Dennis Scivally

Dennis M. Scivally, chief engineer, Cape Special Road District, circa 1957

Dennis M. Scivally, the man for whom Dennis Scivally Park is named, had a varied professional life. Following his graduation from the old Normal School in 1898, Scivally taught at the Kage School west of Cape Girardeau for three years.

He then worked for Louis Houck on the Cape Girardeau Northern Railroad (1902), starting in the office, He was soon transferred to the engineering department and within a short time was placed in charge of construction work. He was made chief engineer of the Cape Girardeau Northern in 1905 and also of Houck's Saline Valley Railroad.

Three years later, he began a career in highway engineering, bringing county roads out of the mud and overseeing the efforts of the Cape Special Road District that established Cape Rock Park and Drive.

His efforts for the beautification of the county's roads were memorialized in 1935 when, through the urging of the Cape Girardeau Rotary Club, the Special Road District renamed Ellis Park the Dennis Scivally Park.

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Dennis Scivally Park at Cape Rock Drive and Brookwood Drive in Cape Girardeau was named for the chief engineer of the Cape Special Road District in 1935. [Photos by Fred Lynch, 2010]

Dennis M. Scivally built this pedestrian bridge in 1941 over a tributary of Walker Branch in the park that bears his name. It is concrete with stone facing.