Cape Girardeau History and Photos

November 8, 2010March 9, 2016

Hamburger Express Like Blue Hole?

Someone mentioned that the Hamburger Express drive-in at the corner of William and Pacific had barbecue sandwiches that tasted like the legendary Blue Hole Garden’s sandwiches that are the standard against which all barbecues are judged by us old locals.

I had driven past the red and white-striped building scores of times but couldn’t recall ever stopping in. It was time to give Hamburger Express a shot.

I’m not a food critic

Let’s get something clear right up front. This isn’t going to be a food review like my food editor friend Jan Norris would write. My knowledge of cooking is limited. If Wife Lila isn’t brewing up dinner, my contribution is to reach for the stack of carry-out menus next to the phone. They’re located IN the kitchen. That’s close enough to cooking for me.

Impression of the Hamburger Express BBQ

I ordered a brown (outside) pork sandwich served on toast, with fries and a Dr. Pepper.

It has twice the meat, at least, of a Wib’s sandwich.
The sauce is sweet-tasting, but not objectionably so. I like a little more heat in my sauce, but not much more.
I prefer less sauce on the sandwich. It shouldn’t drip.
It’s not a Blue Hole BBQ sandwich. Their sauce was lighter, slightly hotter and more vinegary.
I’d do it again. I vote Wib’s for taste, but Hamburger Express for value.

Jumbo burger a landmark

If you can’t place the location, you can see St. Mary’s Cathedral in the distance off to the east. Knaup Floral is across the street on Pacific. The greenhouses are gone, but the florist is still there.

Ribs and homemade sauce

After having a pork sandwich for lunch, I decided to try the St. Louis Cur Ribs for dinner. There was a lot of meat on the bone, it was tender and it was smokey tasting.

The ribs are served dry, with sauce on the side. I usually prefer it that way. I like to taste the meat, and too many places overdo the sauce. Overall, another good value for the buck. I wasn’t crazy about their Cole Slaw, but that’s a personal preference.

The only real drawback is that it’s take-out only (if you don’t count a picnic table outside in front). I like to eat my food while it’s hot and the bread isn’t soggy.

Manager Brad Jackson said the sauce is their own brew and that the place had been open about 22 years.

I won’t wait another 22 years to eat there. After all, Wibs is closed on Sundays and Mondays.

November 8, 2010November 8, 2010

St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church

When I shot these kids crawling around on the sign in front of the old St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church this spring, I didn’t see that they were doing any damage and no bolt of lightning came out of the heavens to incinerate them, so I guess they got a pass this time.

Their activity may not have reached the bolt of lightning level of offense, but I bet there was someone with a ruler somewhere who was just itching to rap some knuckles.

I published some other photos of the church and Murtaugh Park in April 2010.

November 6, 2010November 1, 2011

Fall Day at Houck Stadium

We’ll get the facts out of the way first, then we’ll get on with the story. I don’t know what sporting event was going on at Houck Stadium Saturday afternoon, but you couldn’t have asked for a nicer day to hold it.

Houck Field House, Academic Hall, Kent Library and the high-rise dorms all show up prominently. Parking has replaced some of the homes and businesses along Broadway in front of the Field House. (Click on the photo to make it larger. It has some cool detail.)

I’ll run a photo at the bottom of the page that was shot sometime around 1966 for comparison.

Ernie Chiles was my pilot

I flew my first aerials with Ernie Chiles while I was still in high school, and I’ve written about how one of those flights launched me into photojournalism.

We flew out of the Painton Airport

I asked Ernie if he knew where I could charter a plane to shoot some aerial photos on this trip home. He offered to fly me himself for old times sake. (By the way, we’ve come to an agreement: we refer to each other as “former student” and “former teacher.” Neither of us likes the way “old teacher” and old student” sounds.)

He keeps his plane at the Painton Airport.

If you have to ask where it is, you wouldn’t know where it was if I told you. Its a grass strip, with a short length of paved runway needed to get a crop duster airborne when he’s fully loaded.

It’s flying the way it used to be: park next to your plane, no TSA and no full body scanners. That’s not to say there’s NO security. There were half a dozen guys hanging around who knew who belonged and who didn’t.

Ernie’s seeing eye dog had the cutest parachute

Since he’s advancing in age, I tried as delicately as possible to see if Ernie was up to the task. He said that he’s finally mastered takeoffs; landings are handled by the Law of Gravity, which hasn’t failed to bring every flight of his to the ground.

He DID suggest that I bring an extra milk bone or two for his seeing eye dog. It sits right behind him in the cockpit and presses down on the appropriate shoulder to indicate a left or right turn. It has the cutest little parachute.

I thought for a second that we had attracted a wingman just before touchdown. Turned out it was just our shadow.

Jet on strafing run

While Ernie was refueling and putting his airplane to bed, I looked up to see a jet making a low-altitude strafing run at a long freight train loaded with Canadian crude oil. It took a moment to realize that it was a radio-controlled model operated by one of Ernie’s buddies. Things are not always as they appear at the Painton Airport.

I really DID shoot some serious photos, but it’s going to take some time to wade through the 563 frames to pull out the best ones. I’ll scatter them out to keep you from overdosing on aerial photos.

Houck Stadium circa 1966

As promised, here’s what the Houck Stadium area looked like around 1966.

November 5, 2010March 21, 2021

Tower of Memories

The Tower of Memories in Cape County’s Memorial Park Cemetery was dedicated in 1934. I ran across a clipping about the 57-foot monument while looking for something else and was surprised that it was so old.

A Kansas City man, Hugo Felix, bought 30 acres of land that had once been part of the County Farm for $3,000 in 1932.

County Farm Home

There’s a curious monument “IN MEMORY OF THOSE WHO DIED IN OUR COUNTY FARM HOME” across the street in Cape County’s North Park.

I know it was common in some areas to have “poor farm” where the indigent, particularly the elderly, would go when they were down on their luck before Social Security and other entitlement programs provided a safety net.

I did a story in Athens, Ohio, in the 60s about that county’s “poor farm.”

I’m not sure if Cape Girardeau county had something similar at this location. It’s something I’m going to have to research.

1933 Tower of Memories rendering

Newspaper accounts say the 57-foot tall, 16′ x 16′ structure would have three stories: the bottom floor would contain an office and the second and third floors would house the Celesta-Vox, touted as “The Voice from the Heavens.” The amplified chimes and “vibraharp” supposedly could be heard a mile away. I don’t know that I ever heard it or if it’s still in use. The tower was built of native limestone.

Ford and Sons buy cemetery from Strom Family

Raymond Strom bought the cemetery in 1951, and it was run by the Strom family until Walter Joe Ford and his wife, Iris, bought it in 1958. At that time, Ford said there was enough room in the cemetery to handle the needs of the community for the next 50 years.

That’s probably been extended since the cemetery has added mausoleums and memorial plots for “residents” who have been cremated. That will allow for greater population density.

I don’t know what plots are going for now, but there was a notice in The Missourian in February, 1934, that the prices for six-space burial lots in Section 1 (Lutheran), Section 2 (Masonic) and Section 7 (non-sectarian) were increasing from $125 to $150. Section 6 (non-sectarian) was going to jump from $175 to 200.

Peacocks were exotic attraction

No visit to the cemetery would have been complete without stopping to see the peacocks when you were a kid. If you were lucky, you might go home with one of the bright-colored feathers. I used some for fishing flies in my pre-teen years.

I wish I had a better peacock photo, but the sun (and the temperature) were going down fast and there was a brisk, chill wind blowing. My interest in peacocks diminishes in direct proportion to how cold I am.

Some purist will probably point out that the picture is actually of a peahen and a peacock, but I didn’t ask for them for gender identification in my rush to get back into the warm car. If THEY know the difference, that’s all that counts.