Month: October 2010

A reader asked if I knew anything about a big brick house that stood on the hill on Bloomfield Rd., just east of Kingshighway. It didn’t ring a bell, but Mother said, “Wasn’t that where those old maids lived?”

She was, of course, right.

The building, now more than 150 years old, is the resident center for the Cape LaCroix moderate-income apartments. I never realized that the building existed, much less its importance to the city’s history.

Misses Mary and Jean Burrough

Two old women HAD lived in the house. Misses Mary and Jean Burrough (which is the way they were referred to in almost every story) died in the early 50s. Along with stories about teas and socials, were these three Missourian stories:

• Dec. 12, 1944 – Misses Mary and Jean Burrough, 2121 Bloomfield St., have Christmas presents for Cape Girardeau youngsters who like dogs. A stray mother dog and eight pups came to the Burrough home a few days ago and the owner has not been located. Youngsters can have the canine brood for the asking.
• Oct. 13, 1948 – A mother and her three puppies, the latter six months old, are available to anyone who will give them a good home, Misses Mary and Jean Burrough, 2121 Bloomfield Rd., told The Missourian today. The animals, of mixed breed, are handsome ones and healthy. The mother came to the Burrough home, Kenwood, uninvited several months ago, but since there are six other dogs on the place things are becoming somewhat overcrowded.
• Oct. 14, 1948 – Misses Mary and Jean Burroughs, 2121 Bloomfield Rd. who said yesterday they would give away a mother dog and three puppies, had many telephone calls last night and gave away one of the young canines.

Kenrick Burrough, last survivor

Excerpts from a Dec. 3, 1960, Missourian Kenrick Burrough obituary that’s worth reading in its entirety:

Kenrick Burrough, last surviving member of a family that featured prominently in Cape Girardeau’s legal and social life for more than a century died today… His parents were the late Judge and Mrs. Frank E. Burrough and their family home, now 101 years old, was at 2121 Bloomfield. Mr. Burrough’s sisters, Misses Mary and Jean Burrough, the last prior members of the family, died on Mar. 18, 1952, and Aug. 22, 1953, respectively.

Called by a colleague “one of the most brilliant men ever to have his origin in Cape Girardeau, Mr. Burrough was widely known in the legal profession, practiced by his father and grandfather before him, until an illness in the early 1930 forced his retirement.

Youngest judge to sit on the bench

Mr. Burrough’s father died on Dec. 9, 1903, when the son was 12 years old. He had served as judge of the Common Pleas Court from 1897 to 1900 and was the youngest to sit on the bench of that court.

Judge Burrough’s father was Jacob H. Burrough, who died on Dec. 2, 1872. He had come to Cape Girardeau at the age of 22 and the family resided on Spanish street. Subsequently, Judge Burrough acquired the large estate bearing the family name on Bloomfield Road. It had been built in 1859 by Cong. Samuel Caruthers. [For whom Caruthersville was named.]

Jacob Burrough was prominent in the law in southeast Missouri and was a U.S. Marshal for this district. He,too, was a man of education, and during the days of steamboat traffic, he became acquainted with Mark Twain during the latter’s stops in Cape Girardeau.

Pre-Civil War heritage lost

George McCue wrote in The St. Louis Post-Dispatch that the Burrough farm was an “intact early Missouri array of pre-Civil War house, beautifully crafted barn and brick ice house, all in a grove of fine old trees on 10 upland acres.”

McCue went on to explain that some townspeople had the impression that Kenrick Burrough had bequeathed the property to the city, but when he died, it went instead to a cousin in Kentucky. A zoning change from one-family to multi-family didn’t attract attention around town.

The park board had just acquired a 78-acre tract nearby for $2,700 an acre, but the new owners wanted $10,000 an acre. The property was acquired by Clover Leaf Construction Co. of Indianapolis, which swung a deal with HUD to put up medium income apartments on what Patricia Holmes, State Park Board architectural reseacher, has called “one of the state’s best example of a Pre-Civil War farmstead.”

McCue’s piece goes into much more detail.

Confederate soldiers sheltered during Battle of Cape

A Bicentennial feature by Ann Dittlinger descibed how Confederate forces were sheltered by the hill where the Burrough farm was located when they were being shelled by batteries from Fort C.

In 1975, Melvin A. McMillen dug up a cannon ball, pieces of human bones and four buttons from a Union soldier’s uniform in his garden on Sheridan drive (the nearby street Wife Lila lived on when I met her). That find led to the discovery of four more cannon balls that year.

300-year-old tree cut down

Southeast Missourian brief, Sept. 25, 1974: “A gigantic black oak tree believed to be at least 300 years old is leaving the Bloomfield Road scene. The landmark is being removed because its huge branches were damaging roofs at the Cloverleaf housing development. Said to be one of the largest trees in Cape Girardeau, the once-mighty oak was nearly 150 feet high and about eight feet in diameter.

A couple of years ago, I wrote about planning a bike ride from Cape to New Madrid to check out geologic features associated with the New Madrid Earthquake of 1811-12.

My story caught the eye of bicycle tourist and blogger, John Gorentz. John, AKA Spokesrider, does a blog that’s on my daily must-read list. Here’s his self-description: The Spokesrider lives in southwest Michigan. He goes on bicycling expeditions to places where he can say, “Black Hawk Slept Here.” But that phrase gets interpreted very broadly. Almost any excuse to ride to a place of settlement-era history will do.”

After he started reading this blog, he became intrigued with the idea of riding his bike from his home in Battle Creek, MI, through Cape and down to New Madrid, where he would look for evidence of the big quake.

Spokesriders at Broadway Books & Roasting

John called from Broadway Books and Roasting, a coffee shop at 605 Broadway, to say that he and his wife Myra had made it to Cape. I told him to stay put.

John had written in his blog that his last leg, which put him into the Anna area, was “probably the most difficult one I have ever had going into the wind,” so he was looking for a rest day. I volunteered to play tour guide.

First stop: The Southeast Missourian

I pointed out The Southeast Missourian building on our way to the riverfront. “That’s where you used to work, right? I want to get a photo of you there.” I agreed to, only if he let me shoot him.

Common Pleas Courthouse

While we were parked next to The Missourian, we strolled over to the Common Pleas Courthouse, where he shot some pictures of downtown.

Along the riverfront

Of course, we stopped at the Mississippi River, where they marveled at the lines marking the height of the river over the years. Myra had grown up at the headwaters of the Mississippi, but our river is nothing like the small stream at its origin. (I did warn him that he was standing in the middle of real, live railroad tracks.)

Mississippi River Bridge

We compared notes about bridges we’ve ridden over, and I lamented that I had never ridden over the old bridge because of the bad condition of the expansion joints. That led us to the overlook at the site of the old bridge, where we watched half a dozen women fill up buckets with pecans that had blown off the River Campus trees the night before. I’m surprised the university hasn’t used that as a revenue source.

We stopped at Fort D, cruised down past what used to be Smelterville, then stopped for them to look at the cement plant quarry.

John was fascinated by the idea that the Mississippi River used to flow down the lowlands through Advance and Arkansas, with the junction of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers being as far south as Natchez, MS, instead of Cairo, IL.

Thebes Gap and the Thebes Courthouse

That prompted him to say, “I’ve always wondered about the Thebes Gap…” Off we went to Thebes, where we inspected the railroad bridge and the Thebes Courthouse. Myra scared up a rattlesnake that disappeared into a gap in the foundation.

Ohio River at Cairo

John and Myra had read an account I had run across about a pair of college girls who took to the road on bikes in 1944 to see the country. At one point in their saga, the girls signed onto riverboat in Cairo. Since we were already in Thebes, our next stop was Cairo, so they could see what the river was like there.

I told them that I was glad I had documented much of what Cairo looked like while there was still a Cairo. “Three whole blocks of buildings I shot less than a year ago are gone today,” I explained.

Fort Defiance

You can’t get any more south in Illinois than Fort Defiance, where the Mississippi and Ohio rivers meet at the tip of the state. Two fishermen were fishing for bass right where the waters mingle. The Ohio is on the left, being held back by the slightly higher waters of the Mississippi on the right.

Schindler’s Tavern and Bologna Burgers

John and I discussed how he was going to get from Cape to New Madrid. His maps had him routed on the Mississippi River Trail down 74 to 25 at Dutchtown, then south to Chaffee on 77, where he would pick up State Highway A through New Hamburg and onto Highway 61 north of Benton.

“I’m not crazy about that route” I said. “Mother and I made a pilgrimage to Schindler’s Tavern in New Hamburg the other afternoon to try their famous Bologna Burgers. I commented then that it would be a fun road to ride if there was no traffic, but I didn’t like the fact that the sight lines were bad. If someone popped over a hill or around curve, they wouldn’t see you until the last second or after they heard the thud.”

I showed him the roads and we decided that it might not be as bad as I thought. If you picked a time of day when commuters weren’t trying to get to school or work, it might be okay, particularly since this is harvest season and people might be extra careful because of farm machinery on the road.

Nash Rd was an alternative

Since John is used to riding on gravel roads, I suggested that he could go south on 25 out of Dutchtown until just past the new Bloymeyer roundabout, where he could catch Nash Rd. east. From there, he could tie in with State Highway M and jump onto Highway 61 at Scott City.

It looked like that would save him some miles and time and keep him off the hilly and twisty Highway A. I’m waiting to read his ride report to see if thinks he would rather have stopped for a Bologna Burger.

Gordonville Grill

Since we were out west, we ended up at the Gordonville Grill for dinner. John and I asked our waitress, Sam, to show us that the catfish we ordered truly were “famous” like the menu said. When she kept telling us that the printer was slow and that she’d have to mail us the proof, I handed her a CapeCentralHigh.com business card. She reached into her order pad and said, “I already have one from one of your other visits.”

“You must have read the review I did on the Grill, then. Did I tell any lies?” I asked her.

“You could have mentioned that the waitresses were cute,” she said.

For the record, Sam, a junior at SEMO, who has been working at the restaurant for 2-1/2 years, is cute, friendly, a good sport and kept our drink glasses filled. She has not, however, proven that our catfish were “famous.”

[Note to the Chamber of Commerce types: John and Myra Gorentz were two visitors to Cape Girardeau who came to town from Michigan because of stories they had read on PalmBeachBikeTours and CapeCentralHigh.]

SPOKESRIDER UPDATE SPOKESRIDER UPDATE

You’ve read my version of Mr. and Mrs. Spokesriders’ visit to the Cape area here. John has written his impressions on his blog.

(I should set this in red type because I’m blushing from all the nice things he said.)

When I rode the Cape LaCroix Recreational Trail last week, I noticed a new low-water crossing at the Lexington / Kingsway trailhead. It looked like there was a trail headed north along the other side of Cape LaCroix Creek.

Today I decided to see how far it went. Along the way, I found mostly good things and a few disappointing things.

Good things about the new trail

• It’s a beautiful ride, particularly this time of year.
• It gives you views of Cape LaCroix (3-Mile) Creek that I haven’t seen since I was 10 years old and drowning worms trying to catch something big enough to take home.
• It takes you all the way to the Cape Girardeau Conservation Nature Center Trail where there is a bike rack and a park bench.
• It’s going to give great access to folks living in the Walden Park development and the trailer park south of it.

Bad things about the bike trail addition

• The first thing you see at the Nature Trail is a sign that says dogs and bikes aren’t allowed. There’s a third international symbol that says if you see a bear or a rattlesnake, you are apparently not allowed to run from it. That, or you’re not allowed to do crazy dances on the trail. It’s not exactly clear. I hope the bike policy will be changed. Being able to go from South Cape all the way to the Conservation Park would be great.
• It’s not finished. I talked with a worker who said the trail will be open in about two weeks, Lord willin’ and the creeks don’t rise (literally). There is one small portion that needs to be paved. ATT had to relocate some fiber optic cable, so that threw the project behind.
• There are what look like to me to be some bicycle-unfriendly storm sewer grates in the Walden Park subdivision. The gaps in the grates are definitely wide enough to swallow most bike tires. The slits MAY be short enough that a tire wouldn’t sink into it, but I wasn’t about to give it a try.

Gallery of Photos Along the Trail

Except for the first two photos in the gallery, all of the photos were taken in sequence starting at the north end of the trail and heading south toward the Lexington / Kingsway trailhead. Click on any image to make it larger, then click on the left or right side of the photo to move through the gallery.

CLARIFICATION:

Wife Lila, who didn’t have a chance to read this until hours after it was published, said that I should make it clear that the extension of the RECREATIONAL trail is open to everyone just like the old part. It’s the NATURE trail that bans dogs, bikes and – she cleared this up for me – rollerbladers.

There’s some logic to that. You wouldn’t want dogs chasing the wildlife on a nature trail. It’s made of shellrock, so rollerbladers couldn’t traverse it anyway. I could see where bikes could cause ruts that would wash. [Note: I suspect that the trail isn’t shellrock. That’s what we use in Florida – ground up ancient seashells; I imagine you folks use crushed limestone.]