Cape Girardeau History and Photos

July 7, 2016

Adam’s Missing Pictures

Son Adam turned 36 on July 7. He posted this on Facebook: “Sadly, this will be the first year I won’t get a card from Mary Welch Steinhoff for my birthday with some family photos in it.”

See, Mother had drawers full of hundreds of photographs of family from way back, plus hundreds more we sent her over the years. I’m not sure when she started the custom of mailing pictures BACK to us on our birthdays, but she was way ahead of Facebook in returning memories. The birthday envelope would contain a card, a stack of photos, and a check that roughly correlated to your age (I think she may have capped it at 50 bucks when we got older, but I’d have to go back to look).

I hope this tides you over

There was no telling if you’d get a picture of you as a baby, a toddler or an adult. I think she just reached into a drawer or a box and grabbed whatever fate dealt.

Happy Birthday, Kid

So, Adam, I’m not your Grandmother, but I DO have access to her stash. I hope these bring back good memories. Click on the photos to make them larger.

Folks, if you’re looking for a nice family tradition to start, give this a try. P.S. please write dates and names on the back of the prints. Locations, too, will help down the road.

July 6, 2016

Broadway Burger King

The same night I photographed McDonald’s, I thought it would only be fair to knock off Burger King, too. When I searched for the history of the fast-food place, I found a gazillion restaurant reviews, but not a lot of hard information. A 2004 Century of Commerce compendium in The Missourian made note that Burger King Restaurant was established at 2346 Broadway in 1972.

Other business highlights of that year included:

Keys Music moved to 121 Broadway.
A&P Super Market on Spanish Street closed and was taken over by J. Ronald Fischer.
The former Vandeven store on Broadway was sold to Craftsman Office Supply
Speed Equipment Worlds of America Inc. opened in the 2100 block of Broadway.

FindTheData info about BK

When I searched for 2346 Broadway, an interesting site called FindTheData popped up. It mined public records for information about the property. It looks like most of it dates to 2011.

It is a commercial building with an estimated value of $195,087.
That is 216% higher than the $61,829 average for commercial properties in the 63701 Zip Code.
That places it among the most valuable 20% of commercial properties in the area.
It has 0.66 acres of land, while a typical one has 0.53 acres.
It has moderate flood risk, high earthquake risk, very high tornado risk, and very high hail risk (but has below average hail risk for Missouri, which is one of the most hail-prone states in the U.S.).

Cape is a lower middle class city

The data site has this to say about the city:

It has about 38,665 residents and is about 28.87 square miles in size.
The city is considered to be lower middle class because a disproportionately large percentage of its households earn between $25,000 and $50,000 a year. [The blue sign in the middle photo was advertising they were hiring for $8.25 an hour, by the way.]
Through geospatial analysis of the company’s database, they’ve discovered Cape Girardeau has a high number of alternative medicine, bars, and gym business types compared to the typical city.

Alvarado was located at Broadway and 61

Oldtimers will remember the Alvarado as being located at what was once the outskirts of town at Broadway and Hwy 61, where the Burger King is now. I haven’t found any file photos of the Spanish-style building, but Fred Lynch and Sharon Sanders did a good job in Fred’s blog of telling the history of the landmark building.

June 30, 2016

The Butcher Block Closes

The Butcher Block at 1157 North Kingshighway looked awfully dark when I passed it the other day, so I scoped it out on June 25.

The business was housed in the building that used to be Esicar’s, a meat-selling landmark that opened in 1934. It became The Butcher Block in 2012 after a fire and several changes in ownership caused Esicar’s to close for good.

Yep, dark and empty

The Butcher Block Facebook posted a notice on June 6 that “the doors are closed and the shelves are empty. Thank you all for your patronage.”

A reader who asked if “Anybody know why it closed?” got this answer: “Tired of trying to find a real butcher. And with living 2 hours away. And having several irons in the fire. Something needed to give. Sorry cape lost the only meat shop it had. But family always needs to come first. Thanks for your business though.”

Previous stories about 1157 N. Kingshighway

June 27, 2016

Class of ’66’s 50th Reunion

The idea got started in Florida when Wife Lila sent this email to Marilyn Maevers Miller in Charleston in January:

I’d like to run something by you.

During the reunion, there was some interest in a get together in Cape for the Class of 66’s 50th in 2016, independent of the big event every 5 years. Terry [Hopkins], Bill [Jackson] and I have decided that we are going to Cape this summer for our 50th, even if there is no one but us at the shindig. However, we are hoping there will be a few 66ers who’d like to join us… possibly, some of the lunch bunch group would be interested.

Reality Check

By March, things were really beginning to take shape. On March 10, she set the tone of the event in a Facebook post:

A few minutes ago, I talked to a friend whose 35th HS reunion is in June. She decided not to go, because she had gained weight and didn’t want her classmates to see her like she is now.

That made me think of the CHS ’66 50th coming up. At 68 years old, I don’t think anyone from our class cares about that kind of stuff anymore, but just in case…..

REALITY CHECK!!! People, we ALL are 50 years older, and we ALL have a lot more miles on our odometers. I have wrinkles, gray hair, a saggy butt, scars and I weigh 40 pounds more than I did in 1966. The only things that still fit are my earrings. So there you have it! Now, you won’t be surprised when you see me. And if you are surprised, I won’t care.

I am guessing that a pretty fair number of you probably recognize yourselves, to some degree, in that description …depending on how good your plastic surgeon is. Ha!

What doesn’t change? Hopefully, they are the friends who made us laugh, who made us roll our eyes regularly and who were there even after high school. There were classmates that we avoided at all costs, or who ran in different circles than we did. No matter who they were or how you felt about them back then, they also are 50 years older… and I’m betting they’ve mellowed a little, too.

ALL of us have 50 years under our belts, and our 50th rolls around only ONCE. So, come. We are going to eat, drink, tell some tales and be merry. Whatever your definition of merry is, I bet we have it covered.

June is coming, and I’m looking forward to seeing a lot of wrinkled, graying, mellowed 66ers who still know how to rock and roll.

Mike Ervin won a shiny dime

Terry Hopkins promised a shiny dime to the person who traveled the greatest distance to attend the reunion. Mike Ervin claimed the prize, when he visited with classmates through a live broadcast social media connection from South Africa.

By the time June 24 rolled around, 87 classmates had signed up for the reunion; about 136 people, including guests showed up at North County Park for what sounded like a great weekend. You could hear the laughter and talking from 100 feet away.

Marilyn fed the crowd and was the local cat herder. The original four organizers got plenty of help from classmates who brought food, drinks, electric fans, and who helped string lights and clean up afterwards.

Anyone who appears in the group photo at the top of the page has my express permission to reproduce it for personal use. Click on the photos to make them larger.