Cape Girardeau History and Photos

When I was a kid, Dad took me to see Johnson’s Shut-ins State Park while he was building a road nearby. I thought it was one of the coolest places I had ever been in Missouri.

Shut-Ins circa 1978

He said he the sight of water hitting the rock formations and spraying dozens of feet into the air when the river was flooding was “awesome.” Son Matt looks like he was about three or four in one of the photos on this roll (not shown due to excessive cuteness), so they would have been taken before the 1980s, probably around 1978.

When I was there with Dad, we had the whole place to ourselves. Since then, it’s become a popular natural water park from folks as far away as St. Louis. The place was so packed, in fact, that it was hard to find a parking place when we were there last.

Even Mother got into the act

It was  a hot day, so Mother, who will try anything once, took advantage of the cool water.

AmerenUE’s Taum Sauk reservoir disaster

AmerenUE’s Taum Sauk reservoir breached in the early morning hours of Dec. 14, 2005, dumping 1.3 billion gallons of water into the park. This AP story tells how the 1950s-vintage park was redesigned “with 21st-Century sensibilities.”

Here is a photo out one of the windows in the St. Louis Arch probably in 1967, just before I left for college.

Tradition: lick the Arch

When Matt and Sarah were freshly married, we all headed up to Bro Mark’s place in St. Louis for Christmas. When the Arch first popped into view, we started an elaborate story about how there is a tradition to lick the Arch the first time you visit it.

“So many people had done it that the shiny coating has worn off at the lip level,” we explained to her. “Some people make a pretty good living out of selling antiseptic wipes to people who don’t feel comfortable licking where other people have been.”

I was impressed. She wasn’t buying it. She had wised up to the Steinhoff family pretty quickly.

St. Louis Arch and riverfront

Mark and I took a ride from his house near the Botanical Gardens to the Chain of Rocks Bridge. I was surprised at how it was possible to get around on a bike in St. Louis. Here’s an account of our ride to Chain of Rocks.

Here’s a shot of the riverfront and Arch looking south, possibly from Ead’s Bridge. If I’m wrong, I’m sure Mark will enjoy pointing out the error. That’ll be my birthday present to him.

Impressive landmark

I can remember seeing the photos and reading the stories in The St. Louis Globe-Democrat about the building of the Arch. It’s a beautiful landmark that you can’t really appreciate until you get up close to get a feeling for its size.