Jumbo's fate
Published Sept. 11, 1925, this photo shows the entire Cape Girardeau Fire Department fleet of trucks. The two Robinson engines purchased in 1916 -- the Jumbo pumper and the hook and ladder trucks --...
View Article1966 hangar fire
Most of the time, when I start a new blog, I'll check the offerings of my fellow Missourian bloggers to make sure I'm not repeating information that has already been presented. I recently came across a...
View ArticleThe disappearance of Roy E. Schneider
Roy E. Schneider is a man of mystery. In fact, that's not even his real name. The native of Cape Girardean County was born Roy Ehrenschneider on Feb. 21, 1894, to George and Mary Krehbiel...
View ArticleFiberglass giant has been gone 25 years
For nearly a decade, a fiberglass giant towered over Houck Stadium, welcoming Southeast Missouri State University Indian football fans on cold winter days. A 27-foot statue of an American Indian made...
View ArticleBergmann-Bartels dissolved partnership in 1916
Bergmann-Bartels store, 521-523 Broadway. Aside from the news out of Europe about the growing conflicts there and the excitement locally of a circus coming to town, the big news the third week of...
View ArticleControversy accompanied construction of Naval Reserve building in Cape Girardeau
This site at the entrance to Arena Park from U.S. 61 was the Navy's first choice for its new Naval Reserve Training Center in 1964. (Southeast Missourian archive) Earlier this month, the former Naval...
View ArticleSky dancers thrilled Cape Girardeau crowd
The son of a good friend of mine is an enthusiastic participant in the swing dance craze. I wonder what he would think about the two dancers -- Bette and Bob -- who jitterbugged high over Broadway in...
View Article1960 map illustrated early history of park area
This photograph of a river overlook in Trail of Tears Park was taken by G.D. Fronabarger in 1961. (Southeast Missourian archive) Three years after the state of Missouri accepted the land in northeast...
View Article1951 train derailment in Cape Girardeau
Thankfully, train derailments are few and far between in Cape Girardeau. That was one of my first thoughts when I stumbled across the story of a 1951 train derailment in the Red Star district of the...
View ArticleA few of Frony's '41 fair photos
September in Cape Girardeau can mean only one thing: The SEMO District Fair. In 1941, Girardeans enjoyed what they called the second year of the "renewed" district fair. An institution since 1855, the...
View ArticleSt. Mary's makeover that never was
Artists' concept drawings have always fascinated me. I love to compare what architects conceived for a project to what was actually built. Or, in the case of St. Mary's Cathedral, NOT built. In the...
View ArticleCommerce lad survived the wreck of the USS Memphis
In the summer of 1916, the USS Memphis -- an armored cruiser that had been launched by the U.S. Navy in 1904 -- was destroyed, when errant waves tossed the ship about in the harbor of Santo Domingo,...
View ArticleSorghum making a fall tradition
My friend, Louise Duncan, has told me on several occasions how her father and mother, Silas W. and Mary Cardwell, operated a sorghum mill near Dutchtown. According to Louise, the Missourian did a story...
View ArticleNavy Days brought LST to Cape Girardeau in 1945
As I write this blog, my feet are still aching from all the walking and standing my sister and I did during the weekend's glorious Cape Girardeau Heritage Days. From concerts to tours and...
View ArticleRed granite church dedicated in 1941
The First Church of God, also known as Emerald Street Church of God, is a unique church structure. While most religious edifices in Cape Girardeau are built of brick and light-colored stone, the church...
View ArticleBrown mansion destroyed in 1916
I have always found it curious that, although it wasn't demolished until 1916, I have never been able to find a photograph of the Wilson Brown mansion in Cape Girardeau. Brown, a former Missouri...
View ArticleCoerver house becomes surgical hospital
A small note appeared in a recent Out of the Past column based on the following article from the Friday, Sept. 29, 1916, edition of The Daily Republican. DR. SCHULZ TO TAKE OVER COERVER PROPERTY OCT....
View ArticleCape Girardeau once had a paint factory
Late in October 1941, Charles E. Peterson, a senior landscape architect working on the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial and the National Park Service in St. Louis, traveled to Cape Girardeau...
View Article20th anniversary of May Greene School
Nowadays, young people have never heard of May Greene or her long history as an educator in Cape Girardeau. About the only thing to remind the public of this pioneer teacher is the small park that...
View ArticleCape Rock artist died in 1941
Unless you're very familiar with St. Louis artists of the past, or are a student of Cape Girardeau history, you probably have never heard of F. Humphrey Woolrych. Woolrych was born in Sidney,...
View Article
