Photos around Cape Archives

May 13, 2013June 22, 2016

Frederick W. and Mary Karau Pott House

There is a striking two-story white house at the corner of Themis and Pacific across from Trinity Lutheran School that I’ve always wondered about. I paused on a Halloween afternoon’s bike ride in 2009 long enough to pop off a couple of frames.

It turns out there’s a world of information about it in its National Register of Historic Places registration form. If you are a fan of architectural detail, it’s worth a read.

History of Pott house

Frederick W. Pott was born in Prussia in 1839. He and his parents came to Cape Girardeau in 1854. Father and son joined the Union Army when the Civil War began, and Frederick was captured in the Battle of Shilo. After the war, he found employment in the milling industry. He married Mary (or Maria) Karau in 1865. They eventually had 11 children.

In 1877, he built Planters Mill at the foot of Main Street. Within four years, he owned the mill free and clear. The coming of the railroad to Cape Girardeau kicked off a boom, and around 1885 the Potts commissioned the building of this house at 826 Themis Street for their growing family. By 1888, Pott had increased the capacity of Planters Mill from an initial daily output of 80 barrels of floor to 200 and employed at least 10 men.

Disaster stuck when a fire swept through the mill on March 27, 1909. Pott’s insurance only partially covered the loss of the mill, elevator, warehouse and a large quantity of wheat, flour and bran that had been stored on the premises. The total loss was estimated at $50,000. He died the next year, in 1910.

Became office for doctors

The house remained in the family until 1938, when it was sold to D.W. Hope, a Cape physician. According to the historic places register application, professional offices were developed in the building after it was acquired by Dr. Hope, listings in city directories from 1942-1973 indicate. The H-R-S Company was formed by Dr. Hope and three other doctors: A.J. Rasche, Frank W. Hall and Mitchell H. Shelby.

The next owner was James McHaney, who sold the property to Steven and Emily Mellies on April 28, 1995.

The house is the white building at the top center of this November 2010 aerial photograph. Trinity Lutheran School is in the center.

May 12, 2013

Was This the Sani-Cream / Henny Penny?

I’ve been scratching my head over this building. I remember shooting a freelance job there in the ’60s, but I haven’t found the negatives yet. I could have sworn it was the Henny Penny at that time.

Fellow blogger and Missourian photographer Fred Lynch published a Frony photo when the railroad tracks in front of the Sani-Cream were being repaired. If this is the same building, a peaked roof and cupola were added later.

I vaguely remember having a curb-delivered pizza there on a date.

The 1968 City Directory lists the Sani-Cream as being at 1015 Independence. It says Andrew J. and Mrs. Bertha Ahrens as the owners.

By 1979, Century 21 Real Estate Company was listed at 1017 Independence. The difference might be which part of the building is considered the entrance.

Am I thinking of the right place or am I all wet?

May 9, 2013

Slushy Main Street

This shot down Main Street looks like one of those ugly winter days when the pretty snow has turned into that annoying slush that passing cars splash on you and that you drown your shoe in when you step off the curb. It’s cold enough that there are icicles on the store awnings. Christmas decorations are up, but I don’t know for sure when it was taken. I’m going to guess 1964 to 1966. It had to have been taken before April 1967, because that’s when the St. Charles Hotel was torn down.

Business signs

I see signs for Ross Young & Sons clothing, Oklahoma Tire & Supply, Osco Drug, Wards, Al’s Shop, Personal Loans, Zickfield’s Jeweler, Irvin’s, Penney’s and the St. Charles. Zickfield’s is the only one of the businesses that has survived. Here’s a story with lots of Main Street links. You can make the photo larger by clicking on it.

May 6, 2013May 6, 2013

Traffic Bridge at Night

There’s something magic about shooting after dark. The light bounces around in ways it doesn’t during the daylight hours. There must have been some low clouds the night I shot these time exposures because the sky reflected a lot of the city’s lights.

When you were driving across the bridge, you probably didn’t notice there was a little bit of a curve to it. I shot this photo the same night as this one.

There’s a lot of steel here

You can see why it was a challenge to demolish the bridge. In one of those strange coincidences, I was scanning these photos on the same day Fred Lynch’s blog carried photos of the 1957 bridge-freeing queens.

St. Vincent’s steeple

You can see St. Vincent’s steeple just barely peeking up at the bottom right of this shot. The exposure was long enough that the tree branches are blurry, but too short for the car headlights to streak all the way across the bridge. (You can click on the photos to make them larger.)