TAB Downtown Charticle

Alliance Building (Kit Doyle) [Click to enlarge] [Order this photo]

In honor of May being National Historic Preservation month, Dr. Frank Nickell of Southeast Missouri State University and the Center for Regional History, and Hallie Fieser, a recent graduate in Historic Preservation from Southeast, led a evening downtown tour of Cape Girardeau for about 85 people on May 21. The tour consisted of more than a dozen stops, each one a reminder of the past and Cape Girardeau's history. There are old churches, a night club that used to be a high-end clothing store and a restaurant/bar that used to be the only place in town you could buy Levi jeans. Each stop on the tour played some part of Cape Girardeau's history.

St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church

This church was built at 131 S. Main St. on donated land by the heirs to the Lorimier estate. The cornerstone for the church was laid on April 30, 1838. It's design is reportedly based on a church that still stands in the St. Louis area. The original church was destroyed by a tornado in 1850. Shortly thereafter, it was rebuilt by Joseph Lansmon based on plans by Thomas Warying Walsh. The building was completed in 1853. A new spire was built in 1900, which stood until it was struck by lightning in 1905 and had to be rebuilt. Over the years the exterior has been painted, stripped and eventually covered in stucco. The church holds Sunday morning Masses and is also used for concerts. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on April 12, 1982.

B'Nai Israel Synagogue

Originally built in 1937, this synagogue at 126 S. Main St. was the only one in Southeast Missouri. In 1921 Jewish leaders David Minnen, Louis Hecht and Jack Pollack were instrumental in forming a charter of the B'Nai B'Rith Lodge in Cape Girardeau, which would meet in this Synagogue. It is a Spanish Colonial revival-style building, with Islamic accents, especially the dome. The building is no longer in use as a synagogue, but is preserved and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

B´Nai Israel Synagogue (ERIN EASTON) [Click to enlarge] [Order this photo]

Alliance Building

This building at 7 to 15 S. Spanish St. was built in 1905 by Louis F. Klostermann. He was a businessman and a German immigrant, and had this building designed in Italian Renaissance revival style. From the time it was built until 1905, it was used for several things -- stores, an advertising company, a utility office and even a garage. There were also 15 lodging rooms on the top floor. It has a Mesker Metal Storefront.

Montgomery Ward Building

In 1872 Aaron Montgomery Ward opened a mail-order dry goods supply house in Chicago to serve the needs of rural America. In 1926, the first Montgomery Ward and Company Storefront opened in Indiana. Three years later there were 531 stores nationwide. The local store was constructed at a cost of $75,000 and was built on the land at Independence and Water streets that once held the I. Ben Miller Ice Cream Factory and Kassel's Photography studio. Eventually Montgomery Ward purchased the former Bahn's Hardware building and the adjoining building at Independence and Water as well, destroyed the buildings and built a 14,000 square foot add-on. The store closed in late 1981 and the building has been used for several different businesses since then.

Port Cape

Buckner-Ragsdale Building (Kit Doyle) [Click to enlarge] [Order this photo]

This building at the corner of Water and Independence streets was built about 1860. It is one of the oldest buildings still standing on what was once known as "Warehouse Row." It was originally Filburn and Ivers Commission House, which is where, according to local legend, Gen. Ulysses S. Grant made his headquarter on the riverfront for a week in late August/early September 1861, though no historical documents have proved this. Grant made at least one other trip to Cape Girardeau in October of that year. In 1915 a general merchandise and furniture store began operating there. In the 1920s the building was being used at the Townsend Furniture Store. Eventually it was renovated and redesigned and was turned into the Port Cape restaurant.

Sturdivant Bank

Robert Sturdivant moved to Southeast Missouri in 1835 and opened his own bank in 1866 at the corner of Main and Themis streets. He retired in 1902. The bank was on the ground floor, with other offices on the upper floors. This bank closed in 1932 during the Great Depression. Since then, it was occupied by retail stores including Cape Wiggery and Bella Flora.

Hecht's Clothing Store

Founded in 1917 by Louis Hecht, the original building at 107 N. Main St. was demolished in 1927 in order to build the current structure. St. Louis resident Thomas P. Barnett, architect of the Southeast Missourian Building, designed Hecht's Clothing Store. It was based on buildings that Barnett saw in Paris, but it also featured Spanish, French, Mediterranean and other design elements. Hecht's Clothing Store operated for more than 75 years until it closed in 2004. Currently the building is occupied by Club Moxy.

Hecht´s Clothing Store (ERIN EASTON) [Click to enlarge] [Order this photo]

Lang's Jewelry Store

Constructed in 1905, this two story building has always been a jewelry store. In 1960 the storefront was altered with a recessed entrance with an aluminum and glass door and aluminum and glass display windows. It has Colonial Revival detailing.

Buckner-Ragsdale Building

The original Buckner-Ragsdale building was destroyed in a downtown fire in 1916. When C.M. Buckner realized that no replacement building was scheduled to be built, he purchased the lot from the original owner and built a new structure there. This one was more fire resistant, and included an state-of-the-art sprinkler system that still works. This was the location that Levi jeans could first be bought in Cape Girardeau. The store closed in 1982 and the building sat vacant. The current owners purchased the building where they created a bar downstairs a restaurant upstairs. They also have a microbrewery.

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