Cape Girardeau History and Photos

October 27, 2015

Gravel Hill Methodist Church

A search for fall colors took me past a neat, well-kept white frame church at the corner of Highway 34 and Route U near the Cape – Bollinger county line close to Crump.There was nothing really spectacular about it, but my rule of thumb is that if it catches my attention, then it deserves at least a couple frames. (Click on the photos to make them larger.)

There was a fairly modern sign post out front that proclaimed it was New McKendree at Lake Girardeau. There was space below the name for a message, but it was left empty.

Renee Gordon

I was just about to pull out of the parking lot when a woman walked by. I gave her a wave, which she returned. When she unlocked the door, I asked if I could take a look inside.

It turned out the woman was Renee Gordon, who was hoping to close on the building this week. She plans to turn it into an art studio, gallery and school of the arts.

The church has changed names several times over the years, having been known as the Gravel Hill Methodist Church for a long time. She thought the building might be as much as 125 years old, but I found a 1997 Missourian story about Cape county churches that said the fieldstone foundation made it look like it might have been built in the 1930s. In 1997, the church still had an outhouse. It has a modern kitchen and bathrooms today.

Great space for a studio

I expected to see a dimly-lit, rundown auditorium with rows of dark pews lining the room, but Renee said what you see is essentially what the church left – open space with nice lighting and beautiful floors. It also still has the bell in the tower, and a rope hangs down in the lobby / kitchen area if you are moved to ring it (I didn’t want to ask).

A scan of the Missourian’s archive turned up lots of funeral services, potluck dinners, homecoming affairs and other typical happenings of a small rural church.

One story DID catch my eye: in 1927 a man (I don’t think it’s necessary to name him after all these years) was given a fine of $20 and 15 days in jail for disturbing religious worship at the Gravel Hill Methodist church, “but he was paroled as to the jail sentence pending good behavior.”

October 26, 2015

Searching for Fall Color

I went out looking for colorful leaves a couple times in the last week. The sun was bright and the sky blue on the first day, but the leaves hadn’t turned yet. The last couple of days have been a bit overcast with passing drizzles, but I did the best with what I had to work with.

Color came looking

After driving all over Cape and Bollinger counties, I took a short nap, then headed out to pick up some groceries. This is what hit me as soon as I opened the door. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a sky as blood-red as this one. Even the Boltons across the street were marveling at the sight. Based on the number of Facebook posts I’ve seen, everyone in Cape must have been standing slack-jawed in their yards.

Not more than two minutes after this picture was taken (and it’s not enhanced, by the way), all the color was gone. Just goes to show: “shoot ’em when you see ’em.”

Photo gallery

Some of the photos were taken in my back yard; some were at the City Park in Jackson; the tractors were on U between Crump and Gravel Hill. Click on any photo to make it larger, then use your arrow keys to move around the gallery.

October 25, 2015

Bob and Mary Tinker

I ran across a photo of neighbors Bob and Mary Tinker in an American Gothic pose. The date on the side of the print – March 1955 – means it was taken just about the same time we moved into our house at 1618 Kingsway Drive.

Mary is holding something in her hand, probably something she grew in her garden. (Click on the photos to make them larger.)

Check out the spotlight

Lots of cars of that era had spotlights. Even our 1959 Buick LaSabre station wagon had one integrated into the driver-side mirror. I thought it would be great for reading street signs and addresses, but it never worked.

If you went the drive-in movie, as soon as it got dark, impatient patrons would fire up their spotlights and start playing fox and hounds on the movie screen. Shortly after that, horns would start honking to wake up the projectionist.

How I remember Mr. Tinker

I almost didn’t recognize Mr. Tinker in the top photo because he almost always had a hat jammed on his head like here.

Mrs. Tinker in 1976

The Tinkers and the Grays, who lived just down the street from them, were great neighbors. This was taken in back of the house.

One of the oldest houses

The house at 1617 Kingsway Drive, is the oldest on the block, and the only one still standing of the original ones from the days when we were outside the city limits.

The Boltons live there now

Bill and Rhonda Bolton live there now. The house still looks from the outside a lot like it did in 1955, but Bill and Rhonda have made a lot of improvements to it. No matter how long they live there, though, we’ll always refer to it as “The Tinker House.”

When Rhonda turned 50

Mother had a blast at Rhonda’s birthday party in 2014. We all took a lot of comfort in knowing they were up on the hill keeping an eye on her.

October 24, 2015

Horseshoe Up or Horseshoe Down?

I was in Dutchtown the other day and decided to drive down the lane that separates our property from the neighbor to the south. It contains about half a dozen pecan trees that Mother and I used to like to visit at this time of year. Most of the nuts she was cracking here in 2012 came from those trees.

In the dozens of times I’ve gotten to this old building and turned around, I had never noticed the horseshoe above the door. (Click on the picture to make it larger.)

Why is a horseshoe lucky?

Wikipedia theorizes: Horseshoes have long been considered lucky. They were originally made of iron, a material which was believed to ward off evil spirits, and traditionally were held in place with seven nails, seven being the luckiest number.

The superstition acquired a further Christian twist due to a legend surrounding the 10th century saint Dunstan, who worked as a blacksmith before becoming Archbishop of Canterbury. The legend recounts that, one day, the Devil walked into Dunstan’s shop and asked him to shoe his horse. Dunstan pretended not to recognize him, and agreed to the request; but rather than nailing the shoe to the horse’s hoof, he nailed it to the Devil’s own foot, causing him great pain. Dunstan eventually agreed to remove the shoe, but only after extracting a promise that the Devil would never enter a household with a horseshoe nailed to the door.

Which way should it point?

The LuckyMojo website says it depends on where you’re from: In most of Europe, the Middle-East, and Spanish-colonial Latin America protective horseshoes are placed in a downward facing or vulval position, but in some parts of Ireland and Britain people believe that the shoes must be turned upward or “the luck will run out.” Americans of English and Irish descent prefer to display horseshoes upward; those of German, Austrian, Italian, Spanish, and Balkan descent generally hang them downward.

In regions where the horseshoe is placed facing upward, folks believe the horseshoe must point up “or the luck runs out.” In places where it is hung facing downward they say exactly the opposite — “it must point down so the luck can pour onto you.” However, in its function as an amulet for magical protection, especially over the doorways of barns and stables, the horseshoe usually points downward and it is said that “no witch will pass under it.”

What does the difference in directionality mean? I think that in most of the world it is the horseshoe ITSELF that is lucky and protective — whereas in England and Ireland the horseshoe is seen as a mere “collector” of luck from above. There are other regional and cultural differences in horseshoe beliefs, too:

In Italy, for instance, when a horseshoe is nailed by the side of the door (not above it), directionality is not considered important, but what IS important is that the horseshoe was actually used — worn and discarded by a horse — that it was found in the road or in a field, not purchased, and that the person who enters the door can touch it.