Cape Girardeau History and Photos

February 7, 2013

Guardian Angel Catholic Church

I mentioned yesterday in the Tour de Oran that photos of the Guardian Angel Catholic Church in Oran would be coming. Well, here they are. The first photo shows a white house on the left that Readers Madeline DeJournett and Samantha K identified as the priest’s house. Ms. K answered my question about why the house was so large: the sisters of the church lived there when the church still had sisters.

The outside is impressive

The brickwork and detail on the outside of the church, with a cornerstone that displays MCMXVI – 1916 for the Roman Numeral challenged – is beautiful. I don’t see how a small town like Oran could have supported such an impressive building. What’s interesting is that Oran, unlike so many other small towns, has actually picked up a few residents between the 2000 and 2010 censuses.

As of the census of 2000, there were 1,264 people, 507 households, and 353 families in the Oran. By the 2010 census, the numbers had increased to 1,294 people, 518 households, and 360 families. That’s not a lot, but it reverses what I would have thought would be the trend.

Inside is breathtaking

Just by the luck of the draw, I happened on to the Catholic churches in Oran, New Hamburg and Kelso on our wanderings. All were impressive, but this was by far and away the most impressive and most tastefully done.

The other thing that surprised me was that none of the churches were locked. That is refreshing.

Organ pipes

I’ve seen lots of church organ pipes. I’ve never seen any decorated like these. I couldn’t find much of the history of the church on the Internet, so I’m counting on you to share your memories of the place. If I had wanted to, I could have spent all day photographing the details of the place, but I felt a little uncomfortable wandering around without telling anyone what I was doing.

Photo gallery of Oran’s Guardian Angel Catholic Church

This is a far cry from the Old McKendree Chapel between Cape and Jackson. Click on any photo to make it larger, then click on the left or right side of the image to move through the gallery.

February 7, 2013February 22, 2021

Tour de Oran

I was really intending on checking out Chaffee, but I was tempted by a sign pointing to Oran. I don’t think I’ve been there in 40+ years, if ever. The first thing we saw when Mother and I went around a curve into town was the imposing Guardian Angel Catholic Church. It’s even more impressive inside than outside. I’m saving it for another day.

The second largest building to catch my eye was the grain elevator at the edge of town. I thought it might be abandoned, but I heard a faint noise and discovered a vent fan blowing and mildewed corn spilled on the ground. At least part of it much be active.

Iron Mountain Railroad depot

I identified this building as a train depot before I saw the sign and even without railroad tracks running next to it.

Jim Razor: born 1869; Died 1969

If the signs are to be believed, it was once the Iron Mountain Railroad depot and is currently being used by the Chamber of Commerce. It doesn’t look like it gets too much activity: a tombstone for Jim Razor, born May 10 (?), 1869, Died May 10 (?), 1969, must be a leftover from the town’s 1969 Centennial celebration.

Red building

I don’t know if this building has any significance. It was behind and near the Chamber of Commerce depot building. I just liked the way the afternoon sun brought out the red.

Oran City Hall

My first guess was this building was the Oran Library, but that turned out to be next door. This is the Oran City Hall. The use of local stone makes it striking. It has the feel of a WPA project, but I didn’t notice any markers to indicate that (not that I looked too hard. It was turning chilly when the shadows started drawing long).

Oran photo gallery

Here are more shots of the buildings mentioned above. Click on any photo to make it larger, then click on the left or right side of the image to move through the gallery. Wait until I get around to running the church photos. I don’t know how a place as small as Oran could support such a magnificent building.

February 6, 2013February 6, 2013

Pencil Sharpener Museum

Let me say right off that a guy who can put his hands on his grade school Valentines and almost every negative he’s shot since 1959, doesn’t have much room to wiggle when it comes to talking about what someone else collects.

Passenger Jan and I were blasting down the backroads of Ohio on our way to Old Man’s Cave when she spotted what looked like a welcome and information center. We did a quick U-turn and headed back.

One of the things I like about rural areas is that you can do things like U-turns and stop in the middle of the road if you want to take a picture.

Jan, a Florida native, wasn’t used to roads that curve and have deep dropoffs. About half her early postings were that she feared she was going to die in a crash or, worse yet, go flying over a cliff Thelma and Louise-style to meet her end in a ball of fire and/or freeze to death because nobody would find us until around March 15, when the buzzards would pass over on their way to Hinkley, Ohio.

People here drive, they don’t AIM their car

“Jan,” I explained patiently, “people outside of Florida learn to DRIVE their vehicle, not POINT it. Florida puts guard rails on perfectly straight stretches of road if there is a canal within 300 feet. Up here, you can have a 300-foot dropoff at the edge of the shoulder and it’s assumed that you are going to keep the car on the road because if you DON’T, there’s a 300-foot dropoff at the edge of the shoulder.”

She eventually quit whimpering. Or, maybe I just got to where I tuned it out.

So, back to the Pencil Museum

The Paul A. Johnson Pencil Sharpener Museum, which might measure roughly 10′ x 20′, is located on the grounds of the Hocking Hills Regional Welcome Center at 13178 State Route 664 South, Logan, Ohio, 43138. It is open to the public for free Mondays through Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. You can find out more at the center’s website.

It does NOT take you long to go through it unless you REALLY appreciate pencil sharpeners.

No puns or word play

First off, I am going to write this without any cheap puns because the walls of the place are covered with newspaper stories writers and editors tried to make “clever” and “cute” with bad puns and plays on words. I won’t do that, not because I don’t like puns and silly word play, but because some topics are too easy. This is one of them.

I have that camera

I have that camera pencil sharpener on the shelf in my office. I think Wife Lila may have given it to me. When Paul Johnson’s wife gave him a couple of sharpeners for a Christmas present after he retired in 1988, it triggered a dormant sharpener collecting gene. Before long, he had more than 3,400 of the things in all shapes, kinds, colors and subjects.

I showed more restraint. Besides, I liked mechanical pencils that didn’t need grinding.

Wife donated collection

When Paul died in 2010, his wife, Charlotte, donated his collection to the welcome center. (You can click on any photo to maker it larger.)

I bet you’ll recognize something

The odds are pretty good that you’ve owned at least one of his collection. In addition to the camera, I saw the old-fashioned plastic pencil boxes that had a sharpener built in that we used in grade school. He arranged his art objects by category.

Used to give them away

Early news reports said Paul would give away his duplicates to visitors. All of the ones on display now are supposed to be unique.

Plenty of color

Some of the colors are eye-catchingly, garishly blinding.

The Museum isn’t somewhere I’d go miles out of my way to visit, but it’s worth a stop if you want to kill a few minutes. The workers at the welcome center are friendly and the restrooms are clean. What more can you ask for? That’s the point of it, right?

Darn! I ALMOST made it without using any puns.

February 4, 2013February 5, 2013

World Population Increases

STOP THE PRESSES!!!! I always wanted to run into the press room to say that, but I never had a chance.

We’re going to interrupt our normal programming for an important announcement that is of way bigger significance than the story I had slotted for this space.

Son Adam and his wife, Carly, presented us with our third grandson on the evening of February 4, 2013. The news is so fresh that about all I can tell you is that Mother, Baby and Father are doing fine. All the details that Wife Lila and Mother are interested in will have to wait until the first official press release from the parents.

Son Matt’s arrival was announced over the newspaper’s two-way radio system. I got Baby Whatsit’s touchdown info via a text message. (Name, like weight, length and all that other stuff will come later.)

Here’s what Grandson Graham looked like when he was born, plus copies of the newspaper mockups we made for Matt and Adam’s birth announcements.

To recap, we have the following grandsons: Matt and Sarah’s son, Malcolm, who is 8; Adam and Carly’s two boys, Graham, almost 2, and Baby Whatsit, barely touched down.

UPDATE with NAME and STATS

Didn’t take Grandmother Lila long

It didn’t take Wife Lila long to jet out to the hospital to see her new grandson.

Name and stats are now available via Facebook post from Adam: “Elliot Lane Steinhoff born 9:15 pm on 2/4/2013. 7lbs 8oz and 19.5″ long. Chuck Norris wishes he could be as strong as Elliot’s mom on his best day.”