Cape Girardeau, Missouri

Overview

• Location: Cape Girardeau County, Missouri
• Legal status: Home rule city
• Population: 35,349 (Change since 1990: +2.6%)
• Founded: 1806 by Louis Lorimier
• Name origin: Ens. Jean B. Girardot
• Previously known as: Lorimont

Geography

• Cape is located on the west bank of the Mississippi 115 miles south of St. Louis and 160 miles north of Memphis.
• Latitude: 37°18'33" N   (+37.3090)
• Longitude: 89°32'47" W   (-89.5465)
• Elevation: 355 feet above sea level
• Civil township: Cape Girardeau
• Land area: 24.3 square miles
• Water area: 0.05 square miles (33.0 acres)

As the crow flies, Cape Girardeau is...

• 2.9 miles W of East Cape Girardeau, IL
• 3.1 miles S of Cape Rock Village
• 6.3 miles NE of Nash
• 6.4 miles W of McClure, IL
• 6.4 miles N of Scott City
• 6.8 miles NW of Gale, IL
• 7.3 miles E of Gordonville
• 7.3 miles NE of Dutchtown
• 97.7 miles SE of St. Louis

History

Name origin

Long before the town of Cape Girardeau was founded, the area was known as "Cape Girardot" (or other spellings). Records indicate that an Ensign Girardot was stationed at Fort de Chartres in Illinois. While little is known about Girardot, is it believed that he traded with the Indians near Cape Rock and as a result the area became synonymous with him.

Previous names

Several land grants from before the Louisiana Purchase refer to Lorimier's post as Lorimont or Lorimier's Ferry. The name Cape Girardeau, which had already been in use for many years, eventually won out.

Timeline

ca. 1733

Ensign Jean B. Girardot trades with the Indians near Cape Rock

1793

Louis Lorimier established "Red House", a trading and military post, on the modern-day site of Old St. Vincent's Church

1806

The city is laid out by Barthelemi Cousin under the direction of founder Louis Lorimier

1808

Cape incorporated as a town

1812

Louis Lorimier died.

1815

The county seat is established in Jackson instead of Cape.

1818

The city annexes some of the estate owned by Louis Lorimier.

1843

Cape incorporated as a city by special act of the state legislature

1850

Tornado destroyed Red House.

1853

Old St. Vincent's Church built.

1854

Common Pleas Courthouse built.

Jul. 10, 1861

Union troops occupy the town. During the Civil War, four forts are constructed in town.

Apr. 26, 1863

Confederate troops attack but are quickly repelled.

1873

Southeast Missouri State Teachers College opened.

1906

Academic Hall built.

1907

The International Shoe Company factory on N. Main St. opened

1914

St. Francis Hospital opened on Good Hope St.

Sep. 1928

Mississippi River Bridge opened.

1928

Marquette Hotel opened.

1957

Tolls removed from Mississippi River Bridge.

1964

Floodwall completed.

2000

Old St. Francis Hospital building demolished.

Neighborhoods

• Decatur (Neighborhood in Cape Girardeau)
  • Latitude & Longitude: 37°17'41" N, 89°31'20" W
  • Elevation: 353
  • Decatur was a short-lived town laid out by blacksmith John Risher in the late 1810s. Louis Lorimier sold a tract of land to Risher near the present site of St. Vincent's Seminary and the town was laid out ca. 1818. Risher named the town after Commodore Stephen Decatur; I suspect that Decatur Street also shares this name origin.
• Red Star (Neighborhood in Cape Girardeau)
  • Red Star is the neighborhood along Main Street north of Sloan Creek.

Demographics