CAPE GIRARDEAU SAND COMPANY: HELPING SOUTHEAST MISSOURI DEVELOP FOR THE PAST 75 YEARS

In the Old Testament, God told Abraham that from his seed would come future generations as numerous as the grains of sand.

Sand is a common and plentiful raw commodity that has played an important role in the development of the world, past and present.

For nearly 75 years the Cape Girardeau Sand Co. has helped provide for the economic growth and development of Cape Girardeau and the surrounding area. It is the only sand company on the Mississippi River between Cape Girardeau and Chester, Ill.

Hidden from the mainstream of commerce, in the city's northeast residential area on the west bank of the river, Cape Girardeau Sand Co. provides sand for highways, concrete-block and brick buildings, homes, sanitary and storm sewers, sidewalks, wall plaster, and sand to fill backyard sandboxes, just to name a few.

Over 95 percent of the streets in Cape Girardeau contain sand from the Cape Girardeau Sand Co. The company's product was used to build stretches of Highways 67, 61, and Interstate 55. During war years, Cape Girardeau sand helped build important military bases.

For nearly 75 years, when Mother Nature threatens, sand from Cape Girardeau Sand Co. has filled sandbags for flood protection or containers for extra weight and traction to keep vehicles moving over snow- or ice-covered streets and highways on which sand is spread to help traction.

Cape Girardeau Sand Co. was created in 1919 when Peter Deimund and his son, Linder, launched the business with a capital investment of $5,510. They had borrowed $2,000 from a bank.

After the Civil War, and prior to the opening of the Deimund sand company, sand was obtained by pulling a mule-driven barge along the riverbank to Cape Rock, where six men rowed the barge over to a large sand bar on the Illinois side. The barge was filled with shovels and wheelbarrows and then was floated downstream to the city waterfront.

The sand company's first site was on the Mississippi River levee at the foot of Themis Street. Later it was moved a block north to the foot of Broadway near the old Frisco Railroad station. In 1924 the Deimund family purchased riverfront property in the 300 block of North Main and moved the sand operation to that site. They moved to their present site in the 1300 block of Water Street in 1963.

Most of the company's six employees are family members. They include Linder P. Deimund Jr., who helped construct a sand conveyor system with his father and does all the maintenance work; Richard Deimund, the pilot of the company's sand tug, Miss Catherine, and sand dredge operator; Jerry Beckett, deckhand on the Miss Catherine; Jeff Deimund, clam-shell shovel operator who unloads the sand from the barge into the conveyor; Gary Hester, front-end loader operator in the sand yard; and office manager Sonny Deimund.

The company's marine fleet also consists of three sand barges, a dredge, and the dockside and conveyor facilities. Except for the Miss Catherine, which was built in 1976 in Morgan City, La., all the equipment was designed and built locally. The sand company's other tug, the Linder Deimund, was designed and built in Cape Girardeau in 1960. It was sold in 1986 when the Miss Catherine was acquired.

The sand dredge operates between the downtown waterfront area to a point several miles northeast of Cape Rock.

After the sand is removed from the barge, it is stockpiled in three grades: coarse, for general purpose use and for making concrete; fine, for cement work such as street and building construction; and extra fine, for bricklaying and plastering.

"Our biggest customers are the concrete mixing companies in this area," said Sonny Deimund. "Other customers include cement and masonry finishers and bricklayers and plasterers."

Deimund said that during the winter area cities purchase sand to mix with salt for treating ice- and snow-covered streets. Individuals purchase sand to put in containers in their vehicles for better traction in the snow.

On a really busy day the company moves as much as 1,200 tons of sand over its scales.

"The actual figure varies depending on demand and the time of the year," Deimund said. "Our busy time is during the spring and summer months, when there is a lot of construction and paving going on. There are some days when we have a steady stream of trucks coming in to pick up loads of sand."

Deimund said the company normally operates throughout the year. Exceptions are in very cold weather, when ice is on the river, or when flooding forces them to shut down.

The local impact of the sand company was evident in 1973, when it was forced to shut down because of record flooding on the river. Instead of paying $2.40 a ton for sand locally, contractors and cement companies had to have sand trucked in from 35 miles away at $6.50 a ton.

Unlike other raw products that have increased in price, the cost of sand has remained about the same for the past 74 years. For example, in 1919 sand cost about $1 a ton; today it costs $3.50 ton. A tub of sand in the 1950s cost 15 cents; now it's up to 40 cents.

Deimund said the prices have gone up because of increased costs of labor, fuel, insurance, and parts.