Almost forgotten

Don Seabaugh can't believe what has happened to Camp Cape.

He recently stood in what was once known as the downtown Camp Cape district and pointed out what's left of the old Cape Girardeau Stockyard building -- it was moved brick by brick from Commerce, Mo., to its location on South Kingshighway. The stockyards were a popular spot to attend horse and mule auctions.

Across the road, three thriving pubs -- the Blue Moon, Mark Twain and the Jamna -- attracted a "rowdy crowd," Seabaugh said. The drinking holes aren't there anymore; Southeast Missouri Stone Co. moved into the location.

Further behind the pubs is a home on Marquette Drive, where Seabaugh was born and raised during the early 1940s.

Elroy Kinder lived in the uptown Camp Cape district. His childhood home sat on top of the hill, which is now home to Heuer Sons Implement Co. at 861 S. Kingshighway.

Little has been documented about the Camp Cape district, but Kinder said it was well-known in the 1940s.

Both men grew up swimming in the creeks around their childhood homes in the district. They spent summer days playing in the woods, shooting their BB guns. And they remember the Gypsies who regularly set up camp in the area.

"When the Gypsies started moving in, a bunch of them asked what the name of this place was called. The closest big town was Cape Girardeau. So they camped down here, and it was named Camp Cape," Seabaugh said.

Kinder describes Camp Cape as an early RV park. "People would travel to Cape Girardeau, and if they couldn't make it back before dark they would camp here," he said.

In the early 1940s, the Camp Cape district on South Kingshighway wasn't inside city limits. U.S. 61 was then a two-lane road, and Highway 74's Southern Expressway wasn't constructed.

Bill Beggs, who lives on Silver Springs Road, remembers the Gypsies who camped in the woods about 300 feet from his family's peach orchard. The orchard sits on top of the hill behind Heuer Sons Implement.

"We were told to stay away from them," Beggs said.

The Camp Cape district was a prime location for the traveling Gypsies because it was close to the city and they could attend auctions at the Cape Girardeau Stockyards.

Dr. Frank Nickell, director of the Center for Regional History at Southeast Missouri State University, said stockyards were often found at the southern end of many river towns, because it was the least attractive area of town.

"People could get everything done at the stockyard. They could fix their wagons, and auctions were on Friday nights," Seabaugh said. He remembers watching the Gypsies' brightly colored wagons pull into the Camp Cape district to attend the auctions.

"They'd pitch their tents, and they'd be out there telling fortunes," he said. "I asked one of those Gypsies for my fortune, and they said, 'Your mom and dad makes your fortune.' I never did have my fortune read."

Nickell said little is known about the traveling groups of Gypsies.

"They were always sort of mysterious, sort of secretive about where they were going or where they'd been," Nickell said. "That's why there are so many myths surrounding the Gypsies."

People often worried their children would be kidnapped by the Gypsies, which was one rumor Kinder recalled.

Seabaugh said the Gypsies quit reading fortunes by 8 p.m. because people were afraid to visit their campsites after dark. "But around here they never caused us any trouble. We never locked our doors," Seabaugh said.

Seabaugh's home still sits on Marquette Drive, but all his childhood play areas have been erased by development. He doesn't think the Gypsies could have predicted the future of the Camp Cape district.

"Back then you would have never dreamed something like this would be here today," he said.

jfreeze@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 246