Cape Girardeau's World War I bid for a U.S. Navy armor plant
Saturday, December 7, 2019
On Aug. 29, 1916, the United States Congress assigned a committee of three -- Adm. Frank F. Fletcher, Cmdr. Frank Clark and Naval Engineer R.E. Bakenhus -- to select a location for a new U.S. Navy armory plant to produce steel for their vessels. Several Missouri cities submitted bids for the location including Hannibal, Louisiana and Cape Girardeau. Numerous other cities in the surrounding states also submitted bids, including Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee.
Subscribe below or log in with your password here.
For more than 115 years, the Southeast Missourian has written the first draft of local history. We have aspired to enrich, entertain, educate and inform. Our core values have remained firm: truth, service, quality, integrity and community. Support our mission.
Join today
Note: Special discounts available to new subscribers only. Print subscriptions may include up to 13 Premium Issues per year, which include special magazines. For each Premium Issue, your account balance will be charged an additional fee in the billing period when the section publishes. This will result in shortening the length of your billing period.