CEAC-2020-10-October

Historic Magnolia Manor, which was built in 1869 by businessman Charles Galigher, stands in Cairo, Ill., on July 30, 2020. (Byron Hetzler/The Southern
Illinoisan via AP)
had fallen sick, said Tim Slapinski, the home’s curator and
tour guide. Once she was on the mend, Adelia hired an
interior decorator from St. Louis to live in the home for two
years and design its 14 rooms.
“It cost him $35,000 to furnish the house — almost as much
as it cost him to build it,” Slapinski said.
In its 150-year existence, the home has only had four owners,
including the Cairo Historical Association, which has owned
it for nearly the past 70 years. McGinness, who has spent his
entire life in Cairo, recalled volunteering as a tour guide at
the home as a teenager.
McGinness said he knows that people in town appreciate
the home and its historical significance. It was added to the
National Historic Register in 1969, because of its significance
in hosting the Grants, as well as that it stands as an “outstanding
example of Italianate architecture and typifies a
fine southern Illinois home of the period.”
But it’s gotten harder over the years to raise money and get
people to volunteer, he said. For one thing, people seem to
have busier schedules and other interests, he said. As well,
Cairo has lost much of its population and economy.
McGinness said he doesn’t have answers for Magnolia Manor,
but he’s hoping someone else might. “There’s nowhere that I
know of right now to get any money. I’ve got people looking
but nobody has found anything yet,” he said.
“I’m hoping there’s somebody out there who can give us a
bunch of money,” he said, “or give us some direction.”
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