March 20, 2013

Broadway, Main Street historical photos

Early photographs show how commercial buildings on Broadway and Main Street in Cape Girardeau looked nearly a century ago.

Southeast Missourian archive

Photo made in September 1925 for the Missourian's New Building Edition, published Sept. 11, 1925. Main Street looking north from near Independence.

Main Street looking south near Themis Street, taken in 1929.

Looking west along Broadway at Ellis Street, the Bartels Mercantile Co. store is at left. Crossing Ellis were the telephone company and the Broadway Theater. At the northwest corner of Broadway and Ellis, the new telephone company building was under construction. (Published Oct. 3, 1929, Missourian's 25th anniversary edition)

A banner advertising the sale of lots in the "Fort D Highlands" fluttered above the 400 block of Broadway in this circa 1922 photo. At left is the Post Office/Federal Building and the Idan-Ha Hotel. At right, partially obscured by trees, is the H-H Building, with a man painting the coping of the building.

West side of Main between Themis and Broadway. Undated photo

The Drusch building, right, appears to stand alone on the south side of Broadway at Ellis. Photo probably taken prior to 1920.

By the late 1920s when this photo was made, the south side of Broadway at Ellis had become crowded with commercial buildings. The Drusch building then housed the Bartels Store. East of the corner building is the Conservation Store, Hartner's Drug Store and Luncheonette, the Hupmobile auto agency, and Piggly Wiggly.

Main Street, looking north from Independence Street. Photo published in 1906 City Directory. (River Heritage Museum photo)

Two school children waited to cross Broadway at the Middle Street intersection in 1929. Behind them, the Red Check Kitchen provided dinners for 35 cents. The I. Ben Miller's drug store was east of the kitchen, while across the street was the Montgomery Ward Co. store. (Published Oct. 3, 1929, Missourian's 25th anniversary edition)

It was 1923 and there was no need for parking meters on Broadway. Only four or five automobiles can be seen in this photo made, the shadows show, in the forenoon. About this time the Naeters knew they had again outgrown their quarters and the plans were forming for a new building. The decision focused on this corner, and on Sept. 11, 1925, the present Missourian Building was dedicated, one of the most modern plants of its day. Its site: the location above, with the old house razed to make way. Behind it is the Federal Building and across the street the Old Opera House where The Missourian had its beginning. (Kassel's Studio photo; published 10-2-1965, anniversary edition)

Children can be seen peaking through the front door of the Broadway Theater in this early 1920s picture, which provides a good view of the south side of Broadway in the 800 block. The movie "Proxies" was released in 1921, but the White-Myers Chautauqua advertised in the street banner played Cape Girardeau in 1920.

By 1929, when this photo was made, horse-drawn buggies had been replaced by automobiles on Main Street. The photo was made at the corner of Main and Broadway, looking south. (Published Oct. 3, 1929, Missourian's 25th anniversary edition)

An umbrella shades two women walking west along Broadway in this undated picture, taken at the Middle Street intersection. Some of the businesses on the south side of the block are Auto Tire and Parts, Latimer Secretarial School, Square Deal Variety Store, Cape Exchange Bank and Bergmann Grocery. On the other side, some of the shops are Walther's Furniture Store, Parisian Dry Cleaning and Western Dye Works.

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Early photographs show how commercial buildings on Broadway and Main Street in Cape Girardeau looked nearly a century ago.

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