In these days of high inflation and inflated prices at the pump, who wouldn't enjoy seeing a gas war? Youngsters -- those of you who have only been driving a few years -- may not familiar with this concept. One filling station will drop its prices a few cents and, not to be outdone, a station up the street will do the same. And the price per gallon of gasoline sinks lower and lower, much to the delight of drivers...

Back in 2010, when I put together a time line of the history of the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport, I made no mention of the hiring of a "line girl" or "ground hostess" by Cape Central Airways in 1972. I can't imagine overlooking the article while doing the research. ...

1997 saw the end of the Golden Dragon Chinese Restaurant, 217 N. Kingshighway, in Cape Girardeau. Long a popular eating and socializing place, the Golden Dragon was felled by a bright yellow backhoe in the spring of that year, its place taken by a new Alliance Bank. ...

Hundreds of people gathered in Illmo (now Scott City) the evening of Wednesday, June 7, 1922, to see the "Prosperity Special" — 20 locomotives built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works of Philadelphia and pulled from the factory by two large Cotton Belt engines, bound for Texas...

A Japanese cherry tree blooms on the east side of Capaha Park in the 1950s. (G.D. Fronabarger ~ Southeast Missourian archive)...

Twenty-five years ago, the 600 block of Good Hope Street got a lot quieter. At the end of May 1997, Sam Unnerstall closed the drug store his father, Frank, established 70 years earlier. In an article in the Southeast Missourian, Sam talked about his father, the business, and the changing times in Haarig...

The structure that houses Shivelbine's Music store at 535 Broadway has a long history that includes a saloon, hotel, sewing machine shop, furniture store, hardware store and, finally, a music store...

Retired Missourian photographer Fred Lynch recently emailed me with the suggestion that I feature Harlan "Dutch" Schrader and his Rose City Rides in this blog. He even provided an article written about Schrader and his business, published in the 1968 Missourian Achievement Edition...

Funny hats always catch my eye. But perch them atop the heads of some of the most dignified ladies of the 1963 Cape State College faculty and you really have my attention. I happened upon two photos in Garland Fronabarger's collection of mature women wearing hats assembled out of their own imaginations. I just knew there had to be a story behind them...

Back in 2015, longtime Missourian photographer Fred Lynch published a blog about the demolition of Leming Hall on the campus of Southeast Missouri State (then) College. In April 1972 the decision was made by the Board of Regents, at the recommendation of a 12-member committee, to raze Leming, which had been housing female students since the early 1900s. In its place the college would construct a new, $3 million student union building...

Just days after Cape Girardeau voters passed a $115,000 bond issue for the acquisition and improvement of Harris Field as a municipal airport, Mayor R.E. Beckman received an offer he couldn't refuse. Commanders of the Naval Air Station at Lambert Field in St. ...

In March 1944, Harris Field ceased being a training facility for Army pilots. Three years later, voters here approved a $115,000 bond issue that paved the way for acquisition of the airfield to become a municipal, now regional, airport. Spearheading the campaign for passage of the bond issue were members of the Cape Girardeau Airport Board: H.I. ...

For many years the white building at right on Independence Street was silent witness to a record-setting flood. In 1844 the Mississippi established a modern flood record of 42.53 feet at Cape Girardeau. A river man rowed his skiff alongside this structure, the Albert building, and drove a nail into the wall at water level. Later, at the suggestion of Louis Houck, the nail was replaced by a painted line and the words "High water 1844." (G.D. Fronabarger ~ Southeast Missourian archive)...

I'll admit, the photograph that accompanies this blog isn't of the best quality. The photo was taken about 1908 by one of Cape Girardeau's best photographers, G.A. Kassel. Unfortunately, Kassel's original work didn't make its way into the Missourian's photo archive, so this image was taken from microfilm. ...

In 1972, while still in grade school, I attended my first real, live stage production. And I was in love. In love with the pageantry, the music, the story that is "Camelot." And it sparked a love of live theater that continues to this day...

Any military history buff will be able to tell you of the illustrious career of World War I flying ace and Medal of Honor recipient Eddie Earlbacker. But did you know that during a World War II flight over the South Pacific during World War II, a plane Rickenbacker was in crashed? Rickenbacker and seven members of his crew -- including Oak Ridge native James C. Whittaker -- survived a 21-day ordeal...

I have always enjoyed doing research in the 1920s. Something about those roaring days has always fascinated me. Recently, in reading the offerings of 1922 published in the Southeast Missourian, I ran across several stories I found interesting. While nothing links them together except the year of publication, I've used them to cobble together this blog...

Casey Ransom, 1940. (G.D. Fronabarger ~ Southeast Missourian archive) In last week's blog I teased readers with the promise of the story of the Ransom brothers -- Chauncey "Casey" and Sherrell H. The latter's name is a bit confusing. He was alternately known as S.H., Sherrell H. and Sherman H. Ransom and even Pierre Ransom "Pierce" Kingsley...

As I research the "Out of the Past" column, I frequently run across stories that cannot be contained in the daily feature. They're too interesting or too complicated to conveniently fit the structure of the "Past" column...

The brick rectory was built as an addition to the east end of St. Mary's Cathedral in 1957. Recent fire damage was done to the priests' house, when a homeless person, seeking to warm himself in sub-freezing temperatures, accidentally set fire to a basement entryway under the porch. (G.D. Fronabarger ~ Southeast Missourian archive)...