Cape Girardeau History and Photos

April 29, 2013May 21, 2021

Apple Creek Presbyterian Church

Missourian blogger James Baughn did one of his “Blogs with few words” on the Gaslight Sing at Apple Creek Presbyterian Church.

Ramblin’ buddy LaFern Stiver and I visited the Pocahontas church and cemetery in 2011. I’ll follow James’ lead and run just a few words and let the pictures tell the story.

Area settled by McLain Clan

LaFern, a McLain, provided this background information: This area was settled early by the McLain Clan, from the Isle of Mull in Scotland. The family came from S. Carolina and established itself here before 1815 which were the earliest tax records. Alexander McLain, was one of four brothers who fought in the Revolutionary War. John, the older brother was killed as he fought for our freedom. For his sacrifice, his family was given one half bushel of salt.

Slave buried in “hallowed ground”

Alexander, the brother who settled in Missouri, is buried in Apple Creek Cemetery next to his slave Peter. How he got a slave buried in hallowed ground is beyond me. Peter’s grave is encircled with large stones which could not have been easy to do. We do not know where his wife is buried. Records of Alexander’s trek and his request for pension are located in the Archive Center of SEMO University.

On an earlier trip, we visited the Indian Creek Community and McLain’s Chapel where I heard about a mix of Revolutionary War soldiers, Indian maidens, the Trail of Tears and a Civil War atrocity all wrapped up in about 640 acres.

Primitive 19th Century experience

James points out that the church, which has neither electric lights nor indoor plumbing, provides the most authentic 19th Century experience of any local church. You can read more about its history in this piece by Frank Nickell.

Church and cemetery photo gallery

Click on any photo to make it larger, then click on the side to move through the gallery.

April 27, 2013April 28, 2013

1943 Flood Aerial

After I ran photos of the Flood of 1943 from Dad’s scrapbook, a member of the Lamkin Family sent me this aerial photo of the flood. I asked who took it so I could credit the photographer, and he said, “No idea. It hung in my grandfather’s office for as long as I recall.”

Themis Street is on the left and Broadway is on the right. You can see the steeple of Trinity Lutheran Church and the Academic Hall dome in the background. Buckner-Ragsdale is the three-story building on the right, at the foot of Broadway. The St. Charles Hotel is the tall, light-colored building on the left side of Themis. The building with the checkered tile and sharp-peaked roof is Hecht’s Department Store. The Sturdivant Bank Building is between the St. Charles and Hecht’s.

Click on the photo to make it larger.

Here are some earlier stories about Buckner’s and the Lamkin family.

April 26, 2013

NOT the Pink Moon

While looking for photos to go with the Flood of 1943, I ran across these photos shot on the riverfront August 11, 2011. The moonrise isn’t pink like everybody is posting this week, but the sky certainly was. (You can click on the photos to make them larger.)

Train crews still wave

This toddler doesn’t quite know what to make of that loud thing going by, even if the crewman is giving him a friendly wave. I miss the old steam engines we had when I was a kid his age.

The shot these the evening the Duncan Kids from Kennett learned the venerable art of rock skipping. And, to show you how things remain the same, here’s a link to rock skippers in 1966.

April 26, 2013

Flood of 1943

The river is still rising at Cape. The crest was pushed back a day. They’re predicting it will hit 42 feet on Friday and stay there for about a day before going down fairly quickly. That got me digging for one of Dad’s scrapbooks where he had posted photos from the Flood of 1943, when the river crested at 42.4 feet in May of that year.

Was 1943 flood higher than 1844 flood?

Minutia is important in a small town. The December 8, 1943 Missourian had a fascinating debate about whether or not the Flood of 1943 beat out the Flood of 1844. The convoluted way it’s written signals to me that the reporter didn’t quite understand what he was writing about. Here is the account:

Some facts about high stages of the Mississippi River at Cape Girardeau, including determination that the May 1943 mark was higher than the 1844 flood have been established. There was some contention shortly after the 1943 record flood that the water did not set a new mark.

1943 was 9/100ths of a foot higher

City Engineer John R. Walther and T.E. Bliss, division engineer for the Frisco Railroad, went into the matter on a mathematical basis recently and came to the conclusion that the 1943 flood was 9/100ths foot higher than the flood crest of July 4, 1984.

The engineers determined tht the 1844 mark was actually 42.31 feet for Cape Girardeau and that the high mark for May 1943 was 42.4 feet, which was the U.S. Engineers’ record.

Went looking for nail

Mr. Walther and Mr. Bliss checked the actual height of both a mark and a nail in the former Houck building at Independence and Main streets, which have long indicated the previous high crest, and found them to both show the 1844 mark to have been 42.31 feet.

River gauge established

This was arrived at from the city datum, which was established officially long ago for the purpose of fixing levels. It is officially described as being 50 feet below the high water mark of 1844, government records state. They city river gauge later was established through city ordinance. The gauge’s zero is 7.75 feet above the city datum.

The mark for 1844 was commonly known for some years as 42.5 feet, but the engineers say this was an approximation and was not correct. Until a few years ago, the U.S. Department of Agriculture had published the 1844 Cape Girardeau mark as 42.5. In more recent years, the government mark referred to in reports was the 1927 stage of 40.04 feet.

“This settles argument”

The engineers, when making the check on river marks, notched the 1943 peak for the water on an east wall of the Frisco passenger depot. The plan is to place a marker there, showing how high the record flood – set on May 27, 1943, actually was.

Referring to the engineering checks recently made by himself and Engineer Bliss, who also resides here, Engineer Walther said: “I believe this settles any argument about the 1943 stage of the river being a record.”

The Firestone building today

Well, not EXACTLY today: this photo was taken April 5, 2010. Even though the river is about at the same stage as it was in 1943, the floodwall is doing a good job of keeping Main Street dry.

Floodwall and downtown

This is the general area that flooded. Firestone was at the southwest corner of Main Street and Independence.