200 Japanese cherry trees planted in Cape park

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

If you've ever been to Washington, D.C., in the springtime, you've probably gloried in the beautiful display of blooming cherry trees.

In 1912 over 3,000 trees were sent to the Capitol, a gift from the people of Japan. Planted and tended with care, those trees and others added over the years continue to attract thousands of tourists each spring.

Something similar to that was behind the planting of 200 Japanese cherry trees in Cape Girardeau's Fairground Park (now Capaha Park) in 1929.

After the city purchased the land in 1916, plans were made to improve the grounds. The City Council even hired landscape gardeners from St. Louis to design the improvements. However, it appears a lack of funds undermined the scheme.

Some improvements were made. A new swimming pool was dug in 1919, and the baseball diamond was re-worked in 1921 to allow rainwater to drain better.

Little else was done until 1929 when, with Mayor James A. Barks leading the effort, new life was given to the city's plan to transform the fairgrounds into a real park.

Published Sept. 25, 1929, in the Southeast Missourian:

MUNICIPAL PARK DEVELOPMENT
AND CITY BEAUTIFICATION PLAN IS
ANNOUNCED BY THE CITY COUNCIL

FAIRGROUND PARK FIRST TO BE IMPROVED; PLANTINGS OF
JAPANESE CHERRY TREES PLANNED SOON; NEW
STREETS OF CITY TO GET TREES.

Plans for a complete park development and city beautification program, which has been in the process of formation for several months, were announced today by the city council. Mayor James A. Barks, acting as spokesman for the administration, made the announcement.

The plans include complete renovation of Fairground Park for the use of all residents of the city and visitors.

The program is now under way, started by the ordering of 200 Japanese cherry trees for planting in parks here. The trees are expected to arrive within a few weeks and will then be planted. An invitation will be extended at once to the Japanese ambassador to the United States to attend the planting of the trees and address the residents of the city on that occasion. The trees, 100 of which will be of the double blossom white variety and the other hundred of the double blossom pink variety, are being secured from Iowa so that they will be acclimated and will grow well here. The trees are expected to form one of the most beautiful sights in the city, similar, in a way, to the famous Japanese cherry trees at Washington, D.C.

Tulip bulbs ordered

In addition to this, 1,000 tulip bulbs have been ordered direct from Holland and will be planted in flower beds. They will be of the large variety.

Complete rehabilitation of Fairground Park will be next in order. Saturday closed the history of the Cape County Fair in Fairground Park, where for years it has been an institution. The fairgrounds will now be made into a beautiful park, the reconstruction of which will be detailed.

First will come the elimination of drives now existing in the park and the reconstruction of drives through the tract so as to include the entire acreage. Following the planting of the Japanese cherry trees, a number of forest trees will be secured and planted. As the program progresses the present old buildings, barns and floral hall will be razed and the places they occupy beautified.

A plan is being worked out whereby the park lagoon will be an attractive spot. It is planned to erect the municipal band stand over this lake and adopt other improvements including a modern lighting system that will lend an unusual atmosphere to the place.

To develop play grounds

In developing this park and others throughout the city the creation of play grounds will be kept in mind. "A recreational center for the people, where they might enjoy the benefits of civic development and be taught a greater civic pride, as well as making these improvements serve the best interest of the populace and visitors who come to the city, will be the aim of city officials, " Mayor Barks said.

"Cape Girardeau has reached a point where still greater city planning is necessary to properly guide the city's destiny. Residents must want to properly develop their home sites, and the city as a whole must make an effort to bring about the 'city beautiful' if we are to be nationally advertised and completely enjoy our environment," Mayor Barks said.

A tree planting campaign will be inaugurated within a short time. In this campaign residents will be given every assistance by the city in the choice of trees for planting where none now exist. For example, there are sections of the city where recent building development has brought about the laying out of new streets. Very few trees have been planted in most of these sections. An attempt will be made to select a type of tree to be planted uniformly along the new streets, providing good appearance of the residential districts in the future.

To follow city plan

All of this work the City Plan will be adhered to as closely as possible, city officials indicated. "It is our intention not to over-develop a particular spot, but to systematically carry out improvements. The success of this enterprise depends entirely upon the cooperation given by the public," Mayor Barks said.

During the coming year there will be funds available for the carrying out of the improvement program. Last year the last of the street improvement and sewer tax bills against Fairground Park were disposed of. A total of $26,000 had been paid on them since 1923, a period of six years, and last year $2,600, plus interest, was paid, erasing the obligation. The park fund is obtained through a tax of three cents on the $100 valuation of all city assessed property, the total now exceeding $12,000,000 valuation. In addition to this, concession rights from Fairground Park have brought in some money.

The annual fund will go a long way in carrying out the proposed improvements in the future, if systematically and reasonably applied, city officials said.

Commissioner A.P. Behrens expressed his interest in the development of the playground system. "Our playgrounds must be located soon at strategic points of the city and adequate provisions must be made for playground equipment and proper supervision of playground activities," he said. Proper amusement concessions could also be provided to run through the seasons and offer entertainment for both young and old, Behrens states.

Commissioner Martin Krueger manifested his interest in development of the streets and educating persons to aid in city beautification by proper tree and shrubbery planting and keeping premises free of rubbish.

One of the unusual features of the new program will be the "airways flower sign." The plan has now been completed for the planting early in the spring of a large bed of flowers, spelling the name "Cape Girardeau." This sign will be 200 feet long, the words being approximately 30 feet high and 10 feet wide. The westward sloping terrace of the park at the Perryville Road has been chosen as the site for this sign. Heavy flowering varieties of flowers of contrasting rich colors will be blended into this sign, greeting aviators and motorists who enter the city on West Broadway.

A definite date for the tree planting campaign and the planting of the Japanese cherry trees will be announced as soon as details for the program can be arranged.

The first shipment of 100 Japanese cherry trees arrived in Cape Girardeau in November 1929. City officials agreed to wait until all 200 trees were received before planting them all. This was done in April 1930. No mention is made of the Japanese ambassador attending the tree planting.

According to the Southeast Missourian: "Seventy of the trees have been planted between the swimming pool and the lagoon, and 130 of them on the west slope of the park, commanding an excellent view from West Broadway and other parts of the park."

It was predicted that within two to three years "the trees will attain a growth that will give residents of this district an idea of the beauty of the profusely blooming trees. There will be no blooms this year." That prediction proved accurate, as a single tree bloomed for the first time in April 1932. In December of that year, 25 of the trees were relocated from the west side of the park to the east. The Missourian stated: The trees "have been set in clusters along West End Boulevard and at other points where they will be particularly attractive during the blossoming season." This move likely accounts for the trees in the above photograph, which was taken near West End Boulevard.

In the end, however, Cape Girardeau's Japanese cherry tree planting met with little success. By the spring of 1935 the newspaper noted that the trees "are not creating much excitement, although many of the trees are now in bloom for the first time." The story published April 19, 1935, reviewed the history of the trees and noted, "Mr. (James C.) Logan (who supplied the 200, 5-foot trees at $1.50 apiece in 1929 - Sharon) assured Mayor Barks that the trees would begin blooming the next spring and if given proper care they could be expected to attain full flower the second spring.

"Mayor Barks went out of office about the time the trees were set out and he didn't get to look after their care. It is reported that never since the trees were set out have they received any cultivation or fertilization, and being similar to fruit trees, they barely exist without attention.

"Many of the trees are now in bloom, but the blossoms are so small and scattered as to attract little attention. It is said the trees have grown very little, if any, in the five years they have been in Fairground Park, and nurserymen say they will never amount to anything unless they receive proper cultivation."