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FeaturesDecember 10, 2022

I was fortunate to have Mr. Jim Hickam as my 6th-grade teacher at Jefferson School. Mr. Hickam was not only a great teacher, but he often offered opportunities to his students that taught us much about local history and nature. Sometime in April 1965 he took several of us to visit a local site that no longer exists -- Bluebell Island...

Virginia bluebells, much as they might have appeared at Bluebell Island.
Virginia bluebells, much as they might have appeared at Bluebell Island.Submitted photo by Fritzflohrreynolds, Own work, Licensed under Creative Commons -- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creative_Commons

I was fortunate to have Mr. Jim Hickam as my 6th-grade teacher at Jefferson School. Mr. Hickam was not only a great teacher, but he often offered opportunities to his students that taught us much about local history and nature. Sometime in April 1965 he took several of us to visit a local site that no longer exists -- Bluebell Island.

Bluebell Island was a place along Cape La Croix Creek south of Highway 74 (now the Southern Expressway) carpeted with spring ephemeral wildflowers. Spring ephemerals are flowers that grow early in forests, bloom, store food in bulbs or other underground structures before tree leaf appear and block light, and then die back. Such flowers as spring beauty, bloodroot, Dutchman's breeches, wake robin, toothwort, dogtooth violets and Virginia bluebells provided the display. The bluebells covered a wide area.

Many local residents knew of the site, as noted by columnist Mary Blue in her column, "Ladybug says ..." in the April 23, 1966, Southeast Missourian:

"An enchanting carpet of blue is visible as you travel on Highway 74 about a mile east of Highways 61-55. This area located on the south side of the road is known as "Bluebell Island." Wildflowers are blooming in profusion. They are visible from the highway, and it is not necessary to go to the area to appreciate them -- just drive slowly."

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Undoubtedly, some visitors appreciated the show along with a trip to Blue Hole Barbecue on South Sprigg, which was within a half-mile of Bluebell Island.

The "island" portion of Bluebell Island likely refers to its location bounded by Cape La Croix Creek, with swamp land originally north of the site, Ramsey Creek lying to the west, and the Mississippi to the east. It became accessible for viewing with the construction of Highway 74 in the mid-20th Century. An earlier description is from a Missourian article from April 16, 1942:

"A visit to what is known as Bluebell Island, a small depression in the Houck Woods south of the city, shows fewer bluebell plants than ever... Andy Juden, who looks after the property, says it is impossible to protect the place, but he has a plan to get a road leading through the woodland from South Sprigg Street to a connection with highway No. 61, which would include the preservation of Bluebell Island as a community beauty spot under the care of Cape Township Special Road District. Mr. Juden's idea of the new road through the woodland would make a fine addition to Cape Rock Drive, which is expected eventually to circle the town."

Sadly, Mr. Juden's plan never happened, nor was Cape Rock Drive extended to encircle Cape Girardeau. Within a few years after my classmates and I visited Bluebell Island with Mr. Hickam, its wildflowers disappeared. Whether it was construction in the area in the late 1960s or an increase in prolonged spring flooding by the Mississippi, the beauty of Bluebell Island is now only a memory.

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