Cape Girardeau History and Photos

December 30, 2010

Fishing on Cedar Lake?

I don’t know who these boys are, but the place has the feel of Cedar Lake to it. I see a fence on the left that’s going off into the water. I vaguely remember something like that from the half-dozen or so times I went to the lake. The boy on the right has on a Boy Scout T-shirt, but I don’t recall ever going out there with Troop 8.

If I recall it correctly, you’d pull up to a farmhouse and pay to fish. They must have had boats for rent. Jim Stone, Lila, someone else and I went out there once, and there’s a photo of Lila and me in a boat floating around (pardon the pun) somewhere. I don’t know if we rented it or if we just sat in it for the picture.

Lake looks free of development

View Cedar Lake in a larger map

This Google Map looks like the lake hasn’t changed much in the last 45 or so years. I’m surprised that there aren’t houses sprouting up all around it yet. I’m glad it looks pretty much like it always did. I’ll have to take a drive out there on the next trip home.

This may or may not have been close to the bridge where kids would cheat death.

December 30, 2010January 14, 2012

First Presbyterian Church

I captured the final days of the First Presbyterian Church located at the corner of Broadway and Lorimier, across from The Southeast Missourian, in March of 1965. The building was 63 years old.

When I look photos of landmark buildings torn down in those days, I’m amazed at how little was salvaged. The 110-year-old bell that had called out firefighters and warned of jail breaks was saved to be reinstalled in the new church, but beautiful ornate woodwork was knocked down and hauled off.

Cornerstone was removed

A March 30, 1965, Missourian story said that the building’s cornerstone was removed and would be examined later by a church committee comprised of Jack L. Oliver, Allen L. Oliver, Wendell P. Black, Mrs. Clyde A. McDonald and Mrs. Robert L. Beckman.

Bell goes back home

Before the end of the year, the new church far enough along that the bell could be reinstalled.

The re-belling didn’t go smoothly

The Dec. 1, 1965, Missourian story chronicled a number of missteps before the bell was placed gently into its cradle.

It had to be moved to a spot directly in front of the church.
The boom on the crane had to be lengthened.
A parking meter was in the way and had to be removed.
The crane ran out of gas and someone had to be dispatched to bring back five gallons to crank it up.

Finally it was on its way up

The Missourian building is on the left. The Idan-Ha Hotel hadn’t burned yet, and the city was still using the silver star Christmas decorations. Anybody know when those were phased out and what happened to them? I always thought they were kind of classy looking.

Pete Gibbar and Bill Vopelker were waiting

Pete Gibbar and Bill Vopelker, both of Perryville, were in the bell tower waiting for it to be lowered into place.

Bell bolted into place

The bell landed right where it was supposed to and was quickly bolted into its collar.

It works!

Pete and Bill were clearly happy when they rang the bell for the first time in its new home, the third of its existence. It was originally mounted in a wooden tower located on the courthouse side of the original brick Presbyterian Church. The tower and the church were torn down in 1904 to build the church that was just razed.

The bell, which is inscribed, Jones & Hitchcock, founders, Troy, N,Y, 1855,” was originally cast for a St. Louis church, but it proved too heavy to be used there. Mrs. Addie McNeely bought the bell for First Presbyterian for $500. It’s 43-1/2 inches wide at the mouth and weighs about 1,400 pounds.

First Presbyterian Church Photo gallery

Here is a gallery of other photos, including a strange shot I took while changing film on my way up to the bell tower. I include it because it shows some of the buildings in the area. Click on any image to make it larger, then click on the left or right side to step through the gallery.

December 28, 2010

Cape Looking at Bikes as Transportation

When I was home this fall, I wrote about the two-mile northern extension of the Cape LaCroix Recreational Trail from the Kingsway Dr. / Lexington Ave. trailhead.

At the time, I said that it looked complete except for a short stretch that still needed paving. Wife Lila and Mother took a drive by there in December and saw that the paving is done. Thanks to Lila for shooting these.

I don’t know if the stretch is officially open, but it was already being used when I was there in October.

Getting people from Point A to Point B

In other good news, The Southeast Missourian had a story December 28, 2010, saying that even more trail expansions are in the works for the coming year. What I find particularly exciting is that the city is changing from thinking of the path as a recreational trail and is looking at it as an alternative transportation corridor.

The project would have two segments to improve the connections between the area along West End Boulevard near the Shawnee Sports complex and the rest of the city, said Ken Eftink, assistant city manager and director of development services.

It’s not the length of the new trails that will matter, Eftink said, but where it will be located.

The main segment of new 8-foot-wide trail would run along West End Boulevard from Linden Street and extend south to snake through the soccer fields and connect with the pedestrian bridge where the trail currently ends, Eftink said. The second segment will be the connection from the trail to Shawnee Park ball fields near the Southeast Missouri Hospital pavilion, he said.

“The focus of the enhancement grant is really get people from point A to point B,” Eftink said. “Our overall goal is to provide a loop of the city. The trail opens up access to Arena Park, the Aquatics Center, Osage Centre and now up to North County Park,” Eftink said.

December 27, 2010December 28, 2014

Shoe Factory Neighborhood

I can’t believe I missed this aerial photo of the old shoe factory plant I shot April 14, 1964, when I ran the piece on the site being the new home of the Isle of Capri Casino. You can clearly see the infamous jog in Main Street that will be straightened.

Jog provided challenge

Reader John Burciaga shared this story about the jog: My only brother, Joe, Jr., 9 years older, was quite adventurous as a youngster. He and a buddy used to race side by side from downtown Main St. to the shoe factory site, where the sharp “dogleg” zig-zags left-to-right. This was always late at night, being careful police cars were not around, or traffic from the opposite direction. He never got hurt but I recall he tore a door off–reminding me a bit of the movie Rebel Without A Cause and the great chase to see who would bail out of his auto first before the drop-off.

This undated wreck photo from the 60s probably wasn’t caused by the zig-zag. It happened north of the jog and the car was southbound. You can barely see a building in the background that says “Cafe and Tavern.” The 1969 City Directory didn’t list the full name of the establishment.

Windows were painted

This shot of the wreck from the other direction shows the heavy-duty power lines feeding into the shoe factory and the painted windows. The only reason I can think for painting the windows would be to diffuse the light coming through them so there wouldn’t be any glare inside.

Old building at bottom of Mill Street

This old building at the bottom of Mill Street and south of the shoe factory, was still there in the spring when I shot a freight train going by.

Fairway Market No. 2

Missourian photographer Fred Lynch ran a Frony photo of shoe factory workers on strike in 1962 in his blog Dec. 3, 2010. He identified a building in the background as being the Fairway Market No. 2.

It’s been a number of things in the intervening years. Oct. 20,2009, a sign on the front of the building said that it was NOW OPEN as Margarita Mama’s. I don’t know how long they lasted or if they are still open. The Missourian had a number of stories detailing problems with the establishment’s liquor license.

I did see a notice that a tax lien against the property was discharged Dec. 10 of this year.

Red Star Baptist Church

The Red Star Baptist Church is outside the casino area, as far as I know, but I’m tossing in a photo of it since it’s been a Red Star landmark. I remember it being right on the edge of the flood waters in 1993. I’ll revisit that area when those negatives surface.