Cape Girardeau History and Photos

January 24, 2015January 25, 2015

Odyssey Beginning to End

It is said that the happiest two days in a boat owner’s life are the day he buys the boat and the day he sells it. That was the kind of day Saturday was for me.

Kid Matt shot this photo of me taking a test drive in my new 2000 Odyssey van on November 26, 1999. The sales guy was trying to tell me where all the bells and whistles were located.

Less painful than expected

When Kid Adam said he was trading up and that his 2010 van was going to be available at a good price, I wasn’t looking forward to unloading my 2000. You caught part of that the other day.

I started by driving down to Car Max for an appraisal that would give me a floor price. They offered a number lower than what I was hoping for, but wasn’t insulting. There was a guy with a spinner sign down the street saying that HIS company would meet or beat any other offers.

A. He was lying and
B. His offer WAS insulting.

Adam had some friends or friends of friends who expressed an interest. A batch of them drove up from Miami Saturday noonish to look it over.

I was brutally honest about all the little quirks and foibles the vehicle had, but when we got finished with the test drive, they came up with a couple items that I dismissed as no big deal.

Negotiation is on

They shot me a price lower than I would accept, and I countered with one a hundred bucks higher, conceding that the noisy brakes really would need to be fixed and that my offer would split the difference on the brake job.

They wouldn’t budge off their offer, and I wouldn’t budge off mine, so we started to go our separate ways.

Before I could get to the house, they came back with an envelope of cash and we did the deal. In the long run, I think we were both OK with it. It’s just that crazy dance you have to go through when you buy or sell a car.

While we swapping license tags and going over little details, I left Wife Lila filling out the paperwork so there would be half a chance that someone would be able to read it. (As it was, I dated all my signatures 2014, and had to scratch over them)

They got the title and seemed to be happy. A camera aimed back in my direction would probably have captured a smile that big on MY face.

[Editor’s note: you’re going to have to take my word for their smiling faces. I got a text asking that I remove the photo. I cropped out the top of the photo and blurred their license tag to insure their privacy.]

Waving goodbye

When it pulled away from the house for the last time, I have to admit having mixed emotions. One of them was relief when it made it all the way to the corner and disappeared from sight. I honestly believe it has lots of miles left in it, but if it was going to die, I’d rather not see it.

That corner has bad car karma associated with it. It used to house a car dealer whose business model was to sell to people with lousy credit. As soon as they missed the first payment, he’d send the repo wrecker out to recover the car so it could be sold again and again.

I think his warranty was 30 feet or 30 minutes, too, based on the amount of shouting that would come over the fence.

I wish the new owners good luck. I have their address if any of the Road Warriorettes want to pay it a visit.

January 24, 2015

Capaha Pavilion Update

There have been a bunch of posts on Facebook recently talking about the old Capaha Park pool. On top of that, I’ve been documenting the slow progress of the pavilion being built on the hill overlooking where the pool used to be.

Buddy Terry Hopkins is back in Cape for a visit, and he sent me photos of what the site looks like today. Terry’s one of those glass-half-full kind of guys, so he added the comment, “Looks like in the future, kids will still be able to enjoy this spot.”

Not quite the same

Being a half-empty kind of guy, I replied, “Not quite the same.”

What stays the same?

Terry doesn’t take the bait, “No, it’s not the same, but what in this world stays the same? A new generation and new memories from the same old place,” he replied.

At least Dinky survived

I’m sure kids will have some fond memories, but I can’t see many of them spending all day hanging around a pavilion like we did the swimming pool.

When your parents dropped you off in the morning to go swimming, they had a reasonable expectation that you were going to be safe, watched over by trained lifeguards in a controlled environment.

When they picked you up at the end of the swimming day, you’d be pruney, reeking of chlorine, starving and ready for bed.

But, looking on the bright side, Dinky, the train, is still there for more generations to climb on.

January 23, 2015

Old Marble Hill School

When I was in Marble Hill in 2013 to shoot the artesian well we used to stop at on the way to Camp Lewallen, I noticed that the old Mable Hill School had been boarded up.

The room and exterior walls look like they are in good shape. I don’t know when the building stopped being used.

Built by the WPA

An inscription on the over the front door says that it was erected 1939-40 by Work Projects Admn, another one of those stimulus programs that helped employee workers during the Depression and created so many buildings still in use today.

On November 17, 1933, the school board purchased a new piano for the school.
A December 12, 1935, story reported that 29 pupils were enrolled in the school.
A January 17, 1940, Missourian brief said that classes for the Marble Hill grade school would be held at the old Will Mayfield College administration building because the old building is being razed for a new building.
Third grader Jimmy Smith, 8, who had been in a polio isolation ward at St. Francis Hospital was improved enough that he could see his parents. He became ill Tuesday and he was admitted to the hospital on Thursday. His left leg was affected by paralysis.
Fifteen pupils were graduated from the eighth grade of Marble Hill Grade School in May of 1956.
In 1957, about 60 members of the seventh and eighth grade were taken by bus for a skating party at the Jackson roller rink.

January 22, 2015January 22, 2015

Campbell Mattress Company

I was really looking for the Sani-Cream / Henny Penny building on a Halloween afternoon in 2009. It was just a coincidence I knocked off a couple frames of the Campbell Mattress Company at 3 South Hanover.

I didn’t realize the mattress company had been in business since 1933.

History of Campbell Mattress

Here are just a few of the stories from The Missourian:

May 28, 1935 – Fire destroyed Campbell Mattress Manufacturing Co. plant at 29 South Spanish. Fire was caused by burning bales of mattress cotton.
March 24, 1937 – A foundation wall gave way at the Campbell Mattress Co., 6 South Hanover street. “Four Negroes working in a ditch being dug for a sewer heard the crumbling of the brick wall and scrambled to safety. The ditch was being dug by A.E. Birk, a plumbing contractor.”
December 31, 1941 – Campbell Mattress was one of Cape’s leading manufacturing plants during the year. The shoe factory was the largest employer, with 1200 to 1400 workers.
December 7, 1955 – Common Pleas Judge J. Henry Caruthers, who served on the bench longer than any of his predecessors in the 104-year history of the court, died December 6, 1955. He and his brother, W.P. Caruthers, established the Missouri Mattress Manufacturing Co. before selling it to W.T. Ruff and Lee James. The Campbell Mattress Co. at 6 South Hanover is a successor to the original factory, and occupies the building erected by Judge Caruthers and his brother.
September 30, 1987 – Manuel G. Campbell, 79, died September 29, 1987. He owned and operated Campbell Mattress Co. from 1933 until 1983, when he sold the business and retired.
March 18, 1994 – Sprinkler system prevents serious blaze at mattress company.
August 5, 2000 – Fire at Campbell Mattress Co. warehouse at 100 Minnesota St. caused estimated $375,000 damage.
July 9, 2002 – Campbell Mattress Co. lands deal to provide mattresses for the Chicago Bears football team’s summer training facility. Owner Norman Wood wouldn’t say how many mattresses were ordered, but “they’re all king-size.”