County of park: Alexander County
Location of park: US-62/US-51, southern tip of Illinois, Cairo
Phone: 618-734-9344
191 acres along the Ohio River on the eastern edge of the state
16 camp sites, no toilets or showers, but electricity at 8 sites
All registrations are honor system, drop fees in box
"CAIRO, ILL. — Like most Illinoisians with a road map, I find my eye occasionally traveling southward to the very tip of the state, to that legendary little state park on the point of land where the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers meet.
"Its name is Ft. Defiance, and the name can make Civil War buffs tingle. I`ll bet there are a lot of us who've wondered about that out-of-the-way spot and made a mental note to try to get there someday.
"My chance came last Tuesday, after a day of chasing water moccasins around the marvelous Lower Cache River swamp beneath our Shawnee Hills.
"It meant only a few more miles, and I had always wondered about Cairo, that mecca for runaway slaves in Huckleberry Finn`s day.
"The town turns out to be a bit rounded at the heels, well past its prime as a waterway terminal. But it`s a cozy little hospice for mostly pleasant people who probably could claim some record for per-capita barbecue shops. It has some fine buildings and is a worthy stop.
"About 1 1/2 miles south of town, where twin bridges fork traffic into Kentucky and Missouri, a left turn puts you on a dirt road to Ft. Defiance.
"Now, I had read the brochure issued by the Illinois Department of Conservation, one of those little foldouts you find on the racks at state office buildings.
"Ft. Defiance would be a beauty, the brochure indicates. There is a drawing of a huge Civil War cannon pointed at a steamboat on the river. A well-fortified powder magazine snuggles into the earthworks. A photo of a placid, shady picnic area invites tourists.
"The brochure informs us that ``river fishing is unusually good. . . . You can have one pole in the muddy Mississippi and with your other hand cast into the clearer waters of the Ohio . . .``
"It assures us that drinking water and flush toilets are available.
"Then comes the awakening. Here, for your edification, are my notes on what may be the ugliest park in America:
"-- The road is incredibly rutted and potholed. I dared to let my truck coast only at idling speed. At three of the worst spots, motorists have carved detours on the grass.
"-- The grounds are filthy. Garbage spills from untended trash cans and litters the entire park. Huge shards of broken bottles gleam from the picnic lawn, which offers four scarred and dirty tables.
"-- A view of the beautiful Ohio River is unavailable from the ground, blocked by four strings of barges moored with questionable legality to the state park shore. A visitor who happens to live in Cairo told me they had been there for months.
"-- Fishing is impossible because of the driftwood piled along both shores. I could not find the boat ramp until I drove to a nearby state police substation and a cop told me where to look. He said the ramp is usually clogged by driftwood and debris and is rarely usable. ``I`m not sure who maintains the place,`` he said. ``I don`t think the state does anymore.``
"-- The lawns are dead, killed by flooding and neglect.
"-- A two-story observation tower, painted a year ago by the Youth Conservation Corps, no longer offers restroom facilities. The rivers have eroded two corners of the foundation. The windows of a concessions stand were bricked up long ago.
"-- The water fountain is gone. Reduced by vandals to a pile of bricks and a capped pipe, it was covered with dirt two years ago.
``This place is a mess,`` observed Joseph Knight, 56, of McCook, Neb., who stopped on his way from Opryland in Nashville with his fiance, Marva Zwickle. ``I was here 15, 20 years ago and it was nice, but good Lord, look at it now.``
"On his way out, Knight took the trouble of turning back to call me over. ``If you`re gonna write about it, tell `em I think the park stinks,`` he declared as Marva nodded solemnly.
"With a few calls on Wednesday, I tracked down the unfortunate soul in Springfield who is responsible for the park.
"His name is Bob Coomer, superintendent of historic sites for the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency. With a meager $700,600 budget, he must operate 40 locations on the order of Lincoln`s Tomb and New Salem State Park. His agency inherited Ft. Defiance from the DOC in a reorganization two years ago.
``I was appalled when we were given Ft. Defiance,`` Coomer admitted.
``Beyond the fact that that piece of land actually has no historic significance, it was like handing us a garbage dump to manage.``
"Coomer explained that, contrary to the state`s brochure, the present park land probably did not exist back in Civil War times.
"More than a mile of land has been added to the tip of Illinois over the last century by sedimentation from the merging rivers, he explained. Archeology, in fact, may indicate that the real fort probably was 1 1/2 miles north on the outskirts of Cairo.
"So what we have there is potentially a very scenic spot--if not the most scenic spot in Illinois--that should be managed more or less as a very nice city park, but it is not a historic site,`` Coomer said. ``Moreover, we were not given any maintenance funds at all to operate it."
"Indeed, the state has tried to wash its hands of Ft. Defiance for years. The DOC occasionally detached personnel from Horseshoe Lake to remove debris and garbage, but Coomer`s nearest permanent staff is at Shawneetown, some 60 miles away. He asked Cairo to assume management, but the city turned him down. This forced Coomer to squeeze $5,000 from his budget last year to hire a local man to cut the grass and perform basic maintenance, including a passable road. Thus, a gentleman named Don Jones of Cairo became the only person in charge of Ft. Defiance State Park last year, running 36 acres of our most scenic public lands. So far this year, Mr. Jones` contract has not been renewed, and that`s why the garbage is piling up.
"Coomer agrees that the park could be a wonderful place. The observation tower reveals an entrancing sweep of broad rivers and the merging bluffs of sister states. River buffs will be awed by the power and beauty--if they don`t look down at the barges and the garbage blowing in the wind.
"The deplorable condition of Ft. Defiance represents a sad denouement for the grand flow of the Ohio River through middle America. Hundreds of miles upriver, it begins on a similar point in downtown Pittsburgh where the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers coalesce at historic Ft. Duquesne.
"A magnificent park has been crafted there, the shoreline protected by a seawall. Benches, fountains and flowers draw joggers and bikers. Visitors symbolically will dip a toe into the mingling waters.
"At Ft. Defiance, however, you`d break a leg on the driftwood and debris. You might not even want to let your kids get out of the car. One slip on the glass and they`d need tetanus shots.
"Coomer said he has been turned down for budgeted funds to staff and maintain the park. He said $25,000 is required for basic maintenance, plus another $20,000 to create an official presence that might control the vandalism and neglect. Once again, the current budget proposal awards the park not a nickel.
"Coomer does have long-range plans to assume the nearby state police substation building for a park office and interpretive center. Right now, not a single sign within the park informs visitors of the area`s significance.
'"I`m remiss,`` Coomer said. ``I feel terrible for what you saw, not because you`re a reporter, but because you were a visitor who saw it the way it is. Last year I had to write several letters of apology to people who wrote to complain. Again, I apologize for what you saw down there. All I can say is that we will do the best we can, within our limitations, to operate that park on a subsistence level. Right now, it`s all we can do.``
"Coomer said he plans to visit the park this coming week. He will see if Mr. Jones still is available.
"If so, Mr. Jones will continue to run what probably is the ugliest park in America, the park that no one wants. ~ Chicago Tribune, April 26, 1987, By John Husar
"Once called "probably the ugliest park in America, the park no one wants" by the Chicago Tribune, Fort defiance became the park that the people saved. A grassroots organization of Cairo citizens, Operation Enterprise, leased it from the state to renovate and maintain." ~ Great River Roads