Road Trip Missouri – Part 2

…continuing with our road trip to visit family in Omaha, exploring parts of Missouri along the way.  Our first day was spent in Cape Girardeau where we sought out historic places, did a little shopping and eventually had dinner.

This is Cape Girardeau’s Court of Common Pleas.  Sorry for the fuzzy photo.  This 2-story historic Federal style courthouse was built in 1854, with additions in the Classical Revival style made in 1888.  Sitting high on a hill overlooking the Mississippi River, it served as a jail and it was used by General Grant and the Union Army during the civil war.  This included the establishment of a Federal Provost Marshal’s office in 1862.  This position replaced civil courts and the Provost Marshal had the authority to conduct investigations and enforce Federal law.  He could even declare martial law if he wanted to.

The original jurisdiction/responsibilities of this court was to deal with probate of last wills and testaments, appointments of guardians for orphans and others…as well as for disputes among private parties, that in 1853 couldn’t exceed the sum of $100.  At the time this courthouse was built, it was one of only 4 common pleas courthouses in Missouri…and today it is the only one still remaining in the state’s court system.

After looking around for a while, we decided to seek out another antique store.  This is Brick Street Gallery at 19 West Spanish Street in Cape Girardeau.  It is a good size vendor/booth driven shop with a wide variety of collectibles, antiques, newer items for the home…and more!  We didn’t spent any money but it was fun looking.  They are on Facebook at Brick Street Gallery | Cape Girardeau MO | Facebook. 

In December of 1868, the Missourian newspaper took note that work had begun on Turner Hall, later known as the Opera House.  This large, square pillared brick building was destined to be more than a meeting place for the German Turner Society as for many years it was a center of culture and recreation for the city of Cape Girardeau.  The Turner Hall/Opera House occupies the site of the town’s first hotel, which had been built ca 1805.

Turner Societies (aka “Turnvereins”) were organizations of and for German immigrants.  They specialized in gymnastic exercises and other recreational activities.  It has been reported that Cape Girardeau’s Turner Society was made up of between 200 or 250 men who represented the leading families in the town at the time the hall was built.  It was the most important social organization in the community.

In 1888, Turner Hall was purchased by the Masonic Lodge, with the name being changed to the Opera House and Masonic Hall.  Apparently, the local Turner Society had disbanded.  The once elegant theater/opera house in the upper portion of the building staged amateur theatricals, lyceums, boxing matches, traveling drama companies as well as concerts by bands and vocalists.  “Blind Boone”, a gifted black pianist played here and Cole Younger once lectured here about his 14 years as an outlaw.

In 1904, the first issues of the “Daily Republican” newspaper was produced in a portion of the building.  Verified via the old photo, a Chinese laundry operated here for many years as did a grocery store.  Restaurants of of varying types occupied space in parts of the building for many years.  Beginning in 1955, a New Orleans style eatery opened here.  Those owners are credited for keeping the building from being torn down.

As you can see from the second photo, Katy O’Ferrell’s Irish Pub and Restaurant now occupies a large portion of the old Turner Building.  This restaurant with a number of Irish food items on the menu, opened in 2014.  It has 4.5 stars on TripAdvisor.  Unfortunately, they weren’t open when we were in town… Check out this restaurant and it menu at Katy O'Ferrell's Irish Pub and Restaurant - Irish Pub, Restaurant (katyoferrells.com).

Note: At one point there were over 700 Turner Societies in the USA.  As of 2002, there were still 58 societies with 12,000 members.  These former German-American societies have now evolved into multi-ethnic societies, with most members coming from various European immigrant groups.  These societies were among the first to introduce physical education to American schools.

This classy 2-story commercial Mission/Spanish Colonial Revival style structure is known as ‘Media Row’, aka the Southeast Missourian Building.  It measures about 160 by 162 feet and it is the home of the Southeast Missourian Newspaper as well as a number of other businesses.  The multi-colored terra cotta tile roof, the arched openings and other tile pops of color make this building stand out.

The Southeast Missourian began publication on October 3, 1904…as The Daily Republican.  Brothers George and Fred Naeter from St. Louis Missouri purchased a paper of the same name that had ceased operation after they visited Cape Girardeau.  The newspaper changed its name to The Southeast Missourian in 1918.  The brothers designed this structure to show their ideas of community beautification and development.  Today the paper is published 3 days each week.  To learn more, just go to Southeast Missourian newspaper, Cape Girardeau, MO (semissourian.com).

This is the former B’Nai Israel Orthodox Synagogue.  It was built in 1937, in the Spanish Colonial Revival style with Moorish elements.  The decision to build a synagogue for Cape Girardeau’s Jewish community came after the destruction of their 450 year old Torah in a fire in one of the town’s community buildings.  It was decided that a permanent synagogue was needed for worship and as a safe place to store the Jewish community’s scrolls.

The synagogue functioned as a Jewish house of worship until about 1999.  It was closed because the congregation was unable to maintain a quorum for licit liturgies.  This decline in membership was due to the changing economy.  Most congregants owned their own businesses…many in retailing…but they were unable to compete with superstores and malls.  Another significant problem was that Jewish youth were unable to find suitable spouses in the region.

For some time after the synagogue closed, it was home to a non-denominational Christian church but now it’s occupied by Riverside Pottery.  You can check out this company and their offerings at https://www.riversidepotterystudio.com/.

The old St. Vincent De Paul Catholic Church was built on the original site of Louis Lorimier’s Red House.  The church bought the land in 1833, the town’s first permanent priest was in place by 1836 and the cornerstone for a church was laid in 1838.  Unfortunately, that early church was destroyed by a tornado in 1850.  Construction on the current church began in 1851 and was completed in 1853.

This church was built on the foundations of the first church.  Its English Gothic Revival style is striking and rare as very few churches of this style exist in the USA today.  The church tower itself has had a challenging ‘life’, having being struck by lightning twice and actually destroyed in 1912. 

Even if you aren’t religious, the interior of the church is truly breathtaking.  I borrowed this photo from the Internet.  Those stunning wooden arches are unlike anything I’ve seen before.  For a video tour of the St. Vincent De Paul Catholic Church, just go https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAo-afuOKig.

There are 15 homes in Cape Girardeau that are listed individually on the National Register of Historic Places as well as two neighborhoods that are listed as a grouping.

The home pictured above is the August and Amalia Shivelbine House.  This handsome 2.5 story Queen Anne style brick residence at 303 South Spanish Street was built ca. 1890.  Based on the size and elegance of the home, it is a good example of many of the homes built by prosperous tradesmen and merchants in the area.  In 1881 a railway line had been constructed to the town that, combined with the riverboat traffic, spurred growth in the area. 

August Shivelbine, a son of German immigrants was first involved in business ventures in mining and milling.  However, he became wealthy operating a local Saloon in downtown Cape Girardeau.  He operated the the Arcade Saloon for 17 years.  It was known as “the wettest corner in Cape Girardeau”. 

The Shivelbine (originally Schievelbein) home is located in Cape Girardeau’s Courthouse-Seminary Neighborhood Historic District.  The historic district includes 121 contributing buildings as well as 2 contributing sites.  The area was developed in the 100 years between 1848 and 1948.  Architectural styles include Italianate, Queen Anne, Colonial Revival, Tudor Revival, Mission Revival, Late Gothic Revival, American Craftsman and Art Deco...

Well, by this point it was time for dinner.  It was Sunday night and the options were limited.  We decided that Applebee’s would be ‘safe’ and it was close to our overnight stay at the local Hampton Inn.

We started out with an appetizer, Applebee’s Brew Pub Pretzels and Beer Cheese. ($10.99) It was the high point of the meal!  The pretzels had a great texture and flavor while the cheese dip was very nice indeed.  Laurie also had a decent Margarita. ($6.00)

A total of 15 appetizers are listed on the menu.  Most of them are standard fare, but I did take note of the Neighborhood Nachos with Chipotle Lime Chicken and the Chicken Wonton Tacos…twists on old standards.

For my meal, I limited myself to the Sweet and Spicy Crispy Chicken Sandwich with a side of French fries. ($13.99) It is described on the menu as being a little sweet and a little spicy…a crispy breaded chicken breast smothered in Sweet Asian Chile sauce on a brioche bun.  This sandwich normally comes with coleslaw on the sandwich but greens are restricted for me due to medications.

The sandwich and the fries were just OK…nothing to write home about as the saying goes.  Maybe I just ordered wrong…

Laurie’s choice for an entrée was a dinner salad.  This is the Oriental Chicken Salad. ($12.99) This salad features pieces of crispy breaded chicken “tenders” on top of a bed of Asian greens, crunchy noodles and almonds.  The Oriental vinaigrette dressing comes on the side.  The salad comes with a breadstick brushed with a buttery blend of garlic and parsley. 

Laurie thought the salad was decent and the Oriental vinaigrette dressing was a good fit too. 

Applebee’s has a large and varied menu and we consider it a ‘safe place’ to dine if we haven’t identified any local restaurants that really grab our attention.  Applebee’s is part of Dine Brands, which also owns IHop Restaurants and Fuzzy’s Taco Shops.  There are almost 2,000 Applebee’s locations in the USA and 15 other countries.  The vast majority of these restaurants are operated by franchisees.  Check out Applebee’s menu at Applebee's Neighborhood Grill + Bar - Your Local Restaurant (applebees.com).

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them…

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave