Town of Cairo

Town of Cairo. . , In 1799 James Winchester and William Cage, Jr. purchased 150 acres on the banks of the Cumberland River and here founded the town of Cairo. Four principal streets were laid out. Lots were sold between 1800 and 1820. The County Court met at Cairo from 1800 to 1803. The census of 1830 showed 30 families living in the town, incorporated in 1815. Between 1804 and 1830 there were 4 doctors, 2 schools. 13 stores, a cotton mil1, woolen mill, grist mill, sawmill, still house, carpenter, cooper, blacksmith,, silversmith, a boatyard, shoemaker. a tanyard, cotton spinning factory, a church, the Bell Tavern, Cairo Race Track, and two large warehouses on the banks of the river. Barges, keelboats, and steamboats came to the Cairo landing. Cairo was on its way to rivaling Nashville as a river port. Due to the selection of Gallatin as the county seat, an economic recession, a decline in river traffic, and the advent of new roads, Cairo was virtually a ghost town by 1855.