Cape Girardeau History and Photos

April 3, 2013April 3, 2013

Cape Girardeau Sand Company

While cruising around looking for flood photos, I stopped at the Cape Girardeau Sand Company for a couple of shots. David Hente had a good piece on the sand company in the August 30, 1992, Missourian. At that time, Cape Sand had been in business 75 years and was the largest company of its type between Cape and Chester, Ill. (In another month, the river was higher.)

Family-owned business

The company was created in 1919 when Peter Deimund and his son, Linder, launched the business with a capital investment of $5,510. When the story was written, it was still a family business. Members include Linder P. Deimund, Jr., who helped construct a sand conveyor system with his father and who does all the maintenance work; Richard Deimund, the pilot of the sand dredge Miss Catherine; Jerry Beckett, deckhand on the Miss Catherine; Jeff Deimund, clamshell shovel operator; Gary Hester, front-end loader operator in the sand yard, and office manager Sonny Deimund.

Business started at the foot of Themis

The company’s first site was at the foot of Themis Street, then it moved north to Broadway. In 1924, the Deimund family bought riverfront property in the 300 block of North Main Street. This is where I took this photo around 1964. It was supposed to be an arty silhoutte. It ended up neither arty nor a good record shot.

The building in the background with the white on it has a hanging sign that says “North American Van Lines.” Across the front of the building is lettering that says something “& Storage.” I’m going to guess that was Nichols Transfer and Storage listed at 447 North Main Street in the 1969 City Directory. The sand company moved to its final location in the 1300 block of Water Street in 1963.

Red Star and Cape Sand Co

This aerial showing the Cape Girardeau Sand Company and what is left of the Red Star District was taken April 17, 2011. The concrete pad at the left of the photo is what we used to call Honker’s Boat Dock. To the left of Sloan Creek is the area that is being cleared for the Isle Casino Cape Girardeau. The light-colored building at the top center is the Show-Me Center.

Housekeeping note

The program that sent out email notifications when I posted new material quit working. Son Matt installed a new one that we hope will work more reliably. We’ll find out soon if everyone’s email address transferred over. If you haven’t signed up for a free subscription, put your email address in the box at the top right of the page and press Subscribe Now. You’ll get an email confirming that you are you. Click on it and you are in business. You may unsubscribe at any time (but we’ll hate to see you go.)

April 2, 2013December 28, 2014

Mississippi River Water Haul

Firefighters call a false alarm a “water haul.” I had a water haul on April 19. 1967. I saw that The Missourian was going to run some stories that the Mississippi was reaching flood stage, so I cruised around shooting “wild art” hoping that jBlue might be looking for something to illustrate them. Unfortunately for my pocketbook, the water never got high enough that it warranted more than brief stories with no pictures.

The river WAS backing up into Sloan Creek, but it had a long way to go before it was going to cause any problems in the Red Star District. That’s the shoe factory in the background. Here is a history of one of Cape’s leading employers, now the site of the casino.

Honker’s Boat Dock

This youngster is tempting fate at Honker’s Boat Dock. You can see the water get higher in these photos taken in June.

March 31, 2013April 2, 2013

Now Beautify Central (NBC) Week

“Barrelling Along: Centralites “barrelled” along this week, planting shrubs, cleaning seats and picking up litter as part of NBC (Now Beautify Central) Week,” read the caption on The Missourian’s Youth Page April 29, 1967. “Busily painting the school’s trash barrels are, from left, Jim Froemsdorf (committee chairman), son of Mr. and Mrs. Martin Froemsdorf, 1619 Schivally; Gene Feuerhahn, son of Mr. and Mrs. Ray Feuerhahn, 1721 Perryville road, and Rommie Holland, son of Mr. and Mrs. Dale Holland, 1509 East Riverside.”

Planting shrubs

One guy digging, one guy thinking about digging, one guy supervising. The sign, by the way, was a gift of the Class of 1965. I pushed for something more academic, like books for the library, but we ended up with a sign that disappeared after a relatively short number of years. Young whippersnappers should note the absence of any air conditioning units sticking out of the windows. When it turned hot, we studied hot. Fortunately, only freshmen had to chop wood to warm the classrooms in the winter.

Scavenger hunt

These students are on a hunt for any salvageable pieces of gum stuck to the seats. The group in the back appears to be hot on the trail of a good piece. The foreground students seem a bit less enthusiastic.

Cheerleader tryouts

I must have walked through the gym during cheerleader tryouts because it’s on the same roll as the NBC photos. That might be PE teacher Ellen Towse on the right. The man in the middle might be Calvin Chapman.

The picture is pretty much unremarkable, but I DO sort of like the shadows on the floor.

Housekeeping Note

Some of you have accused me of slacking off the past few days because you haven’t gotten an email in the morning telling you that there is new content. For some strange reason, the program that sends those out has hiccuped. Son Matt and I have done everything but sacrifice a chicken to get it going. I hope it wakes up in the morning. Be assured that you can go directly to the site without me nudging you. Sorry for the inconvenience.

March 30, 2013April 4, 2015

Images for Easter

Seeing all of the religious pictures on Facebook this week go me to thinking of how many photos of crosses I have taken in the area over the years. Here are just a few, with links to the original stories. You may click on any photo to make it larger. This is an aerial of the Bald Knob Cross taken not long after it was built.

“Judas got a raw deal”

Kenneth Saunders walked more than 4,000 miles to deliver the message that “Judas got a raw deal.”

Trinity Lutheran Church at dusk

I was walking back to my car after shooting another photo when I spotted Trinity Lutheran Church at dusk.

Cape LaCroix Creek marker

This concrete cross has a plaque: “In 1699, Fathers Montigny, Davion and St. Cosme, French missionaries, erected a cross where this stream entered the Mississippi and prayed that this might be the beginning of Christianity among the Indians. The stream has ever since been known as Cape La Croix Creek.” The cross, which had been at the intersection of Kingshighway and Kingsway from 1947 to 2009, when it was moved so a commercial building could be built on the site. Ironically, the marker has never been located close to where the Mississippi River and Cape LaCroix Creek intersect.

Dutchtown cemetery

This cross is in a tiny cemetery located on a high ridge overlooking the ever-diminishing Dutchtown.

Nelsonville cross on a hill

I spotted this cross in Nelsonville, Ohio, on my recent trip back to Ohio University.

Modern-art cross

At first glance, I thought the front of the old Notre Dame High School had been covered with graffiti.

Tower of Memories

Newspaper accounts said the 57-foot tall, 16′ x 16′ Tower of Memories at the Cape County Memorial Park Cemetery would have three stories: the bottom floor would contain an office and the second and third floors would house the Celesta-Vox, touted as “The Voice from the Heavens.”

St. Vincent’s at sunset

I was hoping to shoot the full moon and fireworks when St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church caught my eye.

St. Eisleben Lutheran Church

The St. Eisleben Lutheran Church in Scott City has one of the most unusual steeples I’ve seen.

Altenburg Trinity Lutheran Church

An “inland hurricane” took the steeple off the Trinity Lutheran Church in Altenburg, but you could never tell it today when you look at the 1867 structure..