Shoe factory was boost to Cape Girardeau prosperity

A reporter from The Southeast Missourian, October 1929, asked Cape Girardeau's leading citizens what the most outstanding community undertaking was since 1900. Without a doubt, it was the addition of the shoe factory. All agree, there was a need for more industry, more jobs, and weekly paychecks.

It all started the night of September 18, 1906, at the Commercial Club meeting in the lodge hall above Sturdivant Bank. David Glenn, president, announced Roberts, Johnson and Rand Shoe Co.of St. Louis was interested in establishing a factory in Cape Girardeau. The owners were to arrive the following Wednesday to confer with Cape's leaders.

Momentum began as a special committee was appointed to study and negotiate the offer: Glenn, W. T. Wilson, Charles Stehr, L. J. Albert and E. H. Englemann. The group was told other towns also wanted the factory -- Quincy and Mount Vernon, Illinois, and Washington, Missouri.

The site chosen was 5 acres on North Main Street. House lots were sold for $300 in a random drawing for the residential area. Even though the bond signing of 112 citizens and drawing of 180 lots were not achieved without difficulty, the committee traveled to St. Louis to sign a contract Dec. 20, 1906.

Construction began on the $60,000 building by Gerhardt Construction. In addition, the Frisco Railroad built a switch and tracks to facilitate the materials coming in from St. Louis.

Today the casino now sits on the acreage that was once the shoe factory property. (Artifacts of the Shoe Factory can be found at the Cape Girardeau County Historical Center.)Submitted photo

Family after family moved into houses that began to dot the landscape. Men and women employees were soon walking to their new employment in September 1907 carrying their lunch pails. The thousands of Red Star shoes manufactured gave the area its name. Streets today bear the names, Rand, Roberts, and Johnson.

To accommodate the additional children in the area, Washington School was built in 1914.

Shortly after 1919, the name was changed to International Shoe factory. The company added a new addition and hired 350 more people.

By 1922, 1,200 men and women were clocking their times and earning from $2.50 to $15.00 per week. Peak employment was 1,600 in 1935.

I recently talked to Barbara Blanchard who went to Washington School as a young girl and remembers well the happenings of the shoe factory during the 1940s era. Growing up on North Spanish Street, Barbara related, "I remember the whistle always blowing at 12 noon and the people coming out. There was a lady, Mrs. Sebastian, who made sandwiches in her home for the workers who bought them for lunch. They'd gather across the street from Jones Grocery in that area. A lot of people walked to work. We didn't have a car so we walked everywhere, including Main St. where everything was located."

Throughout the prosperous years, the factory left a major footprint in the community.

In 1953, International purchased Florsheim Shoes which became a separate entity. As more foreign shoes were imported, production waned. Florsheim moved operations in 1984 from Main to Highway 74. The old building was donated to the Chamber of Commerce and razed in 1990.