Cape Girardeau History and Photos

January 30, 2011

Strack Quarry or Dalhousie First?

I was researching the history of SEMO Stone, which was once Federal Materials and was originally the Edward Hely Limestone Quarry. It might even be older than the cement plant quarry, but I’m still checking.

Anyway, I’ve been following the Fruitland quarry controversy with half an eye without developing any strong opinions one way or the other. One of the players also owns Strack Excavating and Hauling, which owns the quarry I featured Jan. 7, 2011,

I recalled reading some back-and-forth in The Missourian about which came first, the quarry or the houses in the Dalhousie golf community. I took the lazy way out and activated the timeline feature in Google Earth. Here’s what I found.

May 22, 1996, both properties undeveloped

The first photo available shows both the quarry area and the golf development undeveloped and being used for agricultural purposes. The street overlay makes it look like there are streets, but they don’t exist. Hwy 74 and Bloomfield Rd (CR 205) are about the only real roads. (Click on the images to make them larger.)

Jan. 1, 2003, no Dalhousie homes

In this USDA Farm Service photo from Jan. 1, 2003, we can see that both the golf course and the quarry are taking shape. The housing area, though, is still forest.

May 11, 2005, Dalhousie starts clearing

In this photo from May 11, 2005, the quarry is beginning to show some depth. Clearing has begun in the Dalhousie housing area. Some of the streets are paved, some are still under construction. Google also had a USDA photo from June 15, 2005, but it was similar to this one and of poorer quality, so I omitted it.

June 16, 2009, Dalhousie homes appear

By the time 2009 rolled around, the quarry had gotten substantially deeper and the homes on the bluff overlooking it had been built. Most of the roads are paved.

Nov. 6, 2010, aerial photo

My Nov. 6, 2010, aerial photo shows a slightly different angle from Google’s, but the situation is pretty much the same. The quarry is much deeper. I don’t think any additional homes have been built.

Chicken or Egg conclusion

I’m going to have to say that these photos show that the Dalhousie Golf Course and the Strack Quarry were both developed at roughly the same time. There is no doubt, however, that the quarry was well established before the first home in the development was built.

January 28, 2011

Capaha Lagoon Swimmers

I see in The Missourian that the city is going to pull the plug on the Capaha Park swimming pool, literally. While rooting around trying to find pool pictures, I ran across these kids picking the lagoon instead of the pool.

Mystery swimmers

The top shot feels vaguely familiar, so it might have run in the paper. There wasn’t a date on the negative sleeve, so I didn’t have an easy way to track it down. There were kids swimming in a pool in other frames, but it wasn’t the Cape pool. It looked like it might have been a swimming class taught at a local motel pool.

Still looking for pool pictures

I’m still digging for those pool photos. I know I’ve got the stuff from the Millie the Duck series, Lila’s synchronized swimming team, swimming classes, swim meets and diving competition. Be patient.

If you DO need a Capaha Swimming Pool fix, here’s some photos of a dance party held there one night.

January 27, 2011

Picasso’s Clown

All I know about this photo is that the negative sleeve said “Picasso’s Clown 5/6/1967.” I scanned Missourians for two months after that date and didn’t see anything that looked like this.

It’s an art class somewhere with a live model, but I don’t know if it was a high school class or one at SEMO. The two young women look vaguely familiar, but I’m not going to toss out a guess.

Anyone? Who, what, where, when and why?

January 26, 2011

Lawman Norman Copeland

This photo is a two-fer. It shows one of my favorite law enforcement officers, Trooper Norman Copeland, and the reason I’m a fanatic about seat belts.

Trooper Copeland is working a two-car, head-on crash that happened on Hwy 61 north of Fruitland. Six people were taken to the hospital. The car didn’t have seat belts or any of the modern safety devices, and you can see how the passengers became flying missiles.

The steering wheel is bent and broken; the back of the front seat is deformed from the rear seat passengers pitching against it. There’s a hole punched in the windshield from someone’s head and there’s a big dent in the dashboard, also from a head.

Why you should wear a seat belt

There were no fatalities, but injuries included

Back injuries
Severe facial lacerations
Chest injuries
Two broken legs
Broken jaw
General cuts and bruises

WWII Vet, Trooper, Sheriff

Norman Copeland was a World War II Vet who served in both Europe and Asia. After he joined the Highway Patrol, he moved to the Cape Girardeau zone in 1962. He was promoted to corporal in 1967, and to sergeant in 1967. He served as zone commander until he retired in 1983.

He became Cape County Sheriff in 1986 and served until he resigned in 1994.

At a dinner in Copeland’s honor when he retired, Presiding Circuit Judge Bill Syler said, “Nobody ever looked better on a witness stand as a highway patrolman than Norman Copeland,” adding that his gray hair, neat uniform and warm smile made him a convincing witness to any jury.

That was what I remembered about Trooper Copeland. It could be the middle of the night in a driving rainstorm and he wouldn’t have a hair out of place. He was always cooperative at the scene and went out of his way to answer all of my rookie reporter questions. There was a Missourian editorial complaining about access after he became sheriff, but I always found him to be helpful.

The photo at the top of the page may have won a minor spot news photography award, but I can’t be sure.