Almost Yesterday

It seems like almost yesterday that Claude Miller accepted the final passenger toll paid to cross the Mississippi River bridge at Cape Girardeau. The bridge was to become free at 5:30 a.m.on June 29, 1957. At 5:29 a.m. Jerry Burchet of McClure, Illinois, reached out of the window of his pie truck and handed his fee to Mr. Miller so that he could cross the bridge into Illinois. One minute later, Harold McBride became the first person to cross the free bridge when he drove his Kimball Company

It seems like almost yesterday when a powerful tornado roared through the center of Cape Girardeau , Missouri. The deadly storm smashed into the city at approximately 7 p.m., Saturday, May 21, 1949. The twister came in from the southwest along Gordonville Road and moved east across Highway 61. It demolished the Airline Restaurant and Lounge, swept across to the intersection of Broadway and Clark, and moved north of Broadway. From there, the 350 yard-wide storm moved along Dunklin Street north of

It seems like almost yesterday that George Frederick Bollinger led a contingent of North Carolinians across the Mississippi River into Missouri. The young Mr. Bollinger had visited the small community of Cape Girardeau in 1797, established a friendship with Louis Lorimier who encouraged him to return to North Carolina and bring more settlers to the area. Bollinger did so and after the autumn harvest of 1799 a group of eager adventurers set out from their farmsteads in North Carolina for the

It seems like Almost Yesterday that Southeast Missouri State Teacher’s College became a pioneer in radio broadcasting. With 200 watts of power and a wave length of 360 meters, WSAB went on the air on Tuesday, March 27, 1923. Construction of the station began in the summer of 1922, but was delayed until the Education Building, now Crisp Hall, was near completion so that an antenna could be erected there. The station was housed in an oak cabinet made by students in the agriculture shop, and was

It seems like Almost Yesterday that Father Abraham Joseph Ryan was well-known as ‘the Poet Laureate of the Confederacy.’ A controversial individual, Father Ryan was born in Hagerstown, Maryland in 1838 to Irish immigrant parents. Now more than a century since his death, Father Ryan is the subject of books, articles, and dissertations. His poetry continues to be read on the floor of state legislatures and he is frequently quoted in political debate. High schools have been named for him, statues

It seems like Almost Yesterday that residents in the northern area of Cape Girardeau County established a new school which would bring together the students from six one-room country schools in the area. The country schools were crowded and located in wood-frame buildings that dated back to the 1800’s. The new modern building was complete and ready for occupancy at the beginning of the 1960-61 school year. It contained modern classrooms, a hot lunch program, a gymnasium, and indoor rest rooms.

It seems like Almost Yesterday that Southeast Missouri and Southern Illinois experienced an unusually hot and dry summer. The year was 1867 and rainfall remained scarce well into the autumn. Temperatures were high, humidity low, and the landscape turned brown and crunchy. By mid-November, with crop yields low, a higher than usual number of hunters took to the woods and dry wetlands in pursuit of animals that could be used to sustain families through the coming winter. This resulted in an

In the fall of 1938 Mark Scully was named the principal of Jackson High School in Jackson, Missouri. Young Mark Scully said that his days as principal and teacher in Jackson were some of the most enjoyable of his 47 year career. Well…all but one. Early one morning in the late autumn of 1941, Scully opened the door to the high school and immediately recognized the powerful odor of a skunk – the smell penetrating every corner of the building. A quick survey located the body of the small creature

It seems like Almost Yesterday that the landscape of Cape Girardeau featured a number of special places where residents could relax and enjoy a pleasant change of scenery. In the middle of the nineteenth century Franck’s Gardens on the hill along Jackson Road, now Broadway, was such a place. A product of the German migration to the region in the 1850s, this park-like beer garden was one of the social centers and “beauty spots” of the community for approximately four decades. Named for John A.

It seems like Almost Yesterday that the first commercial airplane landed at Chicago's Municipal Airport, later Midway Airport. The plane came in from Omaha, Nebraska, with passengers and several bags of mail. The date was December 1, 1927, and it was an historic first for aviation in Chicago. The Boeing Aircraft was piloted by Ira Oris Biffle, from Patton, Missouri. Biffle was born on September 14, 1886, the son of Valentine and Matilda Berry Biffle. Biffle spent his first eighteen years on the