Cape Girardeau History and Photos

February 15, 2015January 18, 2022

Cairo Custom House

The Missourian has been full of stories of late about proposed courthouse shuffling and new facilities here and there. One consequence may be that the Common Pleas Courthouse may cease to be a courthouse. That raises the question of what will happen to one of the most iconic structures in Cape Girardeau.

Here’s a suggestion: turn it into a museum like the Cairo Custom House Museum in Cairo.

For all the time I’ve spent in Cairo, the last time I was in the old Custon House was when it was being used as a police station at the time of the riots in the late 1960s. I’ll have more about that on a later date.

A serious “Wow!” factor

Mother, Curator Jessica and I really weren’t expecting much when we walked into the museum right before closing time. We weren’t two steps into the building when my friend, the curator for the Athens County Historical Society and Museum, broke the Coveting Commandment into a whole bunch of pieces.

First off, the building itself is a magnificent piece of architecture with features like arched brick ceilings that I’ve never seen before.

Because there are so many rooms, it was possible to create amazing grouping of exhibits. It would be easy to spend days in the place and still not see everything.

By the way, this website points out that the fireplaces like this one weren’t used for heating, but were used for ventilation.

Cairo Custom House Museum gallery

Here’s a taste of what you’ll see in the facility. I’ll talk about the darker history of the building in another post. I’ll also follow up with more photos on my next visit when I have more time. Click on any photo to make it larger, then use your arrow keys to move through the gallery.

February 13, 2015

Love on the Main Green

I was working on another topic when it dawned on me that Valentine’s Day was blowing its horn. I made a mad dash to Publix for some flowers and found them pretty picked-over. The roses were nice, but my finances dictated that I could afford either a single rose or a basket of thorns. I opted for the single rose.

Home for hormonally hypercharged

The “Main Green” is, as the name implies, in the center of the Ohio University campus in Athens, Ohio. Anchoring the corner of the beautiful green is the War Memorial, a tall statue that has been the lightning rod for protests, a convenient place to study or, on one of the first warm spring days in 1968, a place to play music and try to hook up.

On a day like this, it is home for the hormonally hypercharged.

Were we ever that young?

Here’s a photo gallery from that April afternoon. It’s hard to believe the people in these photos, like the photographer, are now old enough to be grandparents and maybe even great-grandparents. Click on any photo to make it larger, then use your arrow keys to move through the gallery.

February 13, 2015

Ouch, That Hurts

I’ve been putting off organizing the mountain of receipts I accumulated from all my road trips this year. I was less afraid of the IRS deadline than Wife Lila who had been “encouraging” me to get with it for weeks.

After spending two days adding up negative numbers, I don’t have much energy to post tonight.

Thanks to you who pushed the Big Red Button to place your Amazon orders. That brought in $1,646.98 in 2014. Thanks, too, to the Athens County Historical Society and Museum and the Ohio Humanities Council for a grant. The Lutheran Heritage Center and Museum and Annie Laurie’s Antique Shop have been great about selling books and prints.

Redder than that button

The bottom line is that I’m operating deep in the red. The only solace I can take is that my shortfall is probably less than I would be in the hole if I was a golfer, owned a boat or took a family of four to Disney World.

I’m starting to work on a souvenir memory book for sale at this year’s ’60s’ decade reunion that I’m hoping will generate some income, and I have some other things up my sleeve to keep me afloat.

In the meantime, keep pressing the Big Red Button when you shop at Amazon. I get a small percentage of your purchase, and it doesn’t add anything to your bill.

I’m not griping about taxes

I’m not complaining about PAYING taxes, mind you. Nothing would make me prouder than moving into a higher tax bracket.

February 12, 2015February 12, 2015

Mother’s Back in the Game

Mother’s been complaining that her get-up-and-go has got up and went. She hasn’t had a lot of pep and she’s been getting out of breath. Brother David has been in town from Tulsa doing a bunch of odd jobs, so he went with her to the heart doc to see what was causing it.

Without going into a lot of detail that I don’t really understand, he said she needed to get the top two muscles of her heart jump-started.

David suggested that he could do it in the parking lot if he could figure out where to hook up the red and black clamps, but the medical staff strongly discouraged such activity. “From what we know about her, if you hook them up backwards, she might blow out the battery in your car,” they warned him.

It turned out it only took one shock to get her heart back in rhythm and all synched up. She’s going to need to have the batteries in her pacemaker replaced soon, so she’d better hurry up before they close the Radio Shack in the mall.

“She’s a tough bird”

The doc said her shortness of breath should get much better now. “Overall, she’s a tough bird,” he added.

Boy, don’t WE know that.

On the way home, they stopped at a worried friend’s house to give a health and welfare report. She had been calling the hospital all day for an update. The finally told her at 4 o’clock that Mother had been released. “Was she still alive when she was released?” she asked.

So, Mother is back home in the glow of her iPad catching up on what she missed during the day. You may not be able to reach her by landline because she’s been having phone problems.An ATT tech is supposed to come check it out Thursday.

Thanks to David for being there and for taking this photo.