Cape Girardeau History and Photos
News photos that have grown whiskers and have become history
I can’t help but be drawn to the World War I private standing vigil on the county courthouse lawn in Jackson. Click on the photo to make it larger.
This isn’t the first time I’ve shot him, and I’m sure it won’t be the last. Here are some early posts with him in it.
The World War I doughboy who stands on the courthouse lawn in Jackson hasn’t been to all 106 Homecomers celebrations; he wasn’t erected until Decoration Day – May 30 – 1925.
Here’s a quick glance of Friday night’s celebration. Click on any photo to make it larger, then use your arrow keys to move through the images.
When I was up in the dome of the Jackson Courthouse on a hot summer day in 2012, I took a picture of a white building at 125 Court Street, but I didn’t pay much attention to it.
When I was back this spring, I shot a couple of frames of it from the ground, but they were just building mug shots in case it burned down or figured in the news in some other way.
I was still curious about it because of the sign on the front that reads “Jones Drugs Since 1871.” My first Google attempts didn’t bring up anything about the history of the place, so I was ready to stick it in the “nice try” stack. A couple pages down, though, was a National Register of Historic Places registration form for the Jackson Uptown Commercial District.
The form describes the building at 125 Court Street as being “a two-story brick, two-part commercial block building with a stepped parapet wall. The original double hung one-over-one windows remain on the east and north elevations. They have segmental arch brick hoods with stone sills. The cornice line is simple but original and intact. The storefront of has large glass display windows – two bays on the south side of the recessed center entrance and three bays on the north side.”
Just about the time my eyes were glazing over, I got to the really cool part: “In 1908, when the new courthouse was completed, the city of Jackson implemented plans to beautify Jackson causing the street design plan to change to create the Courthouse Square. Jones Drug Store was scheduled to be demolished, but Mr. Jones contracted with a St. Louis firm to have his building rotated to face the new street. Using horses and wagons to rotate the building, Jones Drug Store became the first building in the local region to be moved and turned to face in another direction.”
You never know what you’re going to find when you tug on a thread of history.
Everybody talks about the pretty fall colors, but I like coming back to the Midwest to see things returning to life in the spring. Nothing says spring like bright green clover and balls of yellow dandelions.
These dandelions on the Jackson Courthouse lawn were flashing yellow caution lights warning us not to get too comfortable even though the mercury was creeping into the upper 70s. Winter, apparently wasn’t done with us yet, because those warm temps were replaced by freeze warnings.
Reader and railroad buff Keith Robinson tipped me off that one of Louis Houck’s railroad depots was still standing in Fruitland, so Mother and I headed up there to check it out. You’ll get to see it after I’ve done a bit more research.
Knowing Mother’s desire to find a road she’s never been on before, I turned onto 541 off of Hwy 61. Before long, we were at a well-preserved Pleasant Hill Presbyterian Church and cemetery. That, too, will be a future post.
Beyond it, we passed a whole field of dandelions flashing caution signs at us. I know some folks call them weeds, but I think they’re pretty.
L.V. Steinhoff was born April 17, 1917. He would be 97 today had he not died in 1977. This picture of Dad behind the wheel of our 1959 Buick LaSabre station wagon, ever-present cigarette in hand, had to have been taken about 1961, because he gave up smoking about two years later. I spent many a mile looking at this profile and I’d love to see it again. This post will tell you a little about who he was.
Because he and his two brothers were dead by 60, I never thought I’d make it past that birthday.
I guess it’s a healthy sign that I just mentioned two future stories. When I was 59, I was much more cautious about making plans for tomorrows. I told Curator Jessica on one of our road trips last year that I was taking out five-year options now. When I hit 67, I figured I’d make it to 72; when I get there, I’ll see if I can renew the lease.