Cape Girardeau History and Photos

April 21, 2012

Tiger Business Managers

This photo of Tiger business managers ran in the 1965 Girardot. They are, from left to right, Steve Crowe, Al Spradling III., and Lee Dahringer. I mentioned them back when I was looking for someone to help me sell ads for this blog.

Mr. Wilferth caught us

I don’t know the exact circumstances of this photo. The guys are wearing the same clothes, so I suspect that we thought to ourselves, “Well, that didn’t take too long to shoot. We’re excused from class, so let’s jet out of here for the rest of the period.”(I apologize for the quality of the negative. Years of improper storage has not been kind to it.)

That’s probably when we ran into principal Fred Wilferth. He could have busted us, but his style was to clown around, standing on his tiptoes to show the disparity between his height and Al’s. Sort of, “I’ve got my eyes on you boys, but nothing’s going to come of it if you head on to your next class.”

Wayne Goddard, assistant principal, played “bad cop” to Mr. Wilferth’s “good cop.” Even though Mr. Goddard was the school’s disciplinarian, I never heard anyone speak ill of him.

Stories about Al, Steve and Lee

I had forgotten how many stories mentioned these guys

Lee Dahringer ties one on
Steve Crowe’s Corvette Stingray
Al Spradling Jr and III
All three were in Red Dagger plays
You can spot ’em in Jim Stone’s Shoebox Photos
Fred Wilferth built Jackson Roller Rink
Al was supposed to go to lunch with J. Fred Waltz and me, but ditched us. I made the mistake of dissing golfers in that account.

April 21, 2012

Central vs Perryville Homecoming

This shot of Charlie Duncan and Fanny Clemmons walking off the field after Central bested Perryville 20-6 in the homecoming game was published in the 1965 Girardot.

Duncan was a superb athlete and one of the nicest guys at Central. The Girardot Senior Directory lists his activities as “President, Treasurer of Homeroom; Varsity Club; Football; Track; All-State Honorable Mention, All Conference First Team.”

Fanny was in the Sports Club and was Secretary, Treasurer of the Volleyball Club.

“Glory Comes Late in Season”

The Girardot said “The highlight of this year’s season came in a triumphant victory over the Perryville Pirates, 20 – 6. This being the homecoming and final game, the Tigers would settle for nothing less than victory. Executing brilliant plays and coordinated teamwork, Central took and early lead. The second half showed as much determination as the first, as the Tigers maintained a definite advantage and ended the Pirates’ winning streak.”

Cape Beat Jackson 19 – 0

I remember Jackson as being Cape’s biggest rival in our generation. The Girardot reported on the season’s fourth game: “The rivalry between Cape and Jackson surged to a climax as Central downed the Indians, 19 – 0.”

There were several players with numbers beginning with 5 in the yearbook team photo. Since I can’t read the whole number, it could be Mike Gray (52), Wayne Roeder (50) or Leslie Carlton (56). I know it’s not Bill Jackson (54), and I’m pretty sure it’s not Mike Gray. The girl on the left looks like she might have been one of the Dunklin girls, but I’ll let somebody else confirm it.

CHS lost squeaker to Sikeston

The Sikeston – Cape Central game I covered in 2010 was a blowout, with Sikeston scoring in the first minute and winning 21 – zip. The 1965 Girardot said “One of the most thrilling games was the Tigers’ encounter with the Sikeston Bulldogs. The last 52 seconds proved to be the deciding point when the Bulldogs scored a touchdown, ending the game in a close 20 -19 defeat for the Tigers.

I’m pretty sure # 84 was Jerry O’Connell.

1964 Varsity Scores

The Girardot: “Highlights of Central’s 1964 football season included both disappointments and triumphs.”

CHS vs Blytheville: 6 – 12
CHS vs University City: 7 – 14
CHS vs Paducah Tilghman: 6 – 6
CHS vs Jackson: 19 – 0
CHS vs Poplar Bluff: 0 – 14
CHS vs Sikeston: 19 – 20
CHS vs Chaffee: 34 – 13
CHS vs Charleston: 0 -14
CHS vs Perryville: 20 – 6

The yearbook’s team photo has some of the numbers obscured, but I’m going to guess that #28 was Mike Friese. Girlfriends, unfortunately, didn’t wear numbers, so I’m not sure who the girl was. Ron Riley was wearing #73 in the yearbook.

April 19, 2012

Endangered Buildings List

Scott Moyers had a story in The Missourian that the Cape commission had released an endangered buildings list. Here are the ones considered most endangered:

B’nai Israel Synagogue, 126 S. Main St.
Broadway Theater, 805 Broadway
Esquire Theater, 824 Broadway
Fort D blockhouse, 920 Fort St.
Franklin School, 215 N. Louisiana St.
Hanover Lutheran School, 2949 Perryville Road
Old Jefferson School, 731 Jefferson Ave.
Kage School, 3110 Kage Road
Lorimier Apartments, 142-148 S. Lorimier St.
Sturdivant Bank, 101 N. Main St.

I’ve done stories on almost all of them. Here’s a look back:

Kage School

I imagine the long, cold walk to the outhouse was not fun for this little guy,

Photos that were taken just before the Kage School closed , along with some interesting facts. It was integrated as far back as 1889, and accepted children from the County Poor Farm.
When I went back to document the building’s condition in 2010, I was surprised to see names going back to 1899 carved in the bricks.

Broadway Theater

I spent many a happy hour in the Broadway balcony

I was sure that the inside of the old Broadway Theater would be a disaster with the roof falling in and debris all over the place. When I got my first glimpse of the interior, I was transported back to the days of Saturday matinee movies in a grand theater. It’s ragged, but it’s still grand.
The basement under the theater was HUGE, but the dressing rooms for the old stage actors were tiny.

Esquire Theater

The Esquire had over a mile of neon lighting when it opened in 1947

Photos of the Art Deco Esquire Theater before the recent renovation project
Infrared film photos of teenybopper reaction to the Beatles movie Help! when it played at the Esquire in September 1965.
Photos of the maybe on, maybe off project to renovate the movie house.

Fort D

The building we know as Civil War Fort D didn’t exist until 1937. It was used as a residence in the 1960s.

101 North Main / Sturdivant Bank

Bank, telephone exchange building, Minnen’s Dress Shop, Cape Wiggery. The old building at 101 North Main Street has been many things and has some interesting connections to other pieces of Southeast Missouri history. Its neighbor, the St. Charles Hotel, home to General Grant in the Civil War, was torn down in 1967.

B’nai Israel Synagogue

The B’nai Israel Synagogue is in an historical triangle that includes the Red House and St. Vincent’s Church.

Jefferson School

Jefferson was a black school in 1953-1955 before the system was integrated.

Pictures of the oldest standing school in Cape Girardeau taken in 2010
I shot it again in 2011 after it had been slated for demolition. It may have had a reprieve.

Franklin School

This part of Franklin School will be torn down when the new building behind it is completed.

Franklin: the school with no name.
Franklin School and construction progress in July 2011.

April 18, 2012

Period Costumes at Church

The street signs in the background say Cape Rock and Rand. There’s no listing in the 1968 City Directory for a church in that neighborhood, but Google Maps shows The Church of God located at 209 E. Cape Rock Drive today. You can click on the photo to make it larger.

Horsin’ around at the church

A comely lass boldly exhibits an ankle getting out of the wagon. (That’s the way caption writers talked back in those days.)

Anyone know what was going on?

I didn’t have enough information to do a meaningful Google Archive search, so you’re going to have to provide any thing beyond the address.