PHOTO EXHIBIT TO SHOWCASE CAPE'S HISTORY

Cape Girardeau in the 19th and 20th centuries is the subject of a photography exhibit opening Sunday at Gallery 100.

"Historic Cape Girardeau: People and Places" features photographs from the Center for Regional History at Southeast Missouri State University produced by Tom Neumeyer of Cape Girardeau.

The photo-documentary covers a broad range of subject matter.

"One of the whimsical pictures is of several fishermen in a skiff displaying their catfish at Main and Independence streets during a Mississippi River flood," said Neumeyer.

Another is a group of men with makeshift costumes and instruments gathered together as an impromptu band, he said. "One embarrassed gentleman hides behind a tree in the background," he said.

Several of the photographs show the evolution of transportation through the decades. They include photographs of early automobiles, wagons, carriages and sleds.

"Others are of oxen pulling loaded drays and of circus parades on Main Street in downtown Cape Girardeau," Neumeyer said.

The exhibit is underwritten by Southeast Missouri Bank.

Neumeyer, a native of Cape Girardeau and graduate of Southeast Missouri State University, operates the Olive Branch Bed & Breakfast with his wife, Terri. He is a former photographer-writer with the Southeast Missourian and the defunct Cape Girardeau News Guardian.

"The reasoning behind the exhibit is in part to help bring about more awareness of the city's valuable heritage," he said. "And it may help develop more insight on the ways of life our preceding generations experienced. Cape Girardeau's roots are deep in history. People need to be aware of and appreciate its innate foundation in the past."

An opening reception will be held at the gallery Sunday from 2-4 p.m. Gallery 100, at 100 Broadway in the Boatmen's Bank building, is open from 1-4 p.m. weekdays.