Cape Girardeau landmarks Archives

May 14, 2013

703-707 Broadway

OK, not EVERY old building in Cape is interesting. That, or I just missed the good stuff in my quick search for info on three buildings on the north side of the 700 block of Broadway. These two pictures were taken Oct. 28, 2009. Based on how much turnover The Missourian documents over the years, no telling what occupies them today.

703 Broadway

March 2, 1953: Mayor Manning P. Greer is notified that team of Air Force personnel will be at U.S. Air Reserve office, 703 Broadway, this week to conduct local portion of nationwide inventory of Air Force Reservists; inventory is to bring essential data of reservists up to date and to clarify status of each reservist in event of mobilization.

Jan. 8, 2003: A convicted murderer serving prison time on an unrelated robbery charge was sentenced Monday in Scott County to two additional 30-year terms for first-degree robbery. In November 2002, a jury found James L. Woodson, 39, guilty of two Cape Girardeau robberies. Prosecutors said Woodson used a handgun to rob the Citgo convenience store at 263 Farrar Drive on Aug. 19, 1999, and a Pizza Hut restaurant, formerly at 703 Broadway, three days later.

July 22, 2011, business license issued to Silver Eclipse, 703 Broadway.

705 Broadway

Oct. 21, 1928: Juden Music Co. formally opened yesterday at 705 Broadway in building formerly occupied by Barenkamp Shoe Store; Claude Juden and Peg Meyer, latter proprietor of Peg Meyer Music Co., which has been located in New Broadway Theater building on Broadway, are partners in business; Juden will have charge of sales department for radios and phonographs, while Meyer will conduct studio in connection with it.

1997 business roundup: Gary McMillan opened Antiques With An Attitude at 705 Broadway.

Jan. 8, 2002: Police report: A window was reported damaged Sunday at Hot Wheels, 705 Broadway.

July 12, 2002: The commission approved a special-use permit for David and Patsy Alexander to operate a dog grooming business at 705 Broadway, the former location of Hot Wheels.

Nov. 11, 2002: Dana King of Poplar Bluff is moving back to Cape Girardeau and she’s bringing her five dogs with her. The lifetime dog lover and owner is going to open Dana’s Pet Salon at 705 Broadway, near Subway. She hopes to open the business by Nov. 25. The salon will groom dogs and bathe cats, she said. I’ve already been doing this for three years, working with other pet groomers in the Poplar Bluff area,” she said. “Then I went to Petropolis.” Petropolis is a school that trains dog groomers, where over 14 weeks you learn the basics of shampooing and a variety of styling and cutting, she explained. “It seems there are more dog owners here,” she said. “We need more of that kind of service around here.”

Feb. 25, 2003, Police report: Property Damage A window was reported damaged Saturday by Dana’s Pet Salon at 705 Broadway.

July 19, 2010: business license to Phyllis’s.

July 17, 2011, Police report: A debit/credit card machine was reported stolen at 705 Broadway.

July 16, 2012, business license to Budget Buster Furniture, 705 Broadway.

707 Broadway

I had a managing editor who would dismiss the cop reporter’s story pitch as “just a bunch of mopes.” The apartments above 707 must have housed a nest of mopes over the years, because the police reports were full of people at that address getting into all kinds of minor skulduggery. Here are some more conventional business stories:

July 23, 1955: N.B. Mullen announces he has sold the Mullen Appliance Co., 707 Broadway, to Emmett Young, who has been associated with Mullen for the past nine months; Mullen will retain ownership of the building.

1999 business review: Broadway Ice Cream and Sweet Stop opened at 707 Broadway.

November 2001 business brief: The Rose of Broadway has opened at 707 Broadway. The French/American restaurant is owned by Geri Graves.

September 2005: Featuring Cajun and Creole influences, Chez Natchez opened its doors at 707 Broadway in Cape Girardeau, the former location of Rose of Broadway. The restaurant was operated by Kathy Broussard.

Aug. 23, 2007: Nehemiah’s Diner, 707 Broadway, has opened in the former Rose of Broadway location. New owners are Shauna Watson and Loyce Poole.

Dec. 30, 2010: New Life’s Homeless Outreach Center and Thrift Store at 707 Broadway provides temporary housing for displaced people.

May 13, 2013June 22, 2016

Frederick W. and Mary Karau Pott House

There is a striking two-story white house at the corner of Themis and Pacific across from Trinity Lutheran School that I’ve always wondered about. I paused on a Halloween afternoon’s bike ride in 2009 long enough to pop off a couple of frames.

It turns out there’s a world of information about it in its National Register of Historic Places registration form. If you are a fan of architectural detail, it’s worth a read.

History of Pott house

Frederick W. Pott was born in Prussia in 1839. He and his parents came to Cape Girardeau in 1854. Father and son joined the Union Army when the Civil War began, and Frederick was captured in the Battle of Shilo. After the war, he found employment in the milling industry. He married Mary (or Maria) Karau in 1865. They eventually had 11 children.

In 1877, he built Planters Mill at the foot of Main Street. Within four years, he owned the mill free and clear. The coming of the railroad to Cape Girardeau kicked off a boom, and around 1885 the Potts commissioned the building of this house at 826 Themis Street for their growing family. By 1888, Pott had increased the capacity of Planters Mill from an initial daily output of 80 barrels of floor to 200 and employed at least 10 men.

Disaster stuck when a fire swept through the mill on March 27, 1909. Pott’s insurance only partially covered the loss of the mill, elevator, warehouse and a large quantity of wheat, flour and bran that had been stored on the premises. The total loss was estimated at $50,000. He died the next year, in 1910.

Became office for doctors

The house remained in the family until 1938, when it was sold to D.W. Hope, a Cape physician. According to the historic places register application, professional offices were developed in the building after it was acquired by Dr. Hope, listings in city directories from 1942-1973 indicate. The H-R-S Company was formed by Dr. Hope and three other doctors: A.J. Rasche, Frank W. Hall and Mitchell H. Shelby.

The next owner was James McHaney, who sold the property to Steven and Emily Mellies on April 28, 1995.

The house is the white building at the top center of this November 2010 aerial photograph. Trinity Lutheran School is in the center.

May 6, 2013May 6, 2013

Traffic Bridge at Night

There’s something magic about shooting after dark. The light bounces around in ways it doesn’t during the daylight hours. There must have been some low clouds the night I shot these time exposures because the sky reflected a lot of the city’s lights.

When you were driving across the bridge, you probably didn’t notice there was a little bit of a curve to it. I shot this photo the same night as this one.

There’s a lot of steel here

You can see why it was a challenge to demolish the bridge. In one of those strange coincidences, I was scanning these photos on the same day Fred Lynch’s blog carried photos of the 1957 bridge-freeing queens.

St. Vincent’s steeple

You can see St. Vincent’s steeple just barely peeking up at the bottom right of this shot. The exposure was long enough that the tree branches are blurry, but too short for the car headlights to streak all the way across the bridge. (You can click on the photos to make them larger.)

April 5, 2013

Klostermann Block

What has been called the “Klostermann Block” never flew above my radar. I guess I never had any business there.

The building on the west side of Spanish Street south of Independence is on the National Register of Historic Places for some of its unique features. If you are interested in Cape history and architecture, it’s worth a read.

Who was Klostermann?

More interesting to me than the building is Louis F. Klostermann, who was born in Germany in 1837. He arrived in Cincinnati in the 1850’s and clerked in a dry goods store there. He came to Cape in 1860 and was wounded in the Battle of Vicksburg in 1862. He returned to Cape and was appointed postmaster. In 1882, he was one of 18 prominent citizens who formed the Cape Girardeau Building and Loan Association.

He served as State Representative in 1884 and 1885. When he returned from doing that, he bought Rockport Hall, the mansion of Josef Hoche on South Spanish. It was torn down in the 1930s to build the Knights of Columbus building.

In 1887, he purchased all the assets of Warren and Bierwirth Manufacturing and Merchandising Company on Spanish Street. He began operating a store there as the “Bee” Store, which was described as “one of Cape Girardeau’s chief mercantile establishments” in 1915. He also owned the former Cape Girardeau Woolen Mill which generated the first electric power in town.

He invested in several manufacturing enterprises, including the Cape Girardeau Box and Veneer Company and the Cape Girardeau Foundry.

This building is all that is left

After the turn of the century, he built the the commercial block next to his “Bee” Store for rental purposes. He had the old mill building enlarged into a modern factory which became the Ely and Walker Shirt Factory Number 2. He invested heavily in the Cape Girardeau Water and Electric Light Company and in the 1906 Southeast Missouri Trust Company. After his death in 1909, his widow continued his commercial activity through 1929, when she sold the buildings.

Of all the buildings associated with Louis Klostermann, only his rental building here remains. His home was demolished for the KC Hall, his Bee Store was destroyed by fire in 1989 and his factory burned in 1913.