Category: Photos around Cape

Photos taken in and around Cape Girardeau, MO

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Cape’s Alice’s Restaurant

Becky Hoppe Jones left a message after I ran the aerial photo of the area around the Common Pleas Courthouse:

I’d be interested in seeing a photo of the old Baptist church just up Broadway from First National Bank.  You can see the white steeple in some of your aerial photos.

I went to church there until the early to mid-70’s. Then our congregation sold it to another congregation.  It was left empty awhile later and then around 2000 was renovated and opened with an antique store in the sanctuary.  The classroom space in the back of the building had been remodeled into living quarters.

As I recall there was a small room up a flight of stairs from the back of  the sanctuary that would have been in the base of the bell tower.  You can  see the arched window in your first shot.  Not sure I’d want to live there, though.

Made me think of Alice’s Restaurant

When I photographed the church last fall, I saw the realty sign on the front and immediately thought of Arlo’s Guthrie’s Alice’s Restaurant:

“Now it all started two Thanksgivings ago, was two years ago on Thanksgiving, when my friend and I went up to visit Alice at the restaurant, but Alice doesn’t live in the restaurant, she lives in the church nearby the restaurant, in the bell-tower, with her husband Ray and Fasha the dog.”

Boyd Hobbs painted steeple in 1967

The Missourian cutline that ran under one of my photos read, “Boyd Hobbs, a Cape Girardeau painter, is silhouetted against the sky as he applies a fresh coat of paint to the steeple of the General Baptist Church at 200 Broadway.”

How did he tie the rope?

The cutline continued, “The Rev. Elvis O. Wilson, pastor, said he believes both the church and steeple were built in 1893. The steeple was last painted seven years ago.” The question that DIDN’T get answered was, “How did he get the rope loop that he’s hanging from tied to the steeple?

Steeple due for more paint

Looks like Mr. Hobbs better pull out his rope again. The steeple’s beginning to show some rust.

Now it all started two Thanksgivings ago, was on - two years ago on
Thanksgiving, when my friend and I went up to visit Alice at the
restaurant, but Alice doesn't live in the restaurant, she lives in the
church nearby the restaurant, in the bell-tower, with her husband Ray and
Fasha the dog.
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Al Spradling Jr and III

I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that this is Al Spradling, Jr., commonly known around Cape as Senator. Spradling was the youngest person to be elected to the Missouri Senate in 1952, when he was 31. He retired from the Senate in 1977, after a 25-year career. He championed mental health programs and helped pass the state’s open meetings law.

He died in 2004 at 84. The Missourian’s obituary contains some interesting tidbits about Al Spradling Jr. that I didn’t know.

Al Spradling III

Al was in the class of ’65. It was a scary thing when I heard that he was actually Mayor of Cape Girardeau. People you grew up with don’t have any business running towns and the country. There are more photos of Al III (I don’t recall anybody ever calling him that in high school) in some negatives Jim Stone had squirreled away.

Al Spradling III and Andy McLean

I shot this photo of Al Spradling III at some event at SEMO, probably a football game. The fellow with his hand brushing his nose is Andy McLean, the best man at my wedding in 1969. I met Andy, another photographer, at SEMO. We ran around together until I transferred to Ohio University.

Sometime in the 80s, long before Google, the newspaper bought a collection of CD-ROMS that had telephone numbers for everybody in the country on them. Of course, we all spent time in the newspaper morgue (that’s what we called the library before political correctness) looking up old friends and relatives.

When I got a chance, I searched for Andy, who had lived in the St. Louis area.

“May I speak with Andy McLean?”

“Hello,” I said. “May I speak with Andy McLean?”

“He’s dead,” a male voice on the other end of the line said matter-of-factly.

Somewhat taken aback, I stumbled on. “The Andy McLean I’m looking for was the best man at my wedding in 1969. I got a letter saying he had been drafted, then nothing else. Are we talking about the same one.”

“OK, I’m not dead.” Andy McLean fessed up. “You’d be amazed at how that cuts down on telemarketing calls.”

Now that I think of it, that was the last time we talked. I guess I should see if he’s still Not Dead the next time I visit Bro Mark in St. Louis.

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Arena Park Stock Car Scuffle

Not all of the action happened ON the track at the Arena Park stock car races. Police officers break up a dust-up along the sidelines.

Nobody seems particularly worked up about the scuffle. Even the guy getting stuffed into the police car seems to be taking it in stride. Things were a lot more casual in those days. I can’t imagine a cop letting a perp get his hand that close to his sidearm today.

I think one of these photos may have won a minor prize in a Missouri Press Association contest, which says more about the quality of the competition and the dearth of spot news in the state than it does about the quality of the pictures.

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Common Pleas Courthouse 1964 Aerial Photo

The Common Pleas Courthouse reigns over downtown Cape Girardeau in this aerial photo taken April 14, 1964. It’s a coincidence, but that’s almost a year to the day to when Ernie Chiles and I did a flight that launched me on the path to becoming a photojournalist. This story is going to contain a lot of links to other posts I’ve done that show Cape Girardeau from the 1960s and the present.

I photographed downtown Cape at night FROM the Courthouse this spring. I like this night shot of the Courthouse taken from Water St. up Themis.

Cape landmarks that are missing

Other aerial photos of downtown Cape Girardeau ran in March.

Courthouse statue visible

The Civil War soldier that’s there today isn’t the same one I photographed in 1967, but it’s in the same place.

The H&H Building is still there, along with the Marquette Hotel. The future KFVS office tower is a parking lot.

The peaked front of Hecht’s sticks up on Main St.

The library is behind and to the left of the Courthouse.

Common Pleas Courthouse  in 2009

The photo was taken from the west side of the Courthouse, looking east. The sundial on the right was a prop in a photo of Outstanding Seniors Russell Doughty and Bill East, Class of ’66. It was an object lesson in why some photos don’t run the way they were taken.

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