Ken Steinhoff, Author at Cape Girardeau History and Photos

July 20, 2011September 18, 2011

Rumor: Minor League Ball Coming to South Cape

The first day I was in Cape, we made the usual pass down Broadway, cruised past Water Street to see that the floodgates were closed, then headed down Aquamsi Street, jogged over onto Elm Street, then Giboney, on down to where the sinkholes had swallowed South Sprigg at Cape LaCroix Creek.

Funny how I always thought that was pretty much a straight shot until I looked at it on the map.

As we passed below Fort D, I thought something was odd: we could SEE the fort. I thought I remembered the view being blocked by brush and trees.

What’s all the clearing?

On the way back from looking at the sinkholes, we noticed that there was a lot of land being cleared north of the fort in an area roughly bounded by Maple on the north, Giboney on the east, Elm on the south and Ranney on the west.

“It’s going to be a minor league ball field”

There was a work crew digging out the foundation of a building half-way up Elm Street, so I stopped to talk with a worker about what they were doing.

“Well, I guess it’s no secret. The rumor is that it’s going to be a minor league ball field. We have people stopping by here all the time saying that’s what it’s gonna be. In fact, Walter Joe Ford pulled up yesterday and asked, ‘Is this [name deleted]’s ball field?'”

I didn’t track down the alleged owner

The name is deleted because I didn’t confirm the name. I heard it from several semi-reliable sources, but I didn’t talk directly to the person who is supposedly putting the project together.

Reporting is too much like work

Why didn’t I track it down? Frankly, that’s real reporting and real reporting is too close to being work. Something else was nagging me, too. I’ve worked stories about how big land purchases are put together. The early rumors of what was thought to be going on frequently turn out not to be even close to the final deal.

So, I’m going to let you folks theorize and speculate away. Let’s see how many of you have heard the same rumor I have.

Reasons that it might be true:

The person who is said to be involved has a history of doing or being involved in big projects, particularly of a civic-minded nature, and has been closely linked with some of the university’s expansions.
The person has an interest in baseball.
If a pro league DIDN’T come to Cape, the property is close enough to the River Campus, that it could be re-purposed for the University.

Reasons why it might NOT be true

As it stands now, there doesn’t look to be enough land for a playing field, practice fields, seating and parking. That’s not to say that more property hasn’t been obtained or could be obtained.
That area is made up of steep hills and deep gullies. Either an awful lot of hills are going to have to be cut down or there’s going to have to be a lot of fill brought in to make it level. There might be enough dirt on site, but I’m not sure.

Two houses need to be torn down

The worker told me that there are two houses at the top of the hill that still need to be torn down. Rumor has it that at least one of the the houses is owned by an elderly man who has no desire to move from his home. There are some trespassing signs that I can “overlook,” but I decided I’d believe this guy might just mean his, so I didn’t knock on his door to ask him what was going on.

Clearing work brings out treasure hunters

When I checked out the site on Saturday, I ran into Jamihia Walker, a 26-year-old SEMO student majoring in business, who was wielding a metal detector hoping to find coins or other treasures.

Trash or treasure?

Ms. Walker, was an absolute delight to talk with except for her insistence on calling me “sir” – “I’m sorry, sir, that’s just the way my grandparents brought me up.”

She came here from Sacramento to help care for them. Now that they’ve passed away, she plans to get her degree, stay in Cape a few more years, then move to a bigger city where she will become an entrepreneur. She might just make it if she can shed that “sir” business.

What’s your opinion?

Is the property suitable for a minor league ball facility?
Would Cape be able to support a minor league team?
Which major league team would it be affiliated with?
Would you attend the games or are you going to be spending all your time and money at the casino?
If it’s not a ball field, what is your alternative theory? Wild guesses acceptable.
By the way, I’ve heard this area called Mill Town and Giboney Woods. I’m not sure if they are the same or if it’s either. Anyone know the answer to THAT?

Photo gallery

Here’s a photo gallery of pictures taken July 1, 2011, and July 16, showing how much work has been accomplished. Click on any photo to make it larger, then click on the left or right side to move through the collection.

July 19, 2011September 18, 2011

Not Cowed By the Heat

I was back up in Perry County today to photograph Viola “Mietz” Theiss, former Postmaster of the Wittenberg Post Office. Because I have pictures of the town before it washed away in the 1973 and 1993 floods, I’m working on a project with the Altenburg Lutheran Heritage Center and Museum to shoot current photos to match up with the ones I shot in the late 60s. At the very least, there will be an exhibit of the photos at the museum, and I’ve been invited to speak about how to do regional photography at a conference next year. We’re working hard to see if I can turn the images into a book, too.

Mietz, and her daughter, Kathy Schoenherr, were a lot of fun. We drove out to Tower Rock, Wittenberg, her old homestead and the site of the train depot where she had to have northbound and southbound mail ready to meet the trains in the morning and the afternoon. We also spent some time at the old Post Office, one of only two buildings still standing in the village.

Fawns along the road

One of the high points of the day was when we rounded a curve and spotted two fawns, not much bigger than large dogs on the side of the road. I stopped the car immediately to keep from spooking them. They were more curious than afraid. They slowly approached us with their ears high in the air. I didn’t want to roll down the window, so I shot this through the windshield. They were a little far off to get a good shot. After about a minute, their mother came walking across the road. She was a little more cautious than the fawns, but she took plenty of time herding her charges off into the bushes. I rolled the car forward a few feet and the crunching gravel caused them to bolt away.

David Holley hopes to beat the odds

The other high point was when David Holley came walking by. He owns the Post Office and lives in the only other building in Wittenberg. He’s the fellow featured in my video about the last train robbery in Missouri. Interestingly enough, Mietz said her husband told stories about seeing the aftermath of the shootout that ended the caper.

Townsfolk told me that David had been having a tough time lately, so I was really happy to see him. “I’m on my third round of chemo,” he said. “I’m hoping I’m in the 60% that makes it, but I haven’t had a whole lot of luck in my life,” he added, matter of factly.”

Same old story-teller

He’s lost a lot of weight and his hair has turned greyer, but he’s still the same old story-teller with the same old twinkle in his eye. When I asked him how high the water had gotten in his house, he said that it reached about three feet in the basement during one stretch: high enough that they were cut off from the main road and had to use a canoe to get home.

Then, he launched into a typical David story about the Flood of 1993 and having to put his toddler daughter in the canoe in the middle of the night to pick up his wife when she got off work. The water was high enough to to just about reach the ceiling in the post office, he said, putting the canoe into the treetops. “I’d give my daughter a lantern to light my way through the trees, and we’d start out fine. Then, about halfway there, she’d think she was a coon hunter or something and start shining the light up into the trees, into the air and everywhere but where we were supposed to be going. She thought it was great fun to have me run into a tree.”

It’s hot. How hot is it?

It’s hot enough that I thought about joining these cows in an algae-covered pond on our way out of Wittenberg. This picture posed some interesting technical challenges. The cows – no fools – were in deep shade. The bulk of the pond was in bright sunlight. I like cows better than algae, so I cheated the exposure toward the cows, which caused me to lose the bright green algae in the foreground.

The head index has been in the 105-108 degree range. I come home from shooting with my shirt so wet you can wring water out of it.

I went over to Wife Lila’s brother’s house the other night for dinner with him, Dee and Wyatt. John offered me an ice-cold beer and I had to turn him down. “I’m so thirsty that you’d have to get me a designated driver to get me home. If I stick to ice tea, the worst thing that could happen is that I’d get arrested for indecent exposure if I have to stop on the side of the road.”

It was a good choice. I emptied three giant glasses of tea and sloshed all the way home.

July 17, 2011September 18, 2011

Corn, Sunset and Pipeline

I was rocketing along a levee road trying to get a good angle to shoot the suspension pipeline over the Mississippi River between Grand Tower, Ill., and Wittenberg, Mo., when I saw the sun light up the tassels on on a corn field. It was worth stopping for 45 or 50 seconds. Click on the photos to make them larger.

Longest suspension pipeline in the world

When it was built, this pipeline was said to be the longest in the world. Someone saw some of the photos I’ve taken of it over the years and suggested it would be a nice souvenir photo book to go along with a couple others I’m working on.

I have shot it from below while working on a story about a ferry that crossed under it; I’ve shot it from the north, west, south and the air. This was the first time I’ve shot it from the Illinois side.

Must be getting old

I had been there about an hour earlier and got some nice pictures, but after heading north along the river and not finding a good angle, I decided to race the sun back to here. I made it with about five minutes to spare. When I blasted over the top of the levee and screeched to a halt, Mother yelled, “Whoa!”

She never yells. “Whoa!”

She yells “Gun it!”

She must be getting old.

July 17, 2011September 18, 2011

Jackson High School

I was over at the Jackson Cemetery looking for grave markers for Find A Grave, a website that runs requests for photos of stones for people doing genealogical work and the like. When I got to the west end, I noticed that Jackson High School was a lot bigger than it was when I worked at The Jackson Pioneer.

Science / Mathematics Building

I was encouraged to see a building devoted to science and mathematics. A newly-built high school in town that shall be nameless seems to have plenty of facilities for athletics, including a new football field, but the emphasis didn’t appear to be on academics.

Old building looks well-maintained

I know I must have been in the building lots of times when working for The Pioneer, but I can’t picture what the inside looks like.

Jackson’s stadium a federal stimulus program

Jackson High School’s football stadium was one of the WPA’s projects designed to put people back to work during the Depression. It was built in 1938. It’s amazing how many Cape County buildings were built under those stimulus projects. They might have been make-work jobs, but they’ve provided a lot of value to the community over the last three-quarters of a century. Jackson’s swimming pool, also built in 1938, was another WPA program.