Cape Girardeau History and Photos

March 29, 2015March 29, 2015

Gadsden County, Florida

Friend Shari, like most of my Road Warriorettes, likes to take the backroads. Part of it is that you can see more than on the Super Slab; part of it is that they may not want to be seen with me.

After going through the central part of Florida, we decided to take 90 across the Panhandle outside of Tallahassee rather than I-10. I was somewhat familiar with this part of the state from earlier stories – I documented U.S. 27 from Little Havana in Miami to Havana, Florida, on the Georgia line in 1990 – but I had not been to Quincy.

The homes and landscaping were striking.

“Our Fallen Heroes”

The city square was dominated by the county courthouse with a large statue to “Our Fallen Heroes” in front of it.

Click on the photos to make them larger.

Those are Confederate soldiers being honored

In case you missed the crossed swords and C.S.A. on the front of the monument, the back spells it out directly: “Sacred to the memory of the Confederate Soldiers from Gadsen Co. Florida who died in the defense of their country. Erected by the ladies of the Memorial Association of Gadsden Co. Florida, April 26, 1884.”

I asked myself, “How would that monument make a black man feel when he was being hauled into that courthouse in 1910?” Or somebody with New York license plates pulled over in 1965?

World Wars I and II

On the east side of the courthouse is a monument erected in 1950 by the American Legion “In Memoriam – Gadsden County men of World Wars I and II who gave their all that the world might have peace.”

All other wars

By May 25, 1998, the county commissioners decided that wars were coming so fast and furious that they’d lump them all together with a marker on the south side of the courthouse: “In memory of Gadsden County veterans who gave their lives during the Korean Conflict, Vietnam Era, Grenada, Lebanon, Panama, Persian Gulf.”

They were optimistic not to leave any space for future wars.

Domestic violence memorial

There was a surprise waiting on the west side of the courthouse: Two stones dedicated “In memory of victims of domestic violence in Gadsden County – 1990 to present.”

There are 19 names listed. One of them is Allen Dixie, born 1917; died 1996. Victoria Yon was born in 1936 and died in 1999. The year 2004 must have been a particularly bad year for Gadsden residents: four died that year.

Either people are behaving better now or interest has waned in keeping the list updated. The last entry was from 2005.

Big money in shade tobacco

Gadsden County’s website said the county is often associated with shade tobacco, Fuller’s Earth and Coca Cola. That echoes what someone told us down the road: “A lot of those old homes came from tobacco money.”

Only two places in the United States were suitable for the growing of the crop that was used to wrap cigars: the Georgia-Florida Shade Tobacco District, comprised of Gadsden and Madison counties in Florida, and Grady and Decatur counties in Georgia, and the Connecticut River valley in New England. In 1946, the website says, those two districts were producing 95% of American-grown wrapper leaf, and they represented a $100 million industry, of which $25 million was invested in land, equipment, barns, packing houses and operating capital in the Georgia-Florida area.

Fuller’s Earth and Coca Cola

Fuller’s Earth, a form of clay, was discovered by accident in 1893. It was originally used to clean and bleach cloth, but today it is also used in refining petroleum products and in kitty litter.

The website said “The bottling of Coca-Cola was begun in the county at the turn of the 20th century but its real value to the area came through the purchase of Coca-Cola stock. Many legends circulate about the personal fortunes gained from Coca-Cola investments. Miss Julia Munroe Woodward, daughter of banker M. W. “Pat” Munroe says, “Daddy liked the taste and he figured folks would always have a nickel for a coke.” Prices have gone up but “Mr. Pat” encouraged family and friends to invest in the stock before the beverage attained its world wide prestige. The increase in value resulted in a good many “Coca-Cola millionaires” residing in the county. One estimate says that there were 67 of them and another says that at one time, more Coca-Cola stock was held in Gadsden County than throughout the rest of the country. Whether that is legend or fact, Coca-Cola is the drink of choice of many families in Gadsden County.”

March 28, 2015

House at 213 South Middle

The house at 213 South Middle is no stranger to fire. The fire department was called there at least three times between 1920 and March 4, 2015.

A November 28, 2005, Missourian story said the Cape Girardeau Historic Preservation Commission selects buildings that illustrate important elements of the city’s culture and history. One of the selections for the fall and winter of 2005 was this house at 213 South Middle, which it called the “Lutz House.” It was built around 1900 and the owner in 2005 was Olivette Kassel.

I wonder if the Commission meant “Lutes House.” A Missourian brief on July 19, 1950, titled “Expendable” said “Mrs. Freeman Lutes, 213 South Middle street, said today she has two kittens of excellent appearance which she will give away. The cats, both solid yellow, are about two months old and Mrs. Lutes has no use for them.”

House is condemned

The Missourian reported on March 5, 2015, that firefighters from three area departments battled a Cape Girardeau house fire early Wednesday morning. The paper said the occupant was out, and reported that no one else was inside. The owner / occupant wasn’t identified.

The cause of the blaze was under investigation, but the fire department said the fire started on the first floor near the water heater and is considered accidental.

Extensive damage estimated at $95,000

A peek through a broken window exposed a family’s life turned upside down. I always hated to see the aftermath of a flood or fire. Family photos on the dresser, a cedar chest, a sports poster on the wall; those things meant something to someone at some time.

Fire hose too short in 1920

“Fire Laddies’ Hose Too Short; Flames Badly Damage a Home” read the May 1, 1920, headline in The Missourian.

“The home of Paul Lind, 213 South Middle street, was badly damaged at noon today when a fire, started from a defective flue, burned the upper part of the building and water soaked the walls and other parts of the house that the fire failed to reach.

“The fire department had insufficient hose to reach from the water hydrant to the house, [F.P.] Miles [a neighbor] said, and had to go after more. By the time the firemen then got to work, he stated, the flames had gotten considerable headway and much water had to be used.”

The Leader, Inc.

The September 11, 1925, Missourian carried a long story about The Leader, Inc., a department store at the northwest corner of Good Hope and Sprigg handling dry goods, clothing, ladies’ read-to-wear, shoes, hosiery, notions, etc. The business, the paper said, was formerly conducted at the Hirsch Bros. Mercantile and Provision Company, established in 1897.

E.P. Lind was listed as the treasurer of the company. It noted that “Mr. Lind is not married and is living at the home of his father, at 213 South Middle. He is a member of the Lutheran Church.

It’s an interesting history of a company I had not heard of.

Lind and Vogel are engaged

The September paper said that E.P. Lind wasn’t married, but the June 16, 1925 paper announced that “Miss Norma Vogel, attractive daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William H. Vogel, 237 North Ellis street, who is soon to become the bride of Elmer Lind, was the honor guest at a kitchen shower given Monday night at the home of Mrs. Fred Atchison, 221 South Louisiana. Date for the wedding has not been definitely been set, friends of the couple say, but is expected to be in early Autumn.”

I guess Elmer hadn’t gotten around to getting actually married by the time the business story ran.

Burned again in 1928

The October 25, 1928, Missourian reported two fire calls, one to the residence of Phil Lind, 213 South Middle street. Flames on the roof of a barn in the rear of the dwelling were extinguished.

Sofspra Kar Laundry

Sometime around 1961 or 1962, Boy Scout Troop 8 was paid to distribute flyers for the grand opening of the Sofspra Kar Laundry (I guess they couldn’t think of a way to butcher the spelling of “laundry). I ran across one of those flyers in a file folder. (The back had been used to scrawl some meaningless notes.)

I could have sworn I shot some recent photos of the car wash at North Kingshighway and Marilyn Drive, but they came up missing.

Water Works Car Wash

On the way home the other day, I whipped into what is now called the Water Works Car Wash to shoot some updated photos. When I was a kid, I can remember Dad taking the wooden screen panels off our porch, loading them into the back of his pickup (always a Chevrolet) and taking them to the car wash for cleaning.

Prices have changed

The days when you could clean your whole car – and I’m talking about a monster 1959 Buick LaSabre station wagon- for a couple of quarters are long gone. Tokens start at a buck and go up. I will say the facility appears to be in pretty good shape, considering that it’s more than half a century old.

It certainly outlasted my old station wagon.

March 26, 2015March 26, 2015

Welcome to Spring in Cape

I was driving around North Sprigg this afternoon looking for the old Shivelbine house before SEMO preserves it in a landfill. The address I had been given was wrong, so I was turning around in a driveway when I saw these young folks cavorting on a rooftop. I gave them a friendly wave so they’d think I was a little less creepy. I’m not sure it worked.

Shades of the old days

That reminded me of this single frame I must have taken when I was visiting my future best man, Andy McLain, at his apartment off William somewhere near Pacific. The place was pretty rundown, but I think I see why he stayed there.

Better get an umbrella

The weather report said we were going to have a front blow through that was going to bring a couple days of rain, so I went looking for a large umbrella to replace the one I forgot to put in my new van. Just after I got in the house, the weather alert went off with a severe thunderstorm warning. I wasn’t overly concerned because it sounded like the cell was north and east of us.

Not too long after that, though, the alert sounded about a strong storm near Mable Hill headed our way. This one had high winds, a possible tornado and large hail. When the first few small hailstones started falling, I debated jumping in the van and heading to the funeral home overhang, but all of a sudden the sky opened up. It was too late.

Marble size and bigger

I’ve been in hailstorms where the stones were bigger, but I’ve never experienced having so much ice fall at one time and propelled so hard. The way the stones were pounding against the kitchen window, I was afraid the glass was going to break.

Here’s just a little of the ice on my windshield about 15 minutes after the main storm quit, and after the rain had melted them smaller than their original pea and marble size.

Yard and street covered

In a matter of a minute or two, the street and yard were a solid white.

Hail makes me uncomfortable

I love storm chasing, but hail makes me uncomfortable. When you get large hail, that means there are some serious winds in that storm bouncing the ice around.

These photos don’t do the hail justice: while it was falling, there was too much water on the storm door to shoot through it, and I couldn’t open the door because I was afraid the wind might blow it from my grasp. By the time I could shoot these, quite a bit of rain had fallen and melted the ice.

Rabbit and solar lights OK

So far as I can tell, Mother’s solar lights and rabbit came through unscathed. I hope I don’t see any dimples on my car in the morning. Click on the photos to make them larger.