CAPE GIRARDEAU GROWS FROM LAND GRANTS TO ANNEXATION

ON THE ROAD TO JACKSON: The stretch of Highway 61 between Cape Girardeau and Jackson was two lanes and tree lined during the 1950s, when this photograph was taken. (JUDITH ANN CROW COLLECTION)

Some time in the 1730s, a small trading post along the Mississippi River acquired the name "Cape Girardot," an apt reference to Jean B. Girardot the French soldier-turned-trader who established the post.

The story of the growth of Cape Girardeau from that humble inception to the regional hub it is today is one linked with our nation's history.

The community was incorporated in 1808, but Cape Girardeau's history actually precedes the Louisiana Purchase of December 1803.

When Girardot established his business near a rock jutting from the west bank of the river, he dealt his wares primarily with Indians in the area.

According to "Cape Girardeau, Biography of a City," by Felix Eugene Snider and Earl Augustus Collins, the site became known by voyagers traveling up and down the Mississippi River as Cape Girardot.

But Girardot was a trader, and not a settler, and he didn't remain at the trading post. The man credited with settling Cape Girardeau is Louis Lorimier, who had established an Indian trade by the late 1780s in the Ste. Genevieve District.

Sometime prior to 1793, Lorimier and a few of his Indian employees moved to Cape Girardeau and set up an independent post. In 1793, he received a commission from the governor general to establish himself and the Indians and to trade throughout the area.

As a reward for his prior services to the Spanish, he was given a grant of 3,200 arpents of land. He received other grants, increasing his ownership of land to more than 30,000 arpents.

"Lorimier was issued the land grants for services he had rendered to the nation of Spain," said Al Robertson, a professor of geo~sciences at Southeast Missouri State University who's studied as a hobby the history of land grants in the area.

"The Spanish government hired him to try to entice settlement of the Cape Girardeau area. They were fearful that if they didn't get someone in, the French would settle it first."

Soon after Lorimier established his trade here, settlers began moving into the area and Cape Girardeau became one of the most populous and important districts west of the Mississippi.

Though a Tory and a "good American hater" during the Revolutionary War, Lorimier welcomed the American immigrants openly during Spanish rule and had turned the Cape Girardeau District into a showplace of prosperity.

But the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, in which the United States purchased a huge tract of land in south-central America at the rate of two cents per acre, began the demise of the French, Spanish and English roles in the Western Hemisphere and Cape Girardeau

Prior to the cession, the power of the commandants like Lorimier in making military and civil decisions was practically unchallenged. But the time of the Spanish regime was over, and the early settlers to Cape Girardeau began to reveal their discontent with Lorimier.

The changes weren't immediate. President Jefferson believed Congress should organize a government for the territory, which made it necessary to keep all the old Spanish officials on the job, though no longer in a military capacity.

In 1804, Congress divided the territory in two and outlined a structure for the exercise of executive and legislative power.

The districts of St. Louis, St. Charles, Ste. Genevieve, Cape Girardeau and New Madrid were retained, and a lieutenant governor or commandant was provided along with Courts of Common Pleas and Quarter Sessions and the offices of recorder and sheriff.

Seats of justice were established in the towns to which the districts owed their names. That was delayed in Cape Girardeau because no village yet existed, aside from the business conducted at Lorimier's Red House.

Thus ended the rule of the Spanish and Lorimier. He served briefly as an associate judge of the Court of Quarter Sessions and in 1808 submitted to the court the petition to incorporate the town of Cape Girardeau, an area bounded by North and William, Middle and Water streets.

The city was laid out by Barthelemi Cousin, a secretary to Lorimier. The first lots were sold at $100 each, but Cape Girardeau failed to grow immediately.

In its efforts to prevent dishonest landgrabbing, the U.S. government refused to honor the Spanish land grants without litigation.

Robertson explained that prior to the Louisiana Purchase, a majority of settlers near Cape Girardeau had acquired property through the land grants.

"They got the land free if they met some basic conditions," he said. "The first was they had to pay a survey fee of $41, and they had to live on the land and improve the land for 10 years.

"Of course, that's where a lot of them got into trouble, because after the Louisiana Purchase, the U.S. government didn't recognize the land grants."

Robertson said that in what is now Cape Girardeau County, 28 percent of the property was in land grants, 24 Spanish and four French. A total of 231 grants were issued for nearly 105,000 acres.

Thus Lorimier, who claimed all the land in Cape Girardeau, was unable to sell valid titles. Many settlers refused to move to the area, and the seat of justice was moved to Jackson because there the titles were not questioned, Robertson said.

It wasn't until July 4, 1826, that the Spanish land grants were recognized.

But many settlers still chose to live outside of town. By 1818, the town was down to two stores and about 50 houses. During that same year, Jackson had a half-dozen stores and 200 houses.

It wasn't long, though, until the value of Cape Girardeau's location along the river was recognized, and the town began to grow.

Kent Bratton, Cape Girardeau's city planner, has researched the growth of the community through annexations. He said the city grew steadily in population and area from the mid 1820s.

Below is a summary of annexations in the city as recorded by Bratton:

By 1857, the original city boundaries had expanded west to Henderson Street, north to Normal, and south to Jefferson.

By the turn of the century, the city had expanded again. Minnesota Street became the western boundary and New Madrid and Amethyst became the alignment for the northern boundary. To the south, the city limits extended roughly to what is now Southern Expressway.

In 1925, the western borders were pushed to Clark Street, south to Brink then east to Minnesota and south to the city's present southern border. Bertling Street and Country Club Drive became the new northern boundary.

The city expanded again in 1947. It moved north to an alignment with Timon and Hillcrest Lanes, and the western boundary aligned with Masters and the area of Patricia Street. The western boundary for the first time moved west of Arena Park.

In 1958, the city expanded north to Lexington, and west to Mt. Auburn Road and Silver Springs Road.

20In 1967, about two years after Interstate 55 was constructed through Cape Girardeau County, the western boundary of the city extended to the east side of the interstate. The northern border also was extended to include the area where the Woodland Hills, San Dangaro and Lake Shore subdivisions are now. The boundary moved northwest to the intersection of I-55 and Highway 61/34, and in the northeast, the boundary extended to include what is now the Cape Girardeau Country Club.

The city also expanded south to align with Old Route 74, which now is the extreme south end of Sprigg Street near its intersection with I-55.

In 1974, a small tract north of Lexington and east of Woodland Hills was added to the city limits, along with the area around Cape Budget Inn, west of I-55.

Voters nixed a massive annexation plan in 1977.

In 1985, the tract north of Lexington was extended further north, and in 1989, the city annexed the area of Cape County Park and west of I-55. Also, the airport property was annexed in 1989.

More recent annexations include the site of the Wal-Mart Supercenter, west of I-55 (1991), and the future site of a Lowes Home Center, south of Wal-Mart (1993).

Also this year, the city is in the process of annexing the Twin Lakes subdivision, just south of Hopper Road and west of I-55.