water level" route to Richmond following the north bank of the James River. To create a good connection to the existing line at Fulton yard, and as an added benefit, avoid the troublesome Church Hill tunnel,

4123-492: The 1905 anti-lynching law by dismissing Sheriff Davis for failing to protect James and Salzner. Wells sided with the governor against reinstatement. The slow economic decline of Cairo can be traced to local and regional changes back to the early 20th century. In 1889, the Illinois Central Railroad bridge was completed over the Ohio River, which brought about a decline in ferry business. The immediate economic impact

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4256-577: The 19th century, the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O) was the fulfillment of a long-held goal of Virginians. Many years before the American Revolution, George Washington , a Virginian licensed as a surveyor by the College of William and Mary during the colonial era, identified the importance of a transportation link between the navigable waters flowing to the Atlantic Ocean and those across

4389-521: The 4,000-foot (1,200 m) long tunnel appeared just north of today's Williamsburg Road near 31st Street below Libby Terrace Park. The construction of the Church Hill Tunnel was problematic. Unlike the bedrock through which the C&O carved its western tunnels, in Richmond, the blue marl clay shrink-swell soil tended to change with rainfall and groundwater. There were cave-ins during the construction. Ten workers were reportedly killed. The tunnel

4522-449: The C&O absorbed the Chicago, Cincinnati and Louisville Railroad, which had been built diagonally across the state of Indiana from Cincinnati to Hammond in the preceding decade. This gave the C&O a direct line from Cincinnati to the great railroad hub of Chicago. The first small terminal and repair shops were located at Richmond beginning in 1860. After expanding to Huntington in 1872,

4655-542: The C&O built the Cincinnati Division from Huntington down the South bank of the Ohio River and across the river at Cincinnati, connecting with the “Big Four” and other Midwestern Railroads. From 1900 to 1920 most of the C&O’s line tapping the rich bituminous coal fields of West Virginia and Kentucky were completed, and the C&O as it was known throughout the rest of the 20th Century was essentially in place. In 1910,

4788-536: The C&O constructed a 3-mile-long double track elevated viaduct along the riverfront extending between the area of Hollywood Cemetery east past downtown Richmond, the Shockoe Valley , and Church Hill to join the Peninsula Subdivision at Fulton Yard (east of the tunnel). At the same time, a new Main Street Station was built for passenger services adjacent to the viaduct. Both the landmark Main Street Station and

4921-418: The C&O tracks initially ran down Duke of Gloucester Street and through the grounds of the former Capitol at the eastern end. In 1907, the C&O replaced its passenger station with a fine brick colonial style structure to accommodate the patrons of the tercentennial (300th anniversary) of the founding of Jamestown in 1607. Around this time, the ladies of Williamsburg who were among the early organizers of

5054-532: The Capitol end of the city were upset. So, the C&O main line only went down Duke of Gloucester Street from 16 October to 13 December 1881. After that date, the railroad was realigned to its current state north of Williamsburg. The leaders of Elizabeth City County and Warwick County even adjusted their mutual boundary slightly to allow the railroad to be completely within Warwick County at one location. Although

5187-420: The James River on the harbor of Hampton Roads . It later became clear that Huntington had never forgotten his 1837 visit to Newport News Point. By the early 1870s, he and his associates began buying up land on the Peninsula, nowhere more intensely than in Warwick County, where their Old Dominion Land Company soon owned enough for a railroad line, a coal pier and even more. In 1873, Major Robert H. Temple surveyed

5320-643: The Louisa Railroad of Louisa County, Virginia, begun in 1836. By 1850 the Louisa had been built east to Richmond and west to Charlottesville, and in keeping with its new and larger vision, was renamed the Virginia Central Railroad . The Commonwealth of Virginia owned a portion of Virginia Central stock and financed the Blue Ridge Railroad to accomplish the task of crossing the first mountain barrier to

5453-517: The Norge Station had been repainted in its original livery, featuring a bright orange as the primary color. The former C&O station from Ewell also survives, and is in an adaptive reuse. However, the other James City County stations which were located at Diascund , Toano , Kelton (Lightfoot) and Grove are all gone without a trace. In Williamsburg, a number of years before the Restoration,

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5586-583: The Ohio River rose higher than the 1937 flood levels, with the possibility of 15 feet of water inundating Cairo. The United States Army Corps of Engineers breached levees in the Mississippi flood zone near Cairo in Missouri to prevent flooding in Cairo and other more populous areas farther downstream along both the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. Cairo was named after the Egyptian city of the same name because its location at

5719-467: The Ohio River. Thus the only connection to the West was by packet boats operating on the river. Because the mineral resources of West Virginia and Kentucky hadn’t been fully realized yet, the C&O suffered through the bad times brought on by the financial panic Depression of 1873, and went into receivership in 1878. When reorganized it was renamed The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway Company. Conditions improved in

5852-530: The Peninsula Subdivision has continued to serve coal and passenger traffic, now operated by CSX Transportation and Amtrak . In earlier times, it was an important factor in commerce and growth of some of the communities it has served, as well as for the United States military, particularly during World War I and World War II when the C&O was invaluable to the Hampton Roads Port of Embarkation . In

5985-486: The Peninsula benefited more from the completion of the C&O's Peninsula Subdivision than southeastern Warwick County, soon to become better known as Newport News. The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway became one of the country's wealthiest as West Virginia coal moved eastward to the coal piers . The coal volume of the C&O, combined with that of the Norfolk and Western Railway (N&W) shipping from Lambert's Point and that of

6118-473: The Peninsula throughout the 20th century. Over 125 years after it opened, many of the stations are gone. Spur lines have both come and gone. Also gone are the steam locomotives , save one on display at Huntington Park in Newport News, another at the Science Museum of Virginia in Richmond, and a third which was left buried in Richmond's Church Hill Tunnel . Despite the changes, in the early 21st century,

6251-399: The Pyramid Court housing project. They demanded new job opportunities, organized recreation programs for their children, and an end to police brutality. Cairo Mayor Lee Stenzel and other city leaders met with federal and state representatives to ensure that a plan was developed to satisfy the demands by the deadline in an effort to head off any additional rioting. In response to the rioting,

6384-429: The Pyramid Courts housing project opened fire on three firemen and the Chief of Police while they were responding to one of the intense fires. During the shootout, the Chief of Police and one of the firemen were shot by a high-powered rifle. Thirteen people were eventually arrested during the conflict. The Cairo Chief of Police resigned the next month, stating that Cairo lacked both the legal and physical means to deal with

6517-460: The United States, and in 1963, under the guidance of Cyrus S. Eaton , helped start the modern merger era by "affiliating" with the Baltimore & Ohio . The two lines' services, personnel, motive power and rolling stock, and facilities were gradually integrated. Under the leadership of Hays T. Watkins , in 1973 Chessie System was created as a holding company for the C&O, B&O and Western Maryland Railway . In effect, C&O formally adopted

6650-401: The Virginia Peninsula in York County which became known as Camp Peary , initially for use as a Seabee training base. The C&O extended a spur track from its main line tracks to the site and established Magruder Station near the former unincorporated town of Magruder . The spur tracks were later removed. A portion of the old right-of-way which is not located on federal property now forms

6783-403: The Virginians with the money needed to complete the line through what is now West Virginia. The old Covington and Ohio Railroad properties were conveyed to the C&O in keeping with its new mission of linking the Atlantic Ocean with the “Western Waters” of the Ohio River. Huntington intended to connect the C&O with his Western and Midwestern holdings, but ended up stopping construction at

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6916-446: The addition of the gate, Cairo could become an island, completely sealed off from approaching flood waters. Following the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 , the levee system around Cairo was strengthened. As part of this project, the Corps of Engineers established the Birds Point-New Madrid Floodway . The Ohio River flood of 1937 brought a record water level to Cairo that crested at 59.5 feet. To protect Cairo, Corps of Engineers closed

7049-404: The additional stepping-stone of first becoming an incorporated town . (In the aftermath of that event, the county seat was returned to Denbigh. However, in 1958, voters of both communities chose to reunite, consolidating Newport News with the rest of the former county into an even bigger single independent city, one of the largest in Virginia in land area.) During its more than 125-year existence,

7182-454: The benefit of motorist travel and trade between the states. Motorists cross the southern tip of Illinois between Missouri and Kentucky, completely bypassing the city of Cairo. While the city was protected by its levees from destruction when the Ohio River rose to record heights during the 1937 flood, the city's economic decline continued. Between the 1930s and 1960s, the population in Cairo remained fairly steady; however, many jobs were gone as

7315-483: The building of turnpikes and canals. Work on the James River and Kanawha Turnpike and the James River and Kanawha Canal , both prominent infrastructure improvements, was partially funded by the Virginia General Assembly through the Virginia Board of Public Works , although the canal was never completed. By the 1830s, railroads were emerging as a favorable technology for such purposes, and Virginia's network of turnpikes, canals, and railroads grew, substantially guided by

7448-420: The case in many other cities on the Mississippi, Cairo has suffered a marked decline in its economy and population. Its highest population was 15,203 in 1920; in 2020 it had 1,733 residents, about an 89% loss of population from its peak a century earlier. The city has decreased in population for eight consecutive US census reports from 1950 to 2020. The city faces many significant socio-economic challenges for

7581-426: The city is named, after Egypt's capital on the Nile . The city is coterminous with Cairo Precinct . The city is located at the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, two of the largest rivers in North America, and is near the Cache River complex, a Wetland of International Importance . Settlement began in earnest in the 1830s and busy river boat traffic expanded through the 1850s. Fort Defiance ,

7714-446: The city. The death of Robert Hunt sparked aggressive protests in Cairo's black community. On July 17, 1967, a large portion of the black population in Cairo began rioting. The black rioting that erupted in 1967 was not confined to Cairo; it was part of a larger pattern of more than 40 racially motivated riots that broke out in major cities in the United States in the summer of 1967. During the night of rioting on July 17, three stores and

7847-399: The city. These and other significant buildings are also listed on the National Register. For protection from seasonal flooding, Cairo is completely enclosed by a series of levees and flood walls , due to its low elevation between the rivers. Several buildings, including the old custom house, were originally designed to be built to a higher street level, to be at the same height as the top of

7980-470: The closure. The community and region are working to stop abandonment of the city. They are restoring some architectural landmarks, and plan to develop heritage tourism focusing on the city's history and relationship to the Mississippi and Ohio rivers. Other cities have used such strategies to attract visitors and build new businesses to their communities. A community clinic offers medical and dental care, and several mental health services. Local media include

8113-426: The colonial capital city to the James and York rivers had been planned and begun for Williamsburg. However, it was never completed due to the American Revolutionary War . Although new railroads seem to be springing up in many places after 1830, until now, none had come to Williamsburg or the lower Peninsula. Until the coming of the railroad, the areas furthest from the rivers were generally the least-populated, excepting

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8246-503: The confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers was reminiscent of the Nile Delta . The first municipal charter for Cairo and for the Bank of Cairo were issued in 1818, but without any settlement and without any depositors. A second and successful effort to establish a town was made by the Cairo City and Canal Company in 1836–37, with a large levee built to encircle the site. However, this effort collapsed in 1840, with few settlers remaining. Charles Dickens visited Cairo in 1842, and

8379-454: The country. Cairo, Illinois Cairo ( / ˈ k ɛər oʊ / KAIR -oh , sometimes / ˈ k eɪ r oʊ / KAY -roh ) is the southernmost city in Illinois and the county seat of Alexander County . A river city, Cairo has the lowest elevation of any location in Illinois and is the only Illinois city to be surrounded by levees . It is in the river-crossed area of Southern Illinois known as " Little Egypt ", for which

8512-417: The court. The white townspeople grew infuriated by the delay in a speedy trial, and the threat of mob violence quickly developed. On November 10, Sheriff Frank E. Davis arranged to take James out of the city jail on an Illinois Central train to avoid mob violence. One man chopped off James's head, put it on a pike, and lifted it up for the cheering crowd to see. The mob then set James's body on fire and roasted

8645-460: The crowd shot his body many times. After hanging Salzner, the mob continued searching for Alexander long into the night. Police and sheriff deputies located Alexander before the mob did, and they took him to the county jail disguised as a police officer. Some newspapers mistakenly reported that he was lynched. The mob continued to search for Alexander, also threatening the mayor and chief of police, who were guarded in their homes by more police against

8778-420: The eastern end of the tunnel, and two bodies including the engineer's were recovered, but two other workers were unaccounted for. During the next week, the community anxiously watched rescue efforts, but each time progress was made, further cave-ins occurred. Eventually, the Virginia State Corporation Commission (SCC), which regulated railroads in Virginia, ordered the tunnel sealed for safety reasons. Left inside

8911-424: The federal courts and as the active post office for Cairo. The courthouse was built and is operated by the U.S. General Services Administration . Cairo's turbulent history of race relations is marked by the 1909 spectacle lynching of black resident William James . In 1900, Cairo had a population of nearly 13,000. Of that total, approximately 5,000 residents were African-American , or 38 percent. In 1900, this

9044-485: The flood gate and blew a breach in the Bird's Point levee for the first time to relieve pressure on the Cairo flood wall. Following the flood, the concrete flood wall was raised to its current height. It is designed to protect the town from flood waters up to 64 feet. In 1942, the federal government constructed a new U.S. Post Office and Courthouse in Cairo. Still growing, the city had a population approaching 15,000. The new federal court house, located at 1500 Washington,

9177-698: The former C&O also continue to transport intermodal and freight traffic, as well as West Virginia bituminous coal east to Hampton Roads and west to the Great Lakes as part of CSXT, a Fortune 500 company which was one of seven Class I railroads operating in North America at the beginning of the 21st century. At the end of 1970 C&O operated 5,067 mi (8,155 km) of road on 10,219 mi (16,446 km) of track, not including WM or B&O and its subsidiaries. The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway never spent lavishly on streamlined passenger trains, or passenger service in general, opting to put most of its resources into moving coal and freight. However, it did have

9310-403: The gentler climate of eastern Virginia and depressed post-Civil War land prices would be attractive to his fellow Scandinavians who were farming in other northern parts of the country. He began sending out notices, and selling land. Soon there was a substantial concentration of relocated Americans of Norwegian, Swedish, and Danish descent in the area. The location earlier known as Vaiden's Siding on

9443-763: The group which became Preservation Virginia (formerly known as the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities) successfully prevailed upon the Old Dominion Land Company to turn over ownership of the capital historic site. Beginning in 1926, Reverend Dr. W.A.R. Goodwin led a campaign to preserve and restore Williamsburg's colonial-era properties. He was successful in gaining the interest and financial support of philanthropists Abby Aldrich Rockefeller and her husband, Standard Oil heir John D. Rockefeller Jr. The Rockefellers made historic Bassett hall at Williamsburg their second home for several months each year, and took substantial interest in details of "The Restoration" which created Colonial Williamsburg . Partially on

9576-627: The high ground of the Peninsula between the rivers which border it. As a result, the route selected faced only gentle grades through coastal plains of the Tidewater region of Virginia , dropping only about 30 feet (9.1 m) in elevation, from Richmond (54 feet above sea-level) to Newport News (at 15 feet (4.6 m) above sea-level). The new C&O line ran through several American Civil War battlefield areas in eastern Henrico County and then through Charles City County , New Kent County , James City County , York County and Warwick County. It crossed

9709-686: The historic Norge railroad station building (circa 1908) of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway was relocated about 1-mile (1.6 km) to a site adjacent to the James City County Branch of the Williamsburg Regional Library on Croaker Road. Community volunteers set to work providing a new foundation and restoring the exterior, with additional improvements set for the future. A community project, the local Virginia Gazette newspaper reported that in January 2009, following historical research,

9842-579: The interest of industrialist Collis P. Huntington and gained access to the new financing needed. Huntington had been one of the " Big Four ", the men involved in building the Central Pacific portion of the Transcontinental Railroad , which was at that time just reaching completion. Under the new leadership and financing, during 1869–1873 the hard work of building through West Virginia was done with large crews working from both ends, much in

9975-465: The intermodal Williamsburg Transportation Center , offering one of the more complete range of services of its type in the country. Lee Hall, the westernmost station in Warwick County, was named for the nearby mansion of Richard Decatur Lee . During the 1862 Peninsula Campaign of the American Civil War , it served as the headquarters of Confederate General John B. Magruder . A tiny village which came to be known as Lee Hall, Virginia developed after

10108-404: The intersection of Commercial Avenue and Eighth Street. Approximately 10,000 people had gathered for a spectacle lynching as the leaders attempted to hang James from large steel arches that spanned the intersection. The rope broke and James survived the hanging, but members of the armed mob shot him more than 500 times, killing him. The mob dragged James' body to the scene of Pelly's murder. His head

10241-650: The key property donated to the APVA by Dominion Land Company, a major centerpiece, the brick Capitol was recreated, as well as dozens of other buildings. As part of the project to recreate the Governor's Palace, in 1935, the 1907 C&O station was replaced with an even finer one located about a half mile west of the original site. Later owned by the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, the 1935 structure itself has been carefully maintained and modernized and serves as

10374-439: The largest rail hub and third largest city in the country, passenger service to it was discontinued in 1933. Trains continued to run as west as Hammond, Indiana , a Chicago suburb, until 1949. It had accessed the city’s Central Station (and previously, Dearborn Station ) via the former Chicago, Cincinnati and Louisville Line. Chessie sported two kittens, Nip and Tuck. During World War II, Chessie's "husband" — Peake — (creating

10507-481: The later-completed Virginian Railway (VGN) at Sewell's Point turned the harbor of Hampton Roads , the East Coast of the United States' largest ice-free port , into the largest coal export point in the world by 1915. Collis P. Huntington and his associates set developing the tiny unincorporated community at Newport New Point. His Old Dominion Land Company built the landmark Hotel Warwick, opened in 1883, which played

10640-444: The levees. That plan was scrapped as the cost of fill to raise the streets and surrounding land to that height proved to be impractical. In 1914, a large flood gate was constructed by Stupp Brothers of St. Louis, Missouri. The flood gate is known as the "Big Subway Gate", and it was designed to seal the northern levee in Cairo by closing over U.S. Highway 51. The gate weighs 80 tons, is 60 feet wide, 24 feet high, and five feet thick. With

10773-435: The line 1.25 miles (2.01 km) west of Williamsburg on 16 October 1881 although temporary tracks had been installed in some areas to speed completion. This was just in the nick of time because Huntington and his associates had promised they would provide rail service to Yorktown, where the United States was celebrating the centennial of the surrender of the British troops under Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown in 1781. (That event

10906-418: The main business purpose was unquestionably shipping eastbound coal to Newport News, the C&O dutifully established freight and passenger stations at frequent intervals along the way. In addition to many small depots, larger facilities were located at Providence Forge , Williamsburg, and at Lee Hall. At Newport News, an ornate Victorian style passenger station was built right on the waterfront. No sooner had

11039-602: The manner the Union Pacific Railroad and the Central Pacific Railroad had been built to complete their transcontinental rails. The final spike ceremony for the 428-mile (689 km) long line from Richmond to the Ohio River was held on 29 January 1873 at Hawks Nest railroad bridge in New River Gorge , near the town of Ansted, West Virginia . Virginia's long dream for the C&O had been trade with

11172-653: The merged company. Over the next five years, the CSX railroads began consolidating into one mega-railroad. The process began when SCL merged its railroads into the Seaboard System Railroad in 1982. Western Maryland was merged into B&O on May 1, 1983. B&O was merged into C&O on April 30, 1987. Seaboard changed its name to CSX Transportation on July 1, 1986. Finally, C&O merged into CSX Transportation on Aug. 31, 1987. After acquiring 42% of Conrail in 1999, CSX became one of four major railroad systems left in

11305-436: The mob. Governor Charles S. Deneen of Illinois dispatched 11 companies of militia to Cairo to suppress the violence. By the time the mob discovered the next morning that Alexander was held at the jail, the soldiers had arrived and prevented further violence. A group of civil rights activists in Chicago hired journalist Ida B. Wells to investigate the lynchings. After the residents had calmed down, Governor Deneen enforced

11438-456: The mountains and east to Richmond, where ocean-going shipping called. However, one problem they faced was that depth of the channels of the tidal portion of the river to reach Richmond was insufficient to accommodate the draft required by the large colliers. As a young man in 1837, Collis P. Huntington had visited the rural village known as Newport News Point in Warwick County at the mouth of

11571-427: The murder of Anna Pelly, a young white woman killed three days earlier, although there was no physical or circumstantial evidence connecting him to the crime. The second man lynched was Henry Salzner, a white man who had allegedly murdered his white wife the previous August. James was accused of killing Pelly by choking her to death in an alley with pieces of a flour sack on the evening of November 8, 1909. Pelly's body

11704-522: The name "Chessie Peak", as in Chesapeake) was shown with a bandage on his paw as a war veteran returning from military service. While the kitten was created by the Austrian artist Guido Grünewald, the success of Chessie as a marketing tool is often credited to Lionel Probert, at the time an assistant to the C&O president. C&O continued to be one of the more profitable and financially sound railways in

11837-474: The navy yard repair shop machinery was afloat aboard wharf-boats, old steamers, tugs, flat-boats, and rafts. In January 1862, General Ulysses S. Grant occupied the city, and had Fort Defiance constructed to protect the confluence. Cairo became an important Union supply base and training center for the remainder of the war. Military occupation caused much of the city's trade to be diverted by railroad to Chicago. Cairo failed to regain this important trade after

11970-450: The new double-tracked railroad and the other development visions of industrialist Collis Potter Huntington resulted in a 15-year transition of the rural farm village of Newport News into a new independent city which also became home to the world's largest shipyard. The railroad, one of the later developed in Virginia, became important to many communities, opening transportation options, and stimulating commerce and military operations on

12103-490: The new ordinance. The picketing turned violent after police heard shots fired and moved on the crowd. In 1978, the Cairo I-57 Bridge across the Mississippi River was opened. The interstate largely bypassed Cairo to the north, crippling the remaining hospitality industry in the city. Cairo's hospital closed in December 1986, due to high debt and a dwindling number of patients. With the decline in river trade, as has been

12236-469: The old colonial capital of Williamsburg. The Peninsula Extension was good news for the farmers and merchants of the Virginia Peninsula, and they generally welcomed the railroad. Williamsburg allowed tracks to be placed down the main street of town, Duke of Gloucester Street , and even directly through the ruins of the historic capitol building. These tracks did not last long, as some landowners around

12369-641: The organizational meeting for the Chesapeake Dry Dock and Construction Company. The latter evolved into the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company . For a brief time, Warwick County shifted the location of its county seat to Newport News from the historic location at Denbigh , where it had been situated since colonial times. However, the growth at Newport News was such that, in 1896, it became one of only two Virginia localities to ever become an independent city from Warwick County without

12502-406: The police and unjustly targeted. On July 16, 1967, Robert Hunt, a 19-year-old black soldier home on leave, was allegedly found hanged in the Cairo police station. Police reported that Hunt had hanged himself with his t-shirt , but many members of the black community of Cairo accused the police of murder. There had been an alleged history of police discrimination and violence against black residents of

12635-402: The popularity of C&O's passenger trains was because of Chessie, the sleeping kitten , one of the most successful and fondly remembered marketing campaigns ever developed. Chessie was so popular when she debuted in 1933 that the C&O could not keep enough merchandise in stock. The C&O mostly focused on passenger trains in the eastern half of its system. Despite connecting to Chicago,

12768-596: The population peaked at 15,203 in 1920, while in the 2020 census it was 1,733. Several blocks in the town comprise the Cairo Historic District , listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). The Old Customs House is also on the NRHP. The city is part of the Cape Girardeau – Jackson , MO –IL Metropolitan Statistical Area . The entire city was evacuated during Mississippi River floods in 2011 , after

12901-484: The post and in interchange with the Peninsula Subsdivision via a junction at Lee Hall. It consists of 31 miles (50 km) of track broken into three subdivisions with numerous sidings , spurs , stations and facilities. The station at Oyster Point in Warwick County became a shipping point for the area's watermen during the years of extensive oyster harvesting. Although oystering has dwindled greatly in

13034-404: The primary back shops were established on 100 acres of land along Fifth Avenue. These facilities were expanded and modernized over a five year period in three phases beginning in 1916. Another large shop site was established at Clifton Forge, Virginia in 1890 on 1,200 acres of land, including the classification yard. In 1929 the system's primary freight car repair and erecting facility was built at

13167-464: The primary components of the Family Lines System , to become a key portion of CSX Transportation (CSXT) in the 1980s. C&O's passenger services ended in 1971 with the formation of Amtrak . Today Amtrak's tri-weekly Cardinal passenger train follows the historic and scenic route of the C&O through the New River Gorge in one of the more rugged sections of West Virginia. The rails of

13300-571: The railroad just west of Williamsburg in James City County was renamed Norge . These citizens and their descendants found the area conditions favorable as described by Bergh, and many became leading merchants, tradespersons, and farmers in the community. These transplanted Americans brought some new blood and enthusiasm to the old colonial capitol area. The railroad has such community significance to Norge many generations later that, in February 2006,

13433-622: The railroad opened and built the Lee Hall Depot. Lee Hall Depot became a bustling railroad station after the 1918 establishment nearby of Camp Abraham Eustis, later renamed Fort Eustis at Mulberry Island. The depot was strategically located along the mainline midway between Skiffe's Creek and the Warwick River and was close to the access point to the base. Lee Hall Depot handled heavy troop movements during both World Wars. Chesapeake and Ohio Railway The C&O traces its origins to

13566-415: The rails of the Peninsula Subdivision continue to form an important link for Amtrak service from Williamsburg and Newport News. High quality bituminous coal was the motivation for originally building the line, and current owner CSX Transportation continues day and night to deliver massive amounts of it to be loaded onto ships destined for points worldwide. Opening at the outset of the final quarter of

13699-519: The remaining population, including poverty, crime, issues in education, unemployment and rebuilding its tax base. The closure of the Elmwood and McBride housing projects was announced by the federal government in 2017. In August 2017, Ben Carson , the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development at the time, visited the city. Ten families had found new housing, but an estimated 400 people will be affected by

13832-468: The remains while men, women, and children shouted and cheered... Some took out their pocketknives and cut off ears and fingers and broke up bones to take as gruesome souvenirs. But the increasingly large mob in Cairo learned of this and seized another train, racing to catch up with the sheriff and James. Sheriff Davis' attempt to save James from the mob proved futile when the mob intercepted Davis and his prisoner. The mob returned James to Cairo and took him to

13965-406: The rights of free blacks residing in the state and discouraged the migration of free blacks. If a black person was unable to present proof of their freedom they could be fined $ 50 or sold by the sheriff to the highest bidder. Not long after the passage of the constitution, the state's general assembly adopted a pro-slavery resolution that announced its approval of slavery in slave-holding states and at

14098-501: The river in as little as six months. Vehicles were also ferried, as there were no automobile bridges in the area in the early 20th century. The ferry industry created numerous jobs in Cairo to handle large amounts of cargo and numerous passengers through the city. Wealthy merchants and shippers built numerous fine mansions in the 19th and early 20th century, including the Italianate Magnolia Manor , completed in 1872, and

14231-490: The same time condemned the formation of abolition societies within Illinois’ boundaries. Although Black people comprised a large proportion of the Cairo population, they were frequently discriminated against in jobs and housing. Race relations were strained in 1900. The state passed an anti-lynching law in 1905. On the night of November 11, 1909, two men were lynched . The first was William James, an African American accused of

14364-501: The shipping, railroad, and ferry industries left the city. Population decline began as workers moved to other cities. Racial tensions rose in the late 1960s as African-Americans sought implementation of gains under new federal civil rights laws passed as a result of the Civil Rights Movement . The police, fire department, and most city jobs were still overwhelmingly dominated by whites. African-Americans were allegedly harassed by

14497-439: The tracks to the coal pier at Newport News been completed in late 1881 than the same construction crews were put to work on what would later be called the Peninsula Subdivision's Hampton Branch. From a junction with the main line a few miles west of the coal pier which was named Old Point Junction, work began easterly a distance of about 10 miles (16 km) into Elizabeth City County toward Hampton and Old Point Comfort , where

14630-455: The viaduct, believed to be the longest in the United States, were still in use as of 2008. After completion of the riverfront viaduct in 1901, the Church Hill Tunnel fell into disuse for over 20 years. Then in 1925, to add capacity, the railroad began efforts to restore it to usable condition. On 2 October, while repairs were under way, a work train was trapped by a collapse near the western end. Two workmen crawled under flat cars and escaped out

14763-446: The war, as more railroads converged on Chicago and it developed at a rapid pace, attracting stockyards, meat processing, and heavy industries. Instead, agriculture, lumber, and sawmills now dominated the Cairo economy. The strategic importance of Cairo's geographic location during the Civil War sparked prosperity in the town. Several banks were founded during the war years, and the growth in banking and steamboat traffic continued after

14896-650: The war. In 1869, construction began on the United States Custom House and Post Office, which was designed by Alfred B. Mullet , the Supervising Architect . The custom house was completed in 1872. It served as a custom house, post office, and United States Court. The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois met at the building until 1905. From 1905 to 1942, the Custom House

15029-517: The way south to New Orleans. The city had been designated as a port of delivery by Act of Congress in 1854. A new city charter was written in 1857, and Cairo flourished as trade with Chicago to the north spurred development. By 1860, the population exceeded 2,000. During the Civil War , Admiral Andrew Hull Foote made Cairo the naval station for the Mississippi River Squadron on September 6, 1861. Since Cairo had no land available for base facilities,

15162-551: The way to the west to what is now Cairo, Illinois , where the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers join. Of course, transportation was not the only obstacle to developing these western regions, as both the French and the Indians did not see it the same way. In any event, that 250-mile (400 km) gap in the navigable waters became a major focus for Virginians. By the end of the 18th century, efforts to link these heads of navigation were underway with

15295-701: The west end of the mammoth yard at Russell, Kentucky , called the Raceland Car Shops. By the early 1960s the C&O was headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio . In 1972, under the leadership of Cyrus Eaton , it became part of the Chessie System , along with the Baltimore and Ohio and Western Maryland Railway . The Chessie System was later combined with the Seaboard Coast Line and Louisville and Nashville, both

15428-439: The west, and Huntington's work accomplished that by 1873. However, he and others also realized that the new railroads for the first time offered a practical way to ship coal. The region's high quality bituminous coal had been known to be among West Virginia's vast natural resources, but until now, there had been no way to transport it to markets. The new C&O railroad provided a method of transporting this valuable product out of

15561-458: The west. During the Civil War the Virginia Central played a key role in several battles but was a target for Federal armies. By 1865 it only had five miles of track still in operation and almost no cash to rebuild. Officials realized that they would have to get capital to rebuild from outside the economically devastated South and succeeded in getting Collis Huntington interested. He supplied

15694-425: The white community in Cairo formed a citizens protection group that was deputized by the sheriff. The protection group became known as the "White Hats", because many of its 600 members began wearing white construction hats to show their membership while patrolling the streets to maintain order. In the following two years, accusations of White Hat bullying incidents in the black community began to increase. In early 1969,

15827-428: The years since, Oyster Point, now within the City of Newport News, became the site for a new city center development. The Oyster Point City Center , developed as a New Urbanism project, has been touted as the new "downtown" because of its new geographic centrality in the area. Beginning in the 1890s, C&O land agent Carl M. Bergh, a Norwegian-American who had earlier farmed in the mid-western states, realized that

15960-609: Was a descendant of several former Virginia governors and the grandson of constitutional lawyer John Wickham , who had set up shop in Richmond after the American Revolutionary War and served as a respected agent of financial interests in England and Scotland. However, in the volatile period of the late 1860s, General Wickham failed in his efforts to secure either southern or British financing as had been hoped. Finally, he journeyed to New York City , where he successfully attracted

16093-643: Was an unusually high black population for a town of Cairo's size in the North. Five percent of all black residents in the state of Illinois lived here. Later in the early 20th century, Chicago became the center of black life in the state, as it was the destination of tens of thousands of migrants during the Great Migration . The Illinois constitution of 1818 allowed for limited slavery in the salt mines and allowed current slave owners to retain their slaves. The General Assembly also passed legislation that severely curtailed

16226-528: Was completed and opened in 1875. East of the tunnel, the C&O established its Fulton Yard , with a capacity of thousands of rail cars, a roundhouse to service the steam locomotives, and other support facilities. Planning and right-of-way acquisition for the Peninsula Extension took another 5 years. From Fulton Yard, after climbing out of the James River Valley, the surveyors generally followed

16359-649: Was considered most symbolic of the end of the conflict, which was later formalized by the Treaty of Paris in 1783). Only 3 days after the last spike ceremony, on 19 October, the first passenger train from Newport News took local residents and national officials to the Cornwallis Surrender Centennial Celebration at Yorktown on temporary tracks which were laid from the main line at the new Lee Hall Depot to Yorktown, and then removed afterward. The Peninsula Extension ran directly through Williamsburg,

16492-402: Was cut from his body and displayed on a pole that was stuck into the ground, and his body was burned. Hundreds of townspeople conducted a search for the alleged accomplice, Arthur Alexander. Unable to locate him and still bloodthirsty, they entered the court house jail and broke into the cell where Henry Salzner was being held. The mob hanged Salzner from a telegraph pole near the courthouse, and

16625-526: Was designed by the architects Louis A. Simon and George Howe . The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Illinois moved into the new courthouse in 1942, from the old U.S. Custom House and Post Office. After the U.S. district court structure in Illinois was reorganized in 1978, the court house was used for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois. The building remains in use by

16758-403: Was discovered the next morning. Police believed that James was large enough to have committed the crime, especially as there were rumors of an accomplice. James was placed in police custody on Tuesday, where he remained until Wednesday evening. No physical evidence linked him to the crime. As word of the crime spread, whites in Cairo demanded an immediate trial of James, but the case was delayed by

16891-508: Was largely abandoned, and then placed into use again in World War II under the name Cheatham Annex as a supply depot for the U.S. Navy. Rail service became inactive, and grade crossings along the spur line at the State Route 143 (Merrimack Trail) and several other points were removed in 2008. During World War II, beginning in 1942, the U.S. Navy took over a large area on the north side of

17024-417: Was not severe, as the railroad traffic still was directed through Cairo, and automobile and truck traffic increased in the early 20th century. In 1905, a second bridge was constructed across the Mississippi River at Thebes, Illinois . The effects of the second bridge were more severe, as rail traffic through Cairo was now reduced and railroad ferry operations were no longer necessary. As the steamboat industry

17157-546: Was replaced with barges, river traffic had less reason to stop in Cairo. In 1929, the Cairo Mississippi River Bridge was completed, linking Missouri with Illinois to the south of Cairo. In 1937, the Cairo Ohio River Bridge was completed. Completion of the two bridges ended the ferry industry in Cairo, putting many people out of work. As the town was bypassed by two bridges to the south, it also lost

17290-449: Was still outstanding. After the War, part of Virginia had been subdivided to form the new state of West Virginia . Both states were heavily in debt, but wanted to encourage completion of a rail link to the Ohio River, which they saw as vital to rebuilding and expanding commerce. To do without government funding, the state legislatures of both Virginia and West Virginia tried to attract investors several times in 1866 and 1867. Finally, under

17423-426: Was the work train complete with a 4-4-0 steam locomotive . Over the years, portions of the tunnel have collapsed, once claiming several houses. The circa-1901 Main Street Station was reopened to Amtrak passenger service in 2004. Expanded use as an intermodal facility for additional passenger trains and local transit bus service is planned. In 1916, the E.I. DuPont Nemours company announced that it would develop

17556-599: Was unimpressed. The city would serve as his prototype for the nightmare City of Eden in his novel Martin Chuzzlewit . In 1846, 10,000 acres in Cairo were purchased by the trustees of the Cairo City Property Trust, a group of investors including writer John Neal who planned to make it the terminus of the projected Illinois Central Railroad , which finally arrived there in 1855. Cairo had been growing as an important river port for steamboats , which traveled all

17689-424: Was used for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Illinois. The building also housed the U.S. Circuit Court for the Eastern District of Illinois from 1905 to 1912. At the height of Cairo's prosperity, the post office in the building was the third busiest in the United States. It is one of only seven of Mullet's Victorian structures remaining in the nation, and the building has been converted for use as

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