Fort D Archives

April 19, 2012

Endangered Buildings List

Scott Moyers had a story in The Missourian that the Cape commission had released an endangered buildings list. Here are the ones considered most endangered:

B’nai Israel Synagogue, 126 S. Main St.
Broadway Theater, 805 Broadway
Esquire Theater, 824 Broadway
Fort D blockhouse, 920 Fort St.
Franklin School, 215 N. Louisiana St.
Hanover Lutheran School, 2949 Perryville Road
Old Jefferson School, 731 Jefferson Ave.
Kage School, 3110 Kage Road
Lorimier Apartments, 142-148 S. Lorimier St.
Sturdivant Bank, 101 N. Main St.

I’ve done stories on almost all of them. Here’s a look back:

Kage School

I imagine the long, cold walk to the outhouse was not fun for this little guy,

Photos that were taken just before the Kage School closed , along with some interesting facts. It was integrated as far back as 1889, and accepted children from the County Poor Farm.
When I went back to document the building’s condition in 2010, I was surprised to see names going back to 1899 carved in the bricks.

Broadway Theater

I spent many a happy hour in the Broadway balcony

I was sure that the inside of the old Broadway Theater would be a disaster with the roof falling in and debris all over the place. When I got my first glimpse of the interior, I was transported back to the days of Saturday matinee movies in a grand theater. It’s ragged, but it’s still grand.
The basement under the theater was HUGE, but the dressing rooms for the old stage actors were tiny.

Esquire Theater

The Esquire had over a mile of neon lighting when it opened in 1947

Photos of the Art Deco Esquire Theater before the recent renovation project
Infrared film photos of teenybopper reaction to the Beatles movie Help! when it played at the Esquire in September 1965.
Photos of the maybe on, maybe off project to renovate the movie house.

Fort D

The building we know as Civil War Fort D didn’t exist until 1937. It was used as a residence in the 1960s.

101 North Main / Sturdivant Bank

Bank, telephone exchange building, Minnen’s Dress Shop, Cape Wiggery. The old building at 101 North Main Street has been many things and has some interesting connections to other pieces of Southeast Missouri history. Its neighbor, the St. Charles Hotel, home to General Grant in the Civil War, was torn down in 1967.

B’nai Israel Synagogue

The B’nai Israel Synagogue is in an historical triangle that includes the Red House and St. Vincent’s Church.

Jefferson School

Jefferson was a black school in 1953-1955 before the system was integrated.

Pictures of the oldest standing school in Cape Girardeau taken in 2010
I shot it again in 2011 after it had been slated for demolition. It may have had a reprieve.

Franklin School

This part of Franklin School will be torn down when the new building behind it is completed.

Franklin: the school with no name.
Franklin School and construction progress in July 2011.

September 28, 2011September 28, 2011

Doctors Wilson and Estes

I have some fuzzy memories of the Spanish Revival style brick building at 714 Broadway. When I was a kid, Mother would take my grandmother, Elsie Welch, there for arthritis treatments. Dr. Charles F. Wilson was her doctor. When I searched for information on the building, I found that Dr. Wilson shared office space with Dr. Albert M. Estes.

Civil Defense needs 400 block wardens

Here are some stories that ran in The Missourian that mentioned the two doctors.

Sept. 9, 1954 – Reports on the organization of special groups within the local Civil Defense unit were made Wednesday night at Fort D at a meeting of service chiefs presided over by Kenneth Cruse, director of the local unit. Dr. Charles Wilson, medical chief, reported that his group is organized and that he has studied the plans set out by the state Civil Defense headquarters. About 40 persons have volunteered for service as block wardens, according to John Kitchens, group chief, but “this number is very short of our actual needs,” he added. Plans call for a warden on each of the city’s approximate 400 blocks.
Feb. 7, 1956 – The course of history has often been changed by disease as by military conquest, Dr. Charles F. Wilson said Monday in a talk before Rotary Club. [If you follow the link, he gives some interesting examples.]

Dr. Estes first to use electrocardiogram

Sept. 29, 1970 – Dr. Raymond A. Ritter, spoke to the Rotary Club in 1970 about the changes in medicine in Cape Girardeau over his 37 years of practice. He said that he and Dr. H.V. Ashley are the only two practicing physicians of those here when he began his practice here June 28, 1933. Dr. L.S. Bunch and Dr. H.F. Baumstark are the only remaining dentists practicing at that time, he added. Doctors George Walker and C.A.W. Zimmerman were local pioneers in the used of radiology. Dr. Albert M. Estes was the first physician in Cape Girardeau to use the electrocardiogram.
Nov. 11, 1972 – The cardiac units at St. Francis Hospital will be known as the Dr. Albert M. Estes Cardiac station in honor of Dr. Estes’ 33 years of internal medicine practice in Jackson and Cape Girardeau. Dr. Estes established the first two cardiac care units in Southeast Missouri. The first unit was located in St. Francis Hospital in 1949, and the other soon afterwards as Southeast Missouri Hospital.
Sept. 22, 2001 – Flora Marie French passed away Thursday, Sept. 20, 2001. She practiced as a registered nurse in the office of Dr. Charles Wilson 14 years, and then at St. Francis Hospital 10 years. After retiring, she was a member of the St. Francis Auxiliary.

November 23, 2010October 2, 2016

Fort D and May Greene School

The defensive earthworks around Fort D show up clearly in these aerial photos shot Nov. 6. 2010. That’s the old May Greene School at the top right.

Looks like someone is cleaning up the old junkyard east of Giboney St. on the left.

May Greene – Fort D Neighborhood

This frame, with May Greene on the left and Giboney St. running from left to right across the bottom, shows a little of the neighborhood.

Fort D roof missing

The roof on the old fort is missing, as this photo shows.

Recent stories on May Greene and Fort D

I’ve written about both buildings in the past.

August 10, 2010September 6, 2016

Fort D in 1966

I’m pretty sure the photo with the tire ran in The Missourian, but a quick Google Archives search for 1966 didn’t pop up the story.

The stories that DID show up that year included one where some out-of-town tourists wondered why Fort D didn’t have any historical markers telling its story.

How long has that thing been missing?

“Darn!” said the City Fathers. “There used to be one up there. Wonder how long it’s been gone?”

The city had a caretaker living in the Fort for awhile, but when he moved out, all of the windows were broken out. (In a story that may or may not have been related, a caretaker was arrested for drunken driving and may have had other housing assigned to him.)

Weeds and trash

Weeds and trash were allowed to grow up around the landmark.

Fort D tourist-worthy in 2008

When Brother Mark and I rode up to Fort D on our bikes in October 2008, the grounds were well-kept and there were plenty of interesting historical markers to make the trip worthwhile.

The building is missing its roof, unfortunately.

I wrote about the history of the Fort on my bike blog. in 2008. Follow the link to read more about the fort and to see more contemporary photos.

I was disappointed to find that this isn’t the original fort. The American Legion bought the site to save it from development in 1936, and the WPA built the building in 1937.

Fort D Photo Gallery

Here are more photos from 1966. Click on any image to make it larger, then click on the left or right side of the photo to move through the gallery.