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James Baughn
James Baughn was the webmaster of seMissourian.com and its sister newspapers for 20 years. On the side, he maintained even more sites, including Bridgehunter.com, LandmarkHunter.com, TheCapeRock.com, and Humorix. Baughn passed away in 2020 while doing one of the things he loved most: hiking in Southeast Missouri. Here is an archive of his writing about hiking and nature in our area.
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The surprise at 818 North Fountain

Posted Thursday, March 21, 2013, at 12:30 AM

At first glance, the house at 818 North Fountain Street in Cape Girardeau doesn't look very special.

However, a portion of the siding has been removed, exposing an unexpected treasure: a log house.

Clearly this home is much older than it looks. The north side of the house offers another clue to its age: a foundation of rough sandstone.

The back yard appears to have a well capped with red granite blocks.

The log structure strongly suggests this home was built before the Civil War. Indeed, a military map from 1865 apparently shows a building in this location. Prepared by an engineer in the U.S. Army, the "Military Map of Cape Girardeau" provides a detailed view of the town showing every building, road, hill, and creek.

The map shows a building marked "U.S. Small Pox Hosp." That's now known as the Sherwood-Minton House, built 1846. Next to that is Old Lorimier Cemetery, and to the north is a curious feature marked "U.S. Corral." Adjacent to the corral is a fenced property with two buildings. This appears to be the location of the log house. Luckily the map was drawn to scale, so it's possible to estimate the distances to known reference points (the Sherwood-Minton House, Old Lorimier Cemetery, and Sloan Creek). Everything fits nicely.

After spending some quality time using Google, I was able to find a handful of newspaper clippings from the 20th Century revealing the names of people living at this address:

  • Mrs. John Schumacher, 77, fell in the kitchen, fracturing her hip (1944)
  • Miss Nadine Moore was released from Southeast Missouri Hospital (1946)
  • Mrs. Robert Farrow had a baby (1958)
  • Joseph T. Mansker, 77, died following an auto accident (1967)
More research will be needed to determine the owners during the 19th Century and to answer other important questions. When was the house built? Did it always have siding? Why was it built so far out of town at the time? Did it serve a military purpose during the Civil War?

Many of the antebellum homes and structures in Cape Girardeau have been razed over the years, a process that reached a climax with last week's destruction of the handball court. That make this log house all the more intriguing. Judging by the holes in the roof and the missing upstairs windows, however, this property has an uncertain future.

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  • Let's hope the University doesn't buy the property...

    -- Posted by Pocestnik on Thu, Mar 21, 2013, at 9:35 AM

  • Here's information about the Sherwood-Minton House.

    http://www.capecentralhigh.com/cape-photos/capes-civil-war-hospital/

    -- Posted by ksteinhoff on Thu, Mar 21, 2013, at 4:43 PM

  • This is something that all History folks should join together in saving!

    -- Posted by jimb7641 on Fri, Mar 22, 2013, at 10:04 AM

  • My parents, Lindel and June Pender, occupied this home from 1972 until 1999. They were told it had served as a laundry for the smallpox hospital. There is a very large, filled-in cistern directly behind the house.

    -- Posted by daffodil42 on Thu, Apr 25, 2013, at 1:24 PM

  • This was my grandparents home, Lindell and June Pender, up until the death of my grandmother in the late 1990's. The "well capped with red granite blocks" is actually a decorative wishing well my grandfather, and accopmplished builder, made for my grandmother. The wooden peices he attached to it have long since disintegrated. I grew up hearing stories of the small pox hospital located here during the civil war, as well as the "ghost" stories about it and the house. From the basement, actually just a root cellar, you can still see the remnants of the old log structure. The building in the back is painted the same green as the house was until the new owners after grandmas death painted it this beige. Grandpa built the house as a guest house to match the bigger structure. The front of the house is actually where the back was originally, as the street was moved and used to run along through where the garden area is in the back. The front door comes out right onto the street because the new "Fountain street" was run so close to the edge of the house. I have many fond memories here of my grandparents and of the history lessons about my hometown of Cape Girardeau. My grandparents tried repeatedly to bring notice to officials regarding the house's history, as did my mother and aunts after my grandparents deaths. But to no avail. I think it is a shame the house has been allowed to ruin and my possibly be beyond repair since I have moved away. Seeing it online like this brings good memories, yet saddens me greatly as well.

    -- Posted by nursetink9 on Thu, Apr 25, 2013, at 9:10 PM

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