Did you ever see that weird movie, Return to Oz?

That’s how I felt when we first parked at that cluster of civic buildings in the middle of town in Cairo, much as my visit had begun ten years ago.

We were greeted with a closed U.S. Customs House Museum, which had been open back when I had visited before. A sign on the front door said it was closed until further notice. We assumed that meant permanently, and when I got back to St. Louis, I called the phone number listed and it was disconnected. Very sad because it honestly was a nice little museum. There was even at least one window that was broken out with birds flying in and out of it.

The post office and federal courthouse is still active across the street, and I suppose if that closes, that is when we really know things have gotten bad.

It doesn’t seem to be a courthouse anymore.

The library is still operating, but only on weekdays so we couldn’t go in on the Saturday we visited, unfortunately.

We walked off to the west to the Ward Chapel A.M.E. Church, which is sadly abandoned, as well. It is an important congregation in town, organized in 1863.

The current church is from 1918.

There are plans to fix it up in the future.

There are so many churches in Cairo, and their buses are parked in vacant lots.

Abandoned schools are a frequent sight, as well.

At first we thought this church looked like it was in alright shape.

But then we came around to the other side and realized it is just covered in a one course brick veneer, and is severe structural distress.