I wasn’t seeking a revelation on a rural road in southeastern Illinois. But on the fringes of Galatia—a small town where Appalachian struggles appear to have migrated west and taken root—that’s what I discovered. It wasn’t a blazing bush in a biblical desert, but an industrial 3D printer as big as a small garage—a machine, I later learned, that required a $1.1 million investment to bring to Illinois, bearing the hope of an affordable housing revival in the region called Little Egypt. And it drew me in. I drove by it time and again. One year earlier, in August 2024, this printer was the focal point of a groundbreaking ceremony attended by over 100 people, including me. I reported on the event for Capitol News Illinois and observed as the machine applied the initial layers of what was intended as a fresh start. Two local men had pledged to rescue Cairo, Illinois, by employing the machine to 3D-print new homes for a town in dire need. I observed as state and local politicians ritually turned the first shovelfuls of soil. Officials posed for photos next to the machine, displaying it as evidence that a new era had begun. They promised fast, efficient, modern homes—and with them, the feeling that someone was finally paying attention to this part of the state. A year later, however, the printer had produced framing for just one duplex, and the project was scrapped before the interior was completed. Before anyone could move in, the walls cracked. State and city officials broke ground on the 3D-printed duplex project in Cairo, Illinois, in August 2024.
