The grand history of a grand hotel

Civil War general and later President Ulysses S. Grant danced the night away at a ball in his honor.

Author and riverboat pilot Mark Twain frequently dropped anchor there.

English novelist Charles Dickens observed the bustling Cape Girardeau riverfront from his room.

Three famous men, one famous hotel -- the St. Charles. Cape Girardeau, like many towns along the Mississippi River, was home to a number of grand old hotels. The St. Charles, built by the same architect-builder as Cape Girardeau's Common Pleas Courthouse, St. Vincent's Church and St. Mary's Cathedral, was regarded as one of the grandest.

That past era was brought to mind recently through a photograph that appeared on the Faces & Places page of the Southeast Missourian. Freck Shivelbine provided the vintage photo, which also includes buildings now housing Hecht's Woman and Port Cape Girardeau.

Joseph Lansmon built the St. Charles in 1833. Because the early history of the hotel is not clear, it's uncertain whether the hotel opened for business in 1834 or 1838. At one time, the hotel was known as the Block House, probably during the period of time it was operated by Mr. and Mrs. Zalma Block.

The last owner was Earl Grambling, who died at the hotel in 1965. Two years later, in 1967, a wrecking ball unceremoniously reduced the hotel to a pile of rubble, making way for a retail operation.

For years, the St. Charles was said to be the "leading hotel in the city." In addition to hotel rooms, the St. Charles' amenities included a drug store, barbershop, restaurant and saloon.

The St. Charles was located at Themis and Main. Across Main from the hotel was the Arcade Tavern, once described as the "wettest corner in Cape Girardeau."

Although the Arcade served its last beer years ago, the building remains and is now Hecht's Too.

Scott Shivelbine of Shivelbine's Music has an interesting footnote about the Arcade.

"We recently ran across some family papers which revealed that C. W. F. Shivelbine purchased the building for $15,000 in 1858. That was a lot of money then."

Scott Shivelbine's great-grandfather opened a tavern there. Later, William A. Shivelbine converted the business to a gentleman's clothing store.

In 1912, eight years before prohibition, the Arcade was sold by John Herbst to William Kendall. At that time, Cape Girardeau was something of a regional watering hole, with 29 bars.

Other owners and operators of the hotel through the years included Thomas Rodney, Christopher Betten, Eugene Garaghty and Constantine T. Gale, Robert L. Wilson, John Painter, P. Folks, Mrs. Sophia Painter, Tom Folks, John Lyons and H.E. Ellins.

Also shown in the same photograph is a building that now houses Port Cape.

The Port Cape was founded in 1974 by David B. Knight and Associates, in the 150-year-old building at Themis and Water streets.

Knight sold the business in 1988 to Dennis "Doc" and Karen Pobst Cain. The restaurant building was built in 1838 as a business that provided goods for the riverboats and riverboat workers.

Over the years, the building has served as a hotel and furniture store warehouse.

The deed to the property goes back to a Spanish land grant to Louis Lorimier, dated Oct. 26, 1795, but has changed ownership several times.

A question answered

The "old" Colony Club at Illinois routes 3 and 146 in Southern Illinois, was destroyed by fire June 8, 1959.

Harriet Prater responded to a recent "Faces & Places" page request seeking the date of the fire. Although she didn't know the exact date of the event, she did recall that it was during the summer months of 1959. A search of Missourian files for that period turned up the exact date.

Your neighborhood

It's been said -- tongue-in-cheek -- "Love thy neighbor, but choose your neighborhood."

The choices for neighborhoods in this area are many and varied. What's special about your neighborhood?

Tell us what makes your neighborhood a great place to live, and you, along with as many neighbors as you can muster, may be featured on the Faces & Places page. Send your submission to B. Ray Owen, community news editor, or e-mail rowen@semissourian.com.

It's the old Union Mill

The old Union Mill Building, located for many years at 223 N. Water St., housed a number of businesses during its more than 100-year lifetime, including a flour mill, cotton gin and warehouse.

The structure was built by B.M. Hormel and James Reynolds as a log mill during the 1840s.

It was replaced in 1857 by a five-level brick building. A smokestack on the north side of the building was 60 feet high and contained 110,000 bricks.

The building became the Union Milling Co. in 1862.

At one time, William E. Leming operated the flour mill. "He also had a cotton gin in the building," said Merit Leming. "My Dad (M.E. Leming) operated a machine shop in the 200 block of North Main where he produced milling equipment. He later operated the Union Milling Co. and the small cotton gin."

Col. Robert Sturdivant purchased the building in 1880.

It was later sold to Charles Brune, who operated a dry cleaning business for a number of years. Brune eventually sold the building to Downtown Parking Co., which razed it to make way for a parking lot.

The building was featured last week on the "Faces and Places" page in The Missourian.

The giant structure adjoined another large building at 211-215 Water St. That building housed the Meyer-Albert Grocery Co.

B. Ray Owen is the Southeast Missourian's community news editor. Contact him at P.O. Box 699; Cape Girardeau, Mo., 63702, by phone at (573) 335-6611, ext. 133, or by e-mail at rowen@semissourian.com.