Cape Girardeau landmarks Archives

August 14, 2011June 30, 2016

Esicar’s Auction Aug. 21

Rumors have become reality. The building that housed Cape Girardeau’s landmark business, Esicar’s, will be sold at auction Aug. 21 at noon. Missourian business reporter Melissa Miller wrote that the three-story building, its contents and the one-acre site it sits on will be sold. Included in the items up for sale is Esicar’s original brass cash register, antique furniture, meat processing equipment, coolers, and a concession trailer.

This will be the end

A business like Esicar’s can survive one owner change, but I gather from comments that I’ve read and heard that the current owner didn’t have the loyal following of the original family.

When it’s sold this time, it’s going to be like the classic story of the man who was offered an axe owned by George Washington. The prospective buyer hefted it and said, “It looks awfully new to have belonged to George Washington.”

“Well, to be honest, it’s had three new handles and two heads since Washington used it.”

I think the Esicar spirit left the building well in advance of the auction. I’m going to predict that an entirely different business will go into the building when it’s all over.

Earlier links

I admit never having been a fan of Esicar’s and was taken to task by my readers. You’d have thought I had said that McDonald’s was better than the Blue Hole.

I speculated that Esicar’s was closed because the store didn’t show any signs of life.

July 29, 2011September 18, 2011

KFVS Radio Tower Had Twin

I wrote about the KFVS Radio tower that you see on the side of Highway 61 near North County Park over a year ago, but people are still commenting on it. (Note: when you go to the link, press Ctrl-F5 to make sure the latest comments are there.)

Reader William Pollack added a new dimension to the story with his comment: The tower featured on this page is one of the two original KFVS radio towers when located on Highway 61 North. They were used until 1947 when KFVS switched from 1400AM to 960AM with towers and transmitters located in East Cape. The original TV tower (’54-’60) was located directly north and across the street from the radio tower pictured. There was also a twin tower to the radio which was later moved and still stands behind the TV studio station location at 310-325 Broadway.

Tower DID have a twin

I vaguely remembered seeing a mast behind the TV station, but never paid any attention. William is right. It’s still there.

The tall concrete structrure in the background is the KFVS office building. Here’s what the view from the 11th floor looks like.

Google Earth view of TV tower

Reader Tim Brown noted “Just noticed that Google Earth has updated the photo of the tower. Much clearer. Do I see an observation deck of sorts up there? Looks like a platform with railing…” It’s quite an impressive shot. Zoom in tighter to see what he’s talking about.

I wonder who owns the old KFVS radio tower at the top of the page? It would be nice if it could be preserved as an example of the region’s history.

July 26, 2011September 18, 2011

Esicar’s Looks Closed

I mentioned back in April that I didn’t think I had ever been in Esicar’s. There was such an immediate outcry from readers wondering if was really a Cape Girardeau resident that I had to scurry to produce a certified copy of my birth certificate. That, plus a pledge to try them the next time I hit town stilled the mob for awhile.

The photo above was taken April 22, not long after a March 6, 2011, fire that did an estimated $300,000 damage to the structure. The Missourian reported that the electrical fire was ruled accidental. The portable sign in front of the store reads, “Thank you for your support & business. We will open ASAP.”

Still closed July 22

After passing the place for a couple of weeks without seeing any activity, I stopped by the business on July 22. The portable sign promising to “reopen ASAP” is gone, but the two white buckets full of greasy water are still there.

This was taken at 10:41 am, on a Friday, well within the posted business hours, but the door was locked and two CLOSED signs were displayed.

Looks the same as it did in April

Everything inside the north front window looks like it’s in the same place as it was on my last visit.

South window unchanged

Nothing has changed in the south window in three months and the glass has that smoky, greasy appearance of a building where a fire has occurred. The OPEN sign was not illuminated.

Fliers promote March events.

More telling is that the fliers in the window promote events that happened in March. If a Cape County business doesn’t have a Jacque Sue Waller poster up, then you KNOW they’re closed.

(Jacque Sue Waller is a mother of triplets who went missing on the day when she was going to finalize divorce proceedings and to pick up her son from his father. Her car was found abandoned with a flat tire along I-55, but there’s been no trace of her. Her husband is a “person of interest,” but no arrests have been made because it’s not clear what crime, if any has been committed. Keep watching TV. The missing woman is young and attractive, so she may be the next woman to take over Casey Anthony’s spot on the news. The Missourian has created a special section to keep you updated.)

Interior in disarray

A glance through the front store window shows an unplugged freezer on a cart, general disarray, partially empty soft drink bottles on the counter and a dark ceiling that looks like has black smoke near the vent in the middle of the room. It’s pretty much the same as I remember seeing in April.

Neighboring businesses don’t know anything

I checked with two businesses just south of the store. One said they hadn’t seen anyone in the place since the March fire. Another thought they were closed and did an Internet search which turned up at least one complaint from someone who had a gift card that wasn’t being honored.

I placed a call to the telephone number listed on Esicar’s Old Hickory Smokehouse website and reached a telephone company intercept message telling me that I have to dial a 1 or a 0 in front of the number. Considering that I’m calling from a cell phone, I can only assume that the call is being forwarded somewhere, because I shouldn’t have to dial a 1 or 0 in front of any number in the continental U.S.

Something else that’s odd about the website is that it has a management/semo.edu address. Does SEMO host business websites?

Empty shopping carts

A peek through the north window shows shopping carts in the same position for three months.

Is this the end of the line?

Esicar’s was established in 1934 and was sold in 2007. Will a fire in 2011 mark the end of a Cape Girardeau landmark business? If anyone has any information about when and if the business is going to reopen, let me know.

It sounds like it’s over for Esicar’s for now

Update: after writing this and before pressing the PUBLISH button, I received an email from a reader who wrote, “They are not going to open again under this ownership. The electrical fire destroyed all the meat cases, the interior and all the meats they had
on hand. I will really miss them and I can’t find any bacon that is nearly as good as theirs. What a loss! The insurance did not begin to cover their expenses.”

July 25, 2011September 18, 2011

“The Barn” for Good Fishing

Faithful reader and regular contributor Keith Robinson was in town from Kansas City for a family reunion and suggested that we get together. He was a little young to be on my radar, but he was in Scouts with my brothers and Dad. He’s a great resource because he’s a model railroader who is attempting to recreate a layout of all of Cape’s railroads between Nash Road and Cape Rock. I think he’s accounted for every spike that’s ever been driven in this area.

He came out to the house and we looked at old photos for a couple of hours. He spotted a landmark that I’ve thought about often, but would have sworn I never documented. When I started school and we moved out of the trailer that Dad and Mother hauled from job site to job site, we rented a house at 2531 Bloomfield Road. It was a great house for a kid: there was a flat field west of us that was great for playing catch. A sloping field on the east side had some climbing trees at the bottom.

Cape LaCroix Creek oxbow

Best of all for a budding fisherman, The Barn was close enough that I could persuade Mother to take me down to fish in what I thought was a pond, but looks in the aerial to be an oxbow of Cape LaCroix Creek. The Barn, sometimes called The Red Barn, is on the lower right. (Click on the photo to make it larger.)

Cape Ready Mix is center left. Rueseler’s Chevrolet is across the street. Click here to see the Chevy dealership at night from the ground.

I couldn’t find many stories about The Barn as an eating establishment. As I recall, their specialty was barbecue, but I think they also sold watermelon in season. I think they also had fireworks for the Fourth.

South Kingshighway today

The area looks entirely different. The Barn is long gone. It was located about where the S Kingshighway label is. The shopping mall is in the upper right-hand corner. Southern Parkway, which connects I-55 to the Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge didn’t exist in the 60s.

South Kingshighway – Bloomfield Road

This was taken slightly north of the previous photo and shows the intersection of South Kingshighway and Bloomfield Road. On the far right-center of the photo, where the highway crosses over Cape LaCroix Creek is a small building that I think was Central Packing Company. Whatever it was, it produced the most nauseating stench on a hot day. They had to have been dumping offal into the creek. I’ve often wondered if the current occupants are aware of what the building had been used for.

Stories about 607 South Kingshighway

Even though I didn’t find any stories about The Barn as I remembered it, there were plenty of stories in The Missourian about businesses at that address.

Oct. 18, 1968 – Ad: 8-hour liquidation sale on appliances. Barn Discount Appliance. 607 Kingshighway (south of Plaza)
Dec. 6, 1968 – Ad: Liquidation Auction Sale. New merchandise – name your own price. Red Barn. 8 big sales days before Xmas. Terms: Cash Everything sells. Located 607 South Kingshighway, across from Rueseler Chevrolet.
Oct. 17, 1969 – City council news: Upon a report of the police department, refused the application of Thomas H. Armbruster for a liquor by the drink license at the Barn, South Kingshighway. [Note: I wonder if that’s what killed it as an eating and dining establishment?]
Nov. 15, 1969 – Fronabarger business column: There will be a new retail shoe outlet in the city. Dee Dee’s Shoe Outlet, specializing in women’s footwear, will occupy the site of The Barn on Kingshighway south. The outlet is now located at Dutchtown and is owned and operated by Kenneth Corbin. The store is to be opened soon.
Mar. 1, 1979 – A string of burglaries was reported. “The Dee Dee Shoe Outlet, 607 South Kingshighway, was also reported burglarized. Two six-packs of Coors beer were reported missing.” [Note: beer break-in at a shoe store?]
June 27, 1982 – A burglary was reported at Dee Dee’s Shoes, 607 South Kingshighway. Entry was gained by removing a padlock from a door on the south side of the building. Taken were eight pairs of women’s shoes, a 15-inch color television set, a radio and a fire extinguisher. Loss was estimated at about $275. [Note: Total loss for all of that was $275?]
Dec. 29, 1986 – Kingsway Nissan, 607 S. Kingshighway, joined group ad urging readers not to drink and drive.
July 11, 1988 – Michael S. Hurt reported a car stereo stolen Sunday morning at 607 South Kingshighway. (Coad Chevrolet, across the street, was also hit for an AM/FM cassette car stereo.)
Feb. 23, 1989 – A Jetsound AM/FM cassette radio and power booster belonging to Kingsway Nissan was stolen from 607 South Kingshighway, it was reported Wednesday. [Note: I wonder if it was an 8-track? It would be fun to see if I could find the date when the last 8-track stereo was stolen in Cape. Last week?}
Sept. 28, 1989 – Auffenberg Nissan – Jeep – Eagle looking to fill full-time office position for someone experienced in computer accounting, car deals, accounts payable, accounts receivable and payroll.
Feb. 24, 1994 – Business wrapup: Crown Cadillac Old Nissan, which moved from Independence to 607 S. Kingshighway last year, reported a healthy increase in sales in 1993.
Mar. 30, 1998 – Business personnel column: Ray Drury is retiring from the automotive industry after 39 years. Drury will retire Tuesday from Crown Cadillac Olds Nissan, 607 S. Kinghighway, after six years with the company as salesman.