831 North Street

831 North street 01-010-2014I parked in front of this house at 831 North Street when I took the pictures of 347 North Pacific Street for another story. The house looked like it must have been something Back in the Day, so I banged off two record shots of it.

Here are some stories from The Missourian about the families who lived there over the years. Most of them are briefs. If they were longer than that, I included a link.

  • December 24, 1941 – Among students home for the Missouri School of Mines at Rolla for the Christmas and New Year holidays are Alvin G. Haas, a senior in mechanical engineering, son of Mr. and Mrs. Alvin Haas, 821 Themis Street; Eddie Vandeven, a junior in electrical engineering, son of Mr. and Mrs. Edwin H. Vandeven, 831 North street; and John Leming, a freshman, son of Mr. and Mrs. Wm. E. Leming, 300 North Pacific street. [Editor’s note: “William” was always spelled “Wm.” in Missourian style. So far as I know, that’s the only name that was routinely abbreviated.]
  • August 13, 1943 – At a meeting of a pinochle club with Mrs. Edwin H. Vandeven, 831 North street, Thursday afternoon, awards among the members were won by Mrs. John Knaup, Mrs. F.X. Roth and Mrs. Leslie J. Eagle, with Miss Lillian Nenninger receiving a guest prize. At an extra table of guests, including Mrs. John A. Vandeven, Mrs. John Nenninger, Mrs. Wm. Nenninger and Mrs. Joe Francis, awards went to Mrs. John Vandeven and Mrs. Wm. Nenninger.
  • October 27, 1947Mr. and Mrs. James Kearney, 831 North street, are the parents of a son, born at 3:50 o’clock Saturday afternoon at St. Francis Hospital. The child is the fourth in the family and fourth son. Mr. Kearney is associated with the Markham and Brown Construction Company.

Eight residences share $80 prize

  • December 28, 1948 – Eight Cape Girardeau residences, entrants in the annual outdoor Christmas lighting contest sponsored by the Retail Merchants Association will share in the $80 prize money following ratings by three out-of-town judges Monday night. For the section north of Broadway, first prize for the most artistic display was won by Mrs. James Kearney and sons, 831 North street.
  • April 13, 1949Mr. and Mrs. A.P. Rueseler, 820 Merriwether street, have purchased the James Kearney home at 831 North street and expect to take occupancy of it within the next two or three weeks. Their daughter, Miss Ruth Rueseler, a student at the University of Missouri in Columbia, will be here to spend the summer vacation with her parents in their new home.
  • January 28, 1950 – In the midyear commencement class Wednesday at the University of Missouri wil be Miss Ruth Ruesler who is to be graduated with a B.S. degree in Elementary Education and who, on Feb. 6, will become a faculty member at Franklin School. She is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Albert P. Ruesler, 831 North street who will go to Columbia Tuesday to attend the ceremonies. The Ruselers now have with them for a weekend visit another daughter, Mrs. C.E. Burgett and her small daughter, Margaret Ruth, and young son, Mark Douglas, of Columbia.

Crystal shower and dessert bridge

  • August 28, 1950 – For Miss Ruth Rueseler, fiancee of Charles Knote of Cape Girardeau and daughter of Mr. and Mrs. A.P. Rueseler, 832 North street, Miss Rosemary Craig and her mother, Mrs. John Craig, honored the bride-elect Saturday afternoon at a crystal shower and dessert bridge.
  • February 16, 1951 – Numerous parties have been given in honor of Miss Ruth Gene Leming, fiancee of William Lewis Tucker of Jackson…. Mrs. A.P. Rueseler and her daughter, Mrs. Charles Knote, were hostesses at the Rueseler home, 831 North street, as friends greeted Miss Leming at a crystal shower.
  • December 30, 1967 – Miss Judy Carole Edwards and Ronald Charles Rueseler were united in marriage last Saturday afternoon at the Westminster Presbyterian Church in a double ring ceremony performed by the Rev. Thomas N. Bass. …The former Miss Edwards is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Harold Edwards of Kennett. Mr. Rueseler is the grandson of Mrs. Albert P. Rueseler, 831 North street.

Department of “Why Bother?”

Skinny brick building in Glouster OH 11-09-2014I didn’t pay much attention to this building when I was northbound through Glouster to the Burr Oak Lodge where I was staying the last time I was in Athens, Ohio, but I did a double take on the way south. (Glouster is the place where I shot the epitome of a small-town football game last fall.)

That is one skinny building

Skinny brick building in Glouster OH 11-09-2014I had to stop to make sure it wasn’t an optical illusion.

No, it really WAS that skinny. It got bigger at the other end, but I could easily span the back wall without having to stretch my arms out as big as I had gestured before to describe the size of a fish that got away. (Click on the photos to make them larger.)

Only eight bricks wide

Skinny brick building in Glouster OH 11-09-2014That wall was only eight bricks wide. If a standard brick is eight inches long, and you figure the space for the mortar between the bricks is half an inch or less, that would be, let’s see 8″ x 8 bricks x 7 mortar rows @ 1/2 inch equals just 67.5 inches or a little more than 5-1/2 feet wide. Allowing for the thickness of the walls, the open space inside the thin end would have had to have been less than four feet.

Why would anybody use that many bricks, not to count the labor of laying them, for such a small return of space?

I don’t know the answer to that question, but my guess is that both bricks and labor were cheap in Glouster when that building was constructed.

Bricks were a big deal

Hocking Block - Ray Charles Plaza - 05-14-2014Here’s a really good history of the region that explains how important the iron, coal and brick industries were.

Curator Jessica is somewhat of a brick expert, so she’s always looking for SE Ohio bricks like this Hocking brick she spotted when we were walking around the Ray Charles Plaza in Albany, Ga.

Nellie Vess Revisited

Nellie Vess 08-13-1968Back in 2012, I did a piece titled Turtles, Frogs, Dogs and Desperation where I explained how I come up with story ideas. (The key word was “desperation.) It’s worth a visit, even if I say so myself.

In it, I introduced Mrs. Nellie Vess, one of my favorite subjects. You can click on the photos to make them larger.

Rhonda and Patty Sue

Rhonda Kay Judson, 5, plays with Mrs. Nellie Vess' dog near Trimble 08-13-1968It told the story of how an elderly woman found that puppy Patty Sue attracted the neighborhood kids like Rhonda Kay Judson, 5. The headline of my 1968 Athens Messenger Picture Page was Lonely No More.

‘Now I have lots of company,” Mrs. Vess told me.

Fast-forward to 2015

Nellie Vess layout web versionI love getting comments, but today’s mail brought one from Sheila Knott that was super-special:

“This is my sister and our neighbor years ago!!! It was such a joy to see this. I knew Mrs Vess very well and she was a wonderful woman. I was born a year and 5 days after these pics were takin! Thank you so much for sharing and I’ll have to show my sister (Rhonda) the second one, I don’t believe she has ever seen it!”

Speaking of desperation

I mentioned over the holidays that I had some stuff that I needed to get done and that I might slack off for a week. As it turned out, I produced rerun pages during that period that took almost as much time as if I had come up with fresh content.

My van buying / selling experience put me even further behind.

On top of that, I may have a chance to pick up some freelance work that may actually mean that Wife Lila and I won’t have to fight Bleeping Cat for dinner. (We haven’t bothered to name most of our feline parade over the years. Oh, yes, there is an official name on file with the vet, but we usually just call them “Brown Cat, Big Cat, Little Cat, Orange Cat or, in the case of the current resident, “Bleeping Cat.”)

So, don’t be surprised if I come up missing from time to time or all that gets posted is a photo gallery of what I happen to be editing at the time.

Of course, while I’m gone, don’t forget to click on the tiny yellow DONATE button at the top of the page  to keep Phoebe the Bleeping Cat fed.

Turn Right to Downtown

General Sign for Cape DowntownThis General Sign Company invitation to “Stop ‘n Shop – Turn Right Foot of Bridge to Downtown Cape Giardeau takes us back to the day when Main Street was THE shopping area for the region. The photo is part of the collection Terry Hopkins loaned me from his dad’s job at General Sign Company.

The sign must have been located in East Cape since that’s the only place a “Turn Right” would make sense.

See the smokestacks?

General Sign for Cape DowntownWhen the picture is blown up, you can see two smokestacks off to the right, one of them puffing black smoke.

The cement plant would have been way off to the left, so these stacks must belong to the shoe factory and the power plant north of it. I’m not sure what the white building off to the far right would be. Click on the photos to make them larger.

Here’s what they would have found

Cape Downtown Aerial Photo from the 1960sIf our shopper had turned right, this is what they would have encountered. Follow this link to see other downtown stories. Here is a collection of links to stories about Main Street businesses and buildings.