Stories from Thursday, March 4, 1993

Parochial schools make up a part of the city's history, dating before the turn of the century. Today, parochial schools are using that history to sell parents and students on an education based in religion with an emphasis on basic skills. Trinity Lutheran School opened Nov. 12, 1854, in a rented house that also was used for church services. Pastors served as teachers until the first full-time teacher was hired in 1859...

More than 500 banks went out of business from July 1, 1928, through June 30, 1929, in what was described as one of the greatest periods of prosperity in the 1920s. And prosperity it was, compared to what was to come in the United States. On Oct. 24, 1929, the stock market crashed in what was to become known as Black Thursday. Thousands of people lost huge sums of money as stock values plummeted far below the prices paid for stocks...

SENATH -- R.K. Swindle was around when the backs of mules, horses and human beings bore cotton to the title of king of crops in Southeast Missouri. Everything from plowing to planting to tending to harvesting was done by hand. "You've got to be a little bit smart to operate a farm today," said the 82-year-old Swindle, who retired from farming 18 years ago...

Sturdivant died in 1905. W.H. Stubblefield Jr. succeeded L.J. Albert as president of the bank in 1912. Albert had been associated with the insittution since 1869. When Cape County Savings Bank was organized in 1888, its founders prepared themselves against potential holdups by installing an alarm system that, when activated, sounded a bell in a barber shop located above the bank...

Like other communities, Cape Girardeau has suffered its share of disasters since its founding in the late 1700s. The first recorded disaster, the New Madrid earthquakes of 1811-12, apparently had little impact on Cape Girardeau. According to written accounts, several houses were destroyed. It is not know if anyone lost their life here. There were few people living in the area then...

Dave Niswonger clearly remembers an interview he had in fall 1960 to become assistant administrator of Southeast Missouri Hospital. The committee appointed to conduct interviews explained that a south-wing addition, completed in 1957, had practically doubled the hospital's space to about 150 beds, and they felt the hospital was set for many years to come...

Throughout its rich and colorful history, Cape Girardeau has been blessed with a variety of service organizations that work to raise money to benefit the community and national and world charity organizations. The Rotary Club of Cape Girardeau was the first service club in the area when it was founded March 1, 1919. Rotary International was the first service organization in the world when it was established in 1905...

Old photographs are still being sought for a picture book of Cape Girardeau history, which will be published later this year. The Southeast Missourian is publishing the book through Concord Printing. Sharon Sanders is project coordinator. She can be reached at 335-6611...

Since July 4, 1969, John Oliver Jr. has practiced law in the same office on the same floor of the same building at 400 Broadway. It's also the same office where his father practiced law, and his grandfather before that. Even Oliver's great-grandfather, Robert Burett Oliver, Cape Girardeau County's third prosecuting attorney, practiced law in Cape Girardeau prior to the turn of the century...

COURT HONORS EAGLE SCOUTS: Each year, the top Boy Scouts are honored during the Southeast Missouri Council Eagle Court of Honor. This ceremony in February of 1987 honored 32 area Scouts. Among those were David B. Sheets, a member of Troop 10, who receives congratulations from his mother, Nita. (SOUTHEAST MISSOURIAN)...

Businesses change and new names emerge, but one thing remains the same in Cape Girardeau: the city remains a regional hub for more than a century and a half. During the heyday period of the post-Civil War era, Cape Girardeau was a trading center for an area extending into the Ozarks and south into Arkansas...

When federal regulators assumed control of Colonial Federal Savings and Loan Association in January 1990, the action ended a more-than-100-year-old local operation in Cape Girardeau. Founded in 1882, Colonial became the second local savings-and-loan operation to come under federal control; First Federal Savings and Loan, a 60-year-old firm headquartered here, was taken over by federal regulations in April 1989...

Over the past 120 years, 13 men and one woman have led Southeast Missouri State University through tough times and good times. What started as a small, rural teachers college in 1873 with less than 60 students has grown into a full-fledged university with about 8,000 students...

In one's life a memory of a certain event often stands out as unforgettable. In mine, it was that of the burning of Centenary Methodist church on the corner of Bellevue and North Ellis Street that took place in the early 1920s. The huge stained-glass windows marked the beauty of the church. In those days it was very difficult to extinguish a fire, especially one of intensity. A horse-drawn truck with a meager amount of hose and with no aerial ladder made getting control of a fire most difficult...

Paula Kempe says she's a late bloomer. At 86, she finally found her niche: she's writing her memoirs, and with it a chronicle of Cape Girardeau. "They say everyone has a talent, a gift that comes out sooner or later," Kempe said. "I'm just a late bloomer."...

In an era of segregated schools for black and white students, the John S. Cobb School in Cape Girardeau did its job well with limited resources. The school for black students, originally called Lincoln School, was built in 1890 and operated for years under the watchful eye of John S. Cobb one of the city's most prominent and respected early educators...

WHITEWATER R. Glenn Jones began his teaching career in 1928, a year before he graduated from high school. Jones, who now lives at Whitewater, was a teacher for 44 years before retiring. Most of those years were spent teaching in one-room schools. Small rural schools dominated public education from the turn of the century well into the 1950s...

The costs of educating children, like costs of everything else, have been on the rise since the early part of the century. Hal B. Lehman, former business manager of Cape Girardeau public schools, said: "All the costs of supplies and books and everything keep going up, up, up. It's reflected in all phases of education."...

Since students first gathered in public high schools, athletics has played an important role in the education process. Many outstanding athletes have graced the record books at Cape Girardeau's Central High School over the years. And although times are changing, the ingredients for a successful athlete remain largely unchanged...

The age of high technology is sweeping the world, affecting nearly every area of life in some way. That high-tech sweep is no more evident than in the field of agriculture. From computers in combines, tractors and other pieces of farm equipment, to improving methods of drying grain and to automatic feeding systems for livestock and vastly improved recordkeeping, the age of high technology farming is here to stay...

When the first settlers arrived in Cape Girardeau County, they found a fertile land that would grow crops to sustain life. But life on the farm wasn't easy. Farm equipment in use at the time was primitive compared to today's powerful, diesel-powered tractors, combines, and other implements...

Elmer Bartels is well-acquainted with tradition. He is the fourth generation of his family to operate a 190-acre grain and livestock farm near Whitewater. "This farm has been in the family since 1878," said the younger Bartels, who also operates a second farm adjacent to the original land. "My great-great grandparents purchased the farm. My dad, who still lives on the farm, operated it until about two years ago."...

For more than three decades, Sadie Trezevant Kent ran Southeast Missouri State University's library, dominating it like an army general would his troops. Miss Kent, as she was called, was the matriarch of the library. In many ways, to those who knew her, it was her library, not the university's...

Once upon a time, before there were supermarkets, Cape Girardeau was dotted by neighborhood markets that usually extended credit to their customers and often delivered the groceries to their homes. The city's oldest remaining example of this bygone age of consumerism is Werner's CGA Supermarket at Broadway and Henderson Street. It is a supermarket in name only compared to the likes of a Schnuck's and or Wal-Mart, but still cuts its own meat and sells fresh vegetables...

JACKSON - Assessed valuation of property in Cape Girardeau County has grown steadily over the years, reflecting both a strong growth in real-estate development and increasing value of property in the county. In 1992, Cape County's total assessed valuation of real and personal property stood at $477,545,185, up considerably from the 1960 total of $66,358,459 and the 1940 total of $24,672,769...

1920-1929 1920 Commercial Club became Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce. 1920 Tenzer Hat factory started. 1920 First woman barber in Cape Girardeau - Mrs. Dewess Pratt. 1920 Security State Bank opened. 1920 Shoe factory addition opened with dance. 1920 Western Union telegraph office moved to corner of Broadway and Spanish, Masonic building...

1900-1909 1900 W.H. Meyer & Schwab Hardware established. 1900 George A. Kassel opened photography studio on Main, and began tintyping and making glass plate pictures. 1900 Leach Bros. Store closed. 1900-1904 The Republican was published with variety of owners...

1930-1939 1930 Old brewery building, at southeast corner of Morgan Oak and Middle, burned. 1930 Sturdivant Bank, 77 years on Main Street, took over Bank of Southeast Missouri and moves to H.-H. Building on Broadway. 1930 Formal opening of Kinder's Drug Store on Good Hope...

1940-1949 1940 Rialto Theater opened on Broadway. 1940 Park-N-Eat refreshment stand, circular building on West Broadway, opened. 1941 Sears opened order office. 1941 A&P Store opened on Spanish Street. 1941 Albert and Audrey Baker established Cape Paint & Glass...

1950-1959 Early 1950s Nowell's Camera Shop opened by William and Juvernia Nowell. 1950 Radio station KGMO begins broadcasting as FM station, operating from home of Richard C. Brandt, 46 N. Henderson. 1950 Walker G. Childs supermarket, new building on West Broadway, opened...

1960-1969 1960 Charles N. Harris founded Atlas Plastics. 1960 B & J Refrigeration opened as partnership between Marshall Bailey and Leon Jansen; later became Jaymac Equipment Co. 1960 Montgomery Mobile Home Sales opened. 1960 Pop's A & W Drive-In opened...

1970-1979 1970 Joe James began James Glass & Auto Body on old Highway 61 South. 1970 Maico Hearing Aid Center established. 1970 Norman's Auto Sales & Radiator Service started. 1970 National Food Stores name changed to Del Farms. 1971 Hardware Wholesalers Inc. plant built on Nash Road...

1980-1989 1980 Stereo One opened in West Park Village. 1980 Atlas Plastics required by Mississippi Cape Corp. 1980 Cape Color World opened at 1908 Independence. 1980 BG's Old Fashion Deli opened. 1980 Green Line Equipment opened. 1980 Funland Waterslide opened...

1990-1992 1990 LaBamba Mexican Restaurant opened on Main Street. 1990 Wolohan Lumber Co. purchased Riverside Building Supply and Home Centers. 1990 Finney's Drug Store on Broadway closed. 1990 Suedekum Hardware became Meyer Supply. 1990 KYRX-FM, Y-105, started operation in West Park Mall...

Henry Spratt is assistant professor of biology at Southeast Missouri State University. He is also chairman of the Trail of Tears Group, Sierra Club. Overpopulation, starvation, human ~suffering overconsumption... it seems that almost everywhere we look, we are bombarded by information describing the impending doom threatened by human overpopulation. ...

1910-1919 1910 The Weekly Sentinel was published for several weeks. 1910 Cement plant started by John H. Himmelberger and William H. Harrison to utilize local limestone and clay. 1910 Idan Ha Hotel bought by George McBride. 1910 First automobile gas filling station established...

PARK `N' EAT, ON WEST BROADWAY, OPENED IN 1940. (G.D. FRONABARGER) NICHOLS' LIVERY STABLE AS IT APPEARED IN CIRCA 1910. (JUDITH ANN CROW COLLECTION) HECHT'S GRAND OPENING AT 107 N. MAIN STREET IN 1927. (JUDITH ANN CROW COLLECTION) WALTHER BROS. OPEN FOR BUSINESS: Walther Bros., in this 1910 portrait, was located on Broadway and dealt in furniture and household furnishings. ...

IN 1908, CHARLES H.W. MEYER STANDS IN MEYER AND SCHWAB HARDWARE. What keeps a retail business booming for close to a century? A careful merger of tradition with progress, says Dennis Meyer, manager of Meyer Supply, formerly Suedekum Hardware Co. Meyer said the secret to this business's success story has been a willingness to change with the times. The company is Cape Girardeau's oldest retail business...

Cape Girardeau County has had 30 lawyers serve as prosecuting attorney since the position was created on Jan. 1, 1873. Before then criminal cases were prosecuted by a circuit attorney, whose jurisdiction covered Cape Girardeau, New Madrid, Mississippi, Scott, Bollinger and Pemiscot counties...

To the Editor: We want to thank all of you who attended and supported the annual benefit gala of the American Cancer Society -- "Space Ody~ssey." We believe that the tireless efforts of many volunteer~ and the donations of our sponsors combined to produce an evening that will long be remembered. ...

More than 400 high school and collegiate jazz musicians will perform Saturday in the 14th annual Cape Girardeau Central High Jazz Festival. Bands from 20 high schools in addition to an all-district band and the jazz band from Southeast Missouri State University will play throughout the daylong event. Judges will rate the bands on a scale of 1-5...

The children of Gimble Gulch have been given the vote for a day, and they're set on electing a rebellious fourth-grader named Mary Lou as mayor. Welcome to the parental nightmare posited by "Kids' Country," a musical starring children in the roles of both kids and adults...

JACKSON -- Thornton Wilder's "Our Town" will be presented March 11 and 12 at the Jackson High School Auditorium. The classic play, a production of Jackson High School, will be presented at 7:30 both nights. The play is set in Grover's Corners, N.H., and tells the stories of the Gibbs and Webb families, whose futures are intertwined in a way that poignantly unfolds...

SCOTT CITY -- The fourth annual Cystic Fibrosis Benefit Dance will be held from 8-midnight Saturday at the Scott City Knights of Columbus Hall. A cash donation will be accepted at the door. Charlie's Music Revue, a sound system, will provide the entertainment...

Margo Kren, whose work is featured in an exhibit now on display at the Southeast Missouri State University Museum Gallery, will give a lecture March 18 on the development of her work. Kren, of Manhattan, Kansas, will talk about her prints, paintings and drawings at 7 p.m. in Room 300 in the art department. The public is invited to a reception afterward...

Photographic works by Paul A. Otto will be on display at Gallery 100 beginning Sunday and continuing through March 26. A reception will be held from 2-4 p.m. Sunday at the gallery. Regular gallery hours at 1-4 p.m. weekdays. Otto's style is described as "realistic, his compositions bold yet serene."...

Japan's Festival of Spring will be celebrated in a family arts program from 9:30-11 a.m. March 13 at Washington Elementary School. Masa Nakata, a Japanese student at Southeast Missouri State University, will talk about the festival and its music. The program is part of the Festivals, Families and the Arts series sponsored by the Southeast Missouri Council on the Arts...

In the throes of a war bent on tearing this nation in two, Abraham Lincoln told Americans that no one can escape history. It should be our desire never to try. The past provides all who care to examine it ~lessons about the present. In many ways, the lessons of this region's past have revealed themselves to the news staff of the Southeast Missourian in recent weeks. They are available in the 1993 Progress Edition, published with today's edition. We offer it proudly...

Clang, clang, clang went the trolley, right through the heart of Cape Girardeau. For some 40 years from 1893 through 1934, trolley cars made their way through the city, taking passengers to work, to market or out for an evening's enjoyment. Russel Faust, 83, was born and raised in Cape Girardeau and remembers trolley cars passing in front of his home on Broadway...

From hand-drawn hosewagons and bucket brigades to horse-drawn firewagons, to one of the most modern fire departments in Missouri that's the story of the Cape Girardeau Fire Department. The history of the department dates back to the early 1860s. According to "Snider's History of Cape Girardeau," a law was passed under the administration of Mayor John Albert (1860-1862) creating a fire department. ...

Al Spradling Jr. remembers well the start of the interstate highway system in the United States. It was in the late 1950s and Spradling, as a member of the Missouri Senate, was handling priority legislation to construct toll roads in the state. People were concerned about improving routes between Memphis and St. Louis and from St. Louis to Kansas City. Toll roads appeared to be the most practical solution at the time...

THE CORPS OF ENGINEERS ERECTED THE FLOODWALL BETWEEN 1956 AND 1964. (G.D. FRONABARGER) Cape Girardeau has had two major flood-control projects in its history, both in cooperation with the Army Corps of Engineers and both with a major goal of protecting large, retail areas of the city...

Some time in the 1730s, a small trading post along the Mississippi River acquired the name "Cape Girardot," an apt reference to Jean B. Girardot the French soldier-turned-trader who established the post. The story of the growth of Cape Girardeau from that humble inception to the regional hub it is today is one linked with our nation's history...

One of the most important dates in the history of railroading in the U.S. was May 10, 1869. Officials from the Central Pacific Railroad and the Union Pacific Railroad appeared before a big crowd at Promontory, Utah, to drive the "Golden Spike," thus marking completion of the first transcontinental rail line in North America...

After receiving his discharge from the Army in February of 1946, Thomas L. Meyer had no idea what he was going to do. He had joined the Army with a friend as a way of avoiding shoe factory work in Perryville, and now he was back in Southeast Missouri...

During the 200 years of Cape Girardeau's existence, the Mississippi River has served as a "highway of water" for transporting people and goods in and out of the city. When Ensign Jean Girardot founded his trading post near Cape Rock, early settlers in the area used dugouts, or pirogues to travel by water or transport their furs, hides and other goods. The pirogue was nothing more than a fashioned, hollowed out tree, usually cottonwood, poplar or tulip...

Just after the dawn of the 20th century, a group of businessmen set out to mop up the swamp that was Southeast Missouri. The job, the largest drainage project ever attempted at the time, was completed in a stretch from 1909 to 1926 at a cost of $11 million...

CELEBRATING AVIATION: Rush H. Limbaugh Jr., Cape Girardeau aviation enthusiast, smiles as he reads a newspaper account of voter approval of airport bonds and city extension on April 21, 1947. It marked the birth of the Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport. (JUDITH ANN CROW COLLECTION)...

The King was here. But hardly anybody knew it. Elvis Presley, then only 20 years old, played a Cerebral Palsy Association benefit July 20, 1955, at the Arena Building in Cape Girardeau. The event was attended by 300 people, who also had the opportunity to do some square dancing before Elvis took the stage...

As the major trade center between St. Louis and Memphis, Tenn., Cape Girardeau has a rich and diverse hi story. One of the best measures of that history is found in the various, elegant hostelries that have been situated here since the mid-19th century...

ANNA-JONESBORO, Ill. Anna and Jonesboro are separate Illinois towns, which, because of their close proximity, share much of the same history. Union County, where Anna and Jonesboro are situated, was mostly settled by native and Yankee Americans, said George Parks, a resident of the area. But the towns were primarily settled by Germans from North Carolina during the Revolutionary War, he said...

CAIRO, Ill. -- Cairo is a historic river town at the southernmost tip of Illinois, where the Ohio and Mississippi rivers meet. In the 19th century, Cairo enjoyed the booming prosperity as a trading post on the nation's two mightiest rivers. It was on Aug. 8, 1854, that the city was established as a port of delivery. In 1857, it was incorporated. From this time until the 1860s, the riverboat town acquired a reputation of being a booming center of commerce in the Mid-Mississippi Valley region...

The town of Thebes, Ill., was originally established by two brothers who settled along the Mississippi River. Thebes was established as a community known as Sparhawk Landing when the Sparhawk brothers cut and shipped poplar to New Orleans for use in furniture production in the early 1800s. As more settlers from New Orleans came to get wood there, the town was established...

As the former editor of the Southeast Missourian and someone who for 40 years kept close tabs on Cape Girardeau municipal government, John Blue has seen the gamut of city administration. Just last year, voters made the most recent change by approving a measure to switch from at-large city council elections to ward representation...

Christianity came to what is now Cape Girardeau as early as 1699, when three Catholic priests ventured down the Mississippi River from Quebec to do missionary work among the Indians. Historical accounts say the three priests landed near the mouth of what is now Cape LaCroix Creek, also known by its Spanish name, LaCruz, hence LaCruz Street in South Cape Girardeau...

Soon after Cape Girardeau was established as a trading post in 1793, its founding determined the need for law and order within the town's boundaries. According to early history of the area, Cape Girardeau had police protection services from the outset. ...

NEW HAMBURG -- St. Lawrence Catholic Church, a survivor of early religious persecution and raids by bushwhackers during the Civil War, turns 145 this year. The church in New Hamburg is considered the "mother church" of parishes that developed in Scott City, Oran, Benton and Kelso...

Cape Girardeau has been visited by a few well-known religious leaders through the years, including the daughter of the Salvation Army's founder, and a Roman Catholic cardinal. But in 1926 a man known as "the baseball evangelist" sparked a religious revival in the city that lasted decades...

ARCHITECTURE EVIDENT IN OLD STRUCTURES: Built in 1882, the stately Kellerman house, 6 s. Fountain, above, commands an impressive view of the Mississippi River, Elmwood, pictured at left, is situated along Bloomfield Road. The structure is patterned after a Scottish castle. (SOUTHEAST MISSOURIAN)...

The Mississippi River Bridge at Cape Girardeau spans more than water. It reaches across the history of the river city, a steel and concrete monument of civic progress. For nearly 65 years, the span has cast a proud shadow over the community, first as a toll and later a "free" bridge. But its days are numbered. Planning is well under way for construction of a new, four-lane bridge that will replace the aging, two-lane span...

SCOTT CITY -- The history of Scott City is woven from the colorful backgrounds of three railroad towns that merged to form the city. Three separate communities - Illmo, Fornfelt and Ancell - have merged to become Scott City, with a population of almost 5,000, on the northern edge of Scott County...

Cape Girardeau's history is anything but boring, says Martha Bender, chairman of the city's Bicentennial Commission. For Bender, this is a special time: Cape Girardeau is celebrating its bicentennial this year. The year-long celebration actually began last October...

In 1793 Cape Girardeau was founded as an Indian trading post by French Canadian Louis Lorimier. That same year the United States Mint was established in Philadelphia through an act of Congress. The mint was the first step in an effort to universalize currency in the newborn country...

When talking about the medical history of Cape Girardeau, one cannot overlook the distinguished career of Dr. James Kinder. Kinder has practiced pediatrics for the past 45 years in Cape Girardeau. At 75 years of age, he gives no sign of retiring soon...

Toothaches and cavities would be a thing of the past if longtime Cape Girardeau dentist Dan Cotner had his way. "I believe the goal of the profession is to put yourself out of work," Cotner said. During his 44 years in dentistry Cotner has seen strides toward that goal, including fluoridation of water supplies, increased awareness of good, dental hygiene and improvements in technology...

In 1875, a trio of nuns - Sisters Philomena, Engelberta and Felicitas - came to Cape Girardeau from Carondolet, near St. Louis, with a mission. The Franciscan Sisters had originally come from Germany, Holland, France and Indonesia during the religious persecution in Germany...

Surgery today is dramatically different than it was only a few decades ago. It's a change that's been witnessed all across the nation, including Cape Girardeau. Today, surgical procedures seem light years ahead of where they were only a half-century ago...

BUILT FOR LEARNING: The building housing the Third District Normal School was built in 1875. The structure was destroyed by fire in 1902 and replaced by Academic Hall. (JUDITH ANN CROW COLLECTION) All across the Southeast Missouri State University campus, there are signs of the institution's history in the names given to its buildings...

SOUTHEAST MISSOURI UNDERTAKING CO. BROUGHT THE FIRST AMBULANCE TO CITY. When Don Louis Lorimier founded Cape Girardeau, doctors were far and few between on the western frontier. At Lorimier's trading post village, each family took care of its own health-care needs, using man-made medicines and an assortment of herbs and simple cures passed on to them by local Indians. Midwives assisted in childbirth. Those who become seriously ill or injured usually did not survive...

School days for my twin sister and me began just before we turned seven. We were very small for our age. In those days children were not pre-enrolled like they are now, nor did they go to a nursery school. We started right in the first grade. We attended a small, German school house located on the grounds of our present Trinity Lutheran church, with the first three grades being held in the downstairs and the remaining five upstairs. ...

Cape Girardeau's history is linked solidly to two men Louis Lorimier and Louis Houck. Lorimier settled here 200 years ago. But it was Houck who put the town on the map with his railroad and his efforts in the early development of Southeast Missouri State University...

Marble Hill and Lutesville were known as the "Twin Cities" for many years before the vote was taken to merge them into the current town of Marble Hill. The community of Marble Hill, was located on the east side of Crooked Creek in Bollinger County. Its neighbor was Lutesville, which was located on the west side of the creek...

CHAFFEE -- Situated 12 miles southwest of Cape Girardeau, Chaffee dates to just after the turn of the 20th century. The community was founded in 1905, and the site was known for many years as The Old Cox Farm, since it was originally purchased by a Mr. Cox from the government in the early 19th century, according to a book titled "From Farm to City" by Mary Helen Thompson, Marilyn Whitaker and Mrs. O.E. Rigdon...

JACKSON Had it not been for the reputation of "Old Hickory," Gen. Andrew Jackson, the city of Jackson might today be called Ashley or Lorimont. There was strong support for both names when the town was founded in 1814. Some residents of the new town thought it should be named after the family on whose land the town was laid out. Others felt it should be named after Louis Lorimier, who founded Cape Girardeau...

Fifty years ago today, a Thursday, the temperature at 8 a.m. was 20 degrees. A banner headline in the Southeast Missourian proclaimed "Allied Fliers Wipe Out 22-Ship Jap Armada." "The General Died at Dawn," starring Gary Cooper, was showing at the Rialto Theatre on Broadway...

The year was 1906. The community was a busy one, with more than 12,000 people. The city had three railroads: Illinois Central, Frisco and Cape Girardeau Railway Co. It had an electric street car system, a modern sewer system under construction, and a Bell telephone system. No less than four steamboat lines made stops at the levee, including the St. Louis, Chester and Cape Girardeau lines...

DELTA -- The town of Delta is situated 15 miles southwest of Cape Girardeau. It originally was nothing more than part of a vast swampland. In the 1880s, fur trappers, hunters and a few venturesome loggers went into the swamplands in the area now known as the Missouri Delta...

PERRYVILLE -- Perryville existed even before Missouri became a state. In 1820 the area surrounding the town of Perryville became a county, said Billie Mills, Perry County Historical Society member. But it wasn't until 1821 that plans were finalized because Perry County was being carved out of St. Genevieve County, she said...

The Southeast Missourian publishes with today's newspaper the 1993 Progress Edition. The annual publication is a benchmark for the region's achievements. It was first published in the Southeast Missourian in 1937. This year's Progress Edition takes the theme "Then and Now," lending itself to the observance of Cape Girardeau's bicentennial. Historic photographs, as well as articles about the region's past, add perspective to more recent advances...

JEFFERSON CITY - Control of riverboat gambling in Missouri by a special gaming commission moved closer to reality Wednesday when the Missouri House passed a measure that had earlier been approved by the Senate. Cape Girardeau County state Reps. Mary Kasten and David Schwab said they were pleased with the bill because it will fulfill the original intent of Missouri's riverboat gambling law: to help tourism but also provide adequate safeguards to see the industry is properly regulated...

The Convention and Visitors Bureau will reconsider whether the city should sponsor a "town hall" meeting regarding riverboat gambling in Cape Girardeau. The CVB Advisory Board voted last week to hold the three informational meetings to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of a riverboat casino. The cost of the meetings was to not exceed $1,500...

The Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce's Board of Directors voted this week to endorse the city school's $25 million bond issue. This endorsement from the business community comes one month before the April 6 election. A campaign to inform voters about the project funded through the tax increase is also under way. Organizers say this month should bring more visibility to their efforts...

The Class of 1983 from Cape Central High School is planning a reunion over the Memorial Day Weekend, May 28-30, in Cape Girardeau. A spokesman for the reunion committee said about 90 classmates have not been found. Class graduates not contacted can call 339-0764 before March 18 for more information...

For a period of about 20 years, Cape Girardeau had three hospitals with the opening of Cape Osteopathic Hospital in 1949. An effort to expand the hospital and complete a major building program came up short and resulted in the facility being moved to what became the Chaffee General Hospital...

Daughter to Mr. and Mrs. John J. Jibben, Dexter Route 3, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 1:09 p.m. Monday, Feb. 15, 1993. Name, Amelia Marie. Weight, 6 pounds. Second child, first daughter. Mrs. Jibben is the former Sheila Payton, daughter of Orval and Irene Payton of Dexter, and Mary Payton of Kittanning, Pa. She is a registered nurse at Dexter Memorial Hospital. Jibben is an investigator with state of Missouri, and is the son of Dr. and Mrs. R.E. Jibben of Dexter...

Mike Bishop's Country Time Jamboree will play a dance at 7:30 p.m. Friday at the A.C. Brase Arena Building. The dance is being presented by the Cape Girardeau Jaycees. Proceeds from the dance will be used to fund Camp Wonderland and other community projects...

GORDONVILLE -- Funeral service for Floyd E. "Bud" Whittaker, Gordonville Route 3, will be held at 10 a.m. Friday at Ford and Sons Mt. Auburn Chapel. The Rev. S.S. Borum will officiate, with burial in Lorimier Cemetery. Friends may call at the funeral home from 4-8 p.m. today...

SIKESTON -- Artie Linda Heath, 69, of Sikeston, died Wednesday, March 3, 1993, at Missouri Delta Medical Center. She was born April 6, 1923, in Hector, Ark., daughter of Edward and Tinnie Magilicuty Martin. She and Herbert Carl Ruedrich were married March 28, 1938, at Hayti. He died Nov. 2, 1957. She and Claude Heath were married Jan. 12, 1958. He died Sept. 14, 1967...

Raymond W. Busch, 76, Cape Girardeau Route 2, died Tuesday, March 2, 1993, at St. Francis Medical Center. He was born July 24, 1916, on the family farm on Route 2, son of John and Pauline Lampe Busch. He and Dorothy Froemsdorf were married May 23, 1938, at Jackson...

Long-time Cape Girardeau businessman, Hugo A. Lang Jr., 300 Good Hope, died Tuesday, March 2, 1993, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. He was 75. Lang was born Jan. 24, 1918, in Cape Girardeau, son of Hugo and Anna Mae Fischer Lang. His father and a partner started Lang Jewelry store in 1905, and then bought out the partner in 1915. Hugo and his brother, Bern, had been partners in the family business since that time...