Originally called Egypt, the settlement was renamed Cairo when the Baltimore & Ohio (B&O) arrived in 1856. Cairo grew as a regional trading and banking center when surrounding oil fields began production later in the nineteenth century, and the town was incorporated in 1895. An 1899 bird's-eye view shows it ringed with oil derricks. Cairo is now a budding recreational center, providing convenient access to the popular North Bend Rail Trail, a conversion of the B&O right-of-way into a hiking and biking facility.
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