Cape Girardeau landmarks Archives

February 14, 2013

Old Franklin: Mud and Memories

You’d never know one of Cape’s westward expansion elementary schools ever existed. When Friend Shari, who lived down the block from the school, and I visited it February 12, there wasn’t a trace left. Oh, sure, if you look closely, the old building’s cupola barely peeks above the new building, but that’s kind of like hearing the echo of the music and not the concert.

We were curious about all the playground balls scattered about. Maybe the kids kicked them out into the mud and then were told not to retrieve them. They provided an interesting colorful counterpoint to the gumbo clay mud.

View looking south

This is the northeast corner of the old school lawn looking to the south.

Huge paved play area

There’s plenty of space for basketball and other sports. The perimeter of the paved area is marked off for a running track, but I’d sure hate to think of running laps on concrete. (OK, to be honest, I hate to think of running laps on anything.)

Earlier stories about Franklin School

February 13, 2013

Jefferson School = Gone

You’d never know that Jefferson School, built in 1904, ever existed if you drive by Jefferson and Ellis Streets today. The building was razed at the end of 2012 after it was determined that it was structurally unsound.

Tree, stump and stairs remain

The tree on the left of the sidewalk, the stump on the right and the sidewalk are about all that remain of the school, pictured here March 28, 2010.

Overall view looking south

The piles of dirt in the background were hauled in to fill in the building’s basement. A worker at the site said they brought in more than was needed, so it will be removed. The area will be seeded soon.

Looking west toward Ellis Street

This is looking west toward Ellis Street. An Erin Ragan story in The Missourian Dec. 28, 2012, reported that some of the brick and limestone from the school will be incorporated into a building for Prodigy Leadership Academy.

Earlier Jefferson School stories

This photo was taken looking east down Jefferson Street. Here are earlier stories about the school and its prospects for survival:

January 4, 2013

Albert Hall Dormitory

When I saw Fred Lynch’s blog with Frony’s pictures of some coeds on the steps of Albert Hall in 1960, I remembered seeing photos of those steps in Mother’s scrapbook.

I wasn’t sure that it WAS Albert Hall, but that’s the way Mother had the photo labeled, and the concrete detail on the right of the picture matches Frony’s shot.

Albert Hall demolished in 1960

Fred had another photo from 1960 showing the dorm being razed. (SEMO is great at flattening landmarks.) Fred noted that the dorm for women opened March 7, 1905. It was built by a private corporation, and acquired by the state in 1912. It served for 54 years.

Mother graduated from Advance High School in 1938, so these photos of her friends was taken after that.

December 22, 2012

William Henry and Lilla Luce Harrison House

The William Henry and Lilla Luce Harrison House at 313 Themis Street was built in 1897 by the architect who designed Academic Hall.

You can read the history of the house in the National Register of Historic Places registration form.

A 2003 Missourian story tells how Dr. Robert Hamblin and his wife, Kaye, bought the house in 2003 and set about restoring it., which is why the paper is currently referring to it as the “Hamblin House.”

The story summarized the history: “The mansion once was one of the finest houses in Cape Girardeau. William Harrison, who became known for his timber business and investments, including the H&H Building on Broadway, bought the house in 1990 [that’s a typo, it should be 1890], three years after its completion. It remained in the Harrison family until the mid-1980s, when Mayor Al Spradling III’s family sold it to Dr. Jesse Ramsey. Spradling’s wife, Pam, is a Harrison descendent. The house sat vacant for a few years at the end of the 1990s”.

I’m glad to see this landmark restored. Too bad the university plans to tear down an even older Cape Girardeau landmark at the River Campus.