CEAC-2020-10-October

American Street Guide
A Look at the Story of Cairo, Illinois’
Magnolia Manor By Molly Parker | The Southern Illinoisan
CAIRO, Ill. (AP) — Charles A. Galigher, and his wife, Adelia
Lippit Galigher, moved to Cairo in the 1850s from Zanesville,
Ohio, on the prospect of a risky business venture.
Together with Mrs. Galigher’s brother, they purchased shares
of a bankrupt flour mill. Within a year, they had turned the
company profitable; the brother sold his shares and returned
to Ohio. Under two labels — Superior White and Premium
Eagle — the company sold flour around the world, including
in the United Kingdom, to Queen Victoria, and on the homestead,
to the U.S. government during the Civil War.
By time the war ended, the Galighers were wealthy.
With their fortune, they decided to build a mansion in Cairo.
In 1869, they laid the foundation for what is known today
as Magnolia Manor. Eventually, it would expand to 8,000
square feet, with five flights of stairs leading to a cupola
that overlooks the city; at the top, they’d install a window
that opens onto a widow’s walk where the Galighers and
their company could escape the swampy summer mosquitoes
and gaze out across the confluence of the Mississippi and
Ohio rivers.
But today, the Cairo Historical Association, which has owned
the home since 1952, is running short of cash to continue its
operations as a museum. Those dedicated to its upkeep worry
what will become of the mansion if they’re forced to shut
off the utilities. Charles McGinness, the association’s president,
said the problem is pretty simple: “We’re flat broke.”
coal-burning fireplaces located throughout; the two in the
drawing room are made of Carrara marble. The Galighers
also enjoyed a form of air conditioning. Raising the lid of the
dome, seen from the second and third floors, in conjunction
with the skylight on the roof, would pull hot air out of the
house. A further sign of luxury and wealth, they had two
bathrooms with running water pumped from an artesian
well.
The Galighers spent about $40,000 to build the house. It contained
roughly 40,000 bricks, purchased for about $1 each,
according to a short historical account of the home by the
Cairo Historical Association.
The bricks were made locally at the Klein brickyard. The
home, designed by Galigher and his wife, was modeled after
the Italianate form of architecture, known for its wide eaves,
ornate brackets, large porches and often, cupolas.
The home and all its assets stretched over an entire city
block. Also included on the property were gardens, tennis
courts, a carriage house, cisterns, wells, a small building used
to manufacture carbide gas to light the house, and a miniature
steam powered locomotive for the children to ride.
The Galighers spent almost as much time and money on the
inside of the home as they did on building it. After moving
in, they put off decorating it for two years because Adelia
Utilities and monthly payments to the home’s caretaker
and tour guide, who lives downstairs, far exceed incoming
donations and proceeds from tours. The pandemic has been
especially bruising to the association’s finances, causing
reduced tours and the anticipated cancellation of the annual
Holiday House luncheons event, its largest annual fundraiser,
McGinness said. Then there are the bigger, more costly
repairs that are past due.
The home needs a new roof and tuckpointing work. Bricks
are falling behind the house onto the porch. There are two
leaks, one in the library and one in the roof, which threaten
structural damage. “We’re needing some major work done.
We’re really just treading water,” McGinness said. “I always
tell people, when they say, ‘How’s it going?’ I say, ‘Well, you
know that scene of the Titanic at the end where the ship’s
standing up at a right angle and they’re holding onto the
top? That’s where we are. We’re holding onto the top.’”
The mansion consists of four stories and 14 rooms. It has
double brick walls with a 10-inch airspace between them
to allow for ventilation. It was heated in the winter by
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