Cape Girardeau

The 1928 bridge on the plaque is gone. Built from February 1927 and dedicated on September 3, 1928, it began as a toll bridge financed by 1,124 stock buyers who put in $403,600, and it was the first continuous through truss in Missouri, about 4,744 feet long with a 20-foot deck. In its last years drivers felt the deck shift and sections wore down to the steel grid. It closed on December 13, 2003, the day the four-lane Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge opened just downstream, and its main span was blasted on September 9, 2004.

What the plaque says

Cape Girardeau Founded as an Indian trading post, 1793, by French Canadian Louis Lorimier. Probably named for Girardot, a trader at Cape Rock. In 1795 Lorimier became commandant of Cape Girardeau District, most American of the 5 Spanish districts, later one of Missouri's first 5 counties. Germans from the states also settled here. Shawnee and Delaware Indians were given Spanish land grants nearby to act as a buffer against the Osages. At time of American occupation, 1804, the district was third in population of the 5 districts, yet had no white village. Lorimier laid out town of Cape Girardeau, 1806, to be the seat of government. Delay in honoring his Spanish land grant halted growth. The county seat was then moved 10 miles to Jackson, 1814. Established there were a U. S. Land Office, 1818; a newspaper, "Missouri Herald," 1819; an academy, 1820; and State's first long distance telephone line, 1877. Near Jackson were organized a German Reformed church, 1803; Bethel Baptist and McKendree Methodist churches, 1806. McKendree Methodist Chapel, 1819, is oldest Protestant building in Missouri. (See other side) Erected by State Historical Society of Missouri and State Highway Commission, 1953 Cape Girardeau (Continued from other side) Cape Girardeau grew rapidly after the Lorimier land grant was confirmed, 1836. Here were established St. Vincent's College 1843; Washington Female Seminary, 1849; and Southeast Missouri State College, 1873. The college has a notable museum. Union forces occupied the town, 1861-1863, and built defense forts A, B, C, D. In 1863 the Federals under McNeil repulsed a Confederate attack under command of Marmaduke. Among well marked historic sites in town is Fort D. In Lorimier Cemetery are graves of the town founder Louis Lorimier; U. S. Senator Alexander Buckner; and notable builder of railroads and Missouri historian Louis Houck. The town benefits from a large cement plant; Federal River Improvement program; and Little River Drainage project. The bridge across the Mississippi was dedicated, 1928. Lovely Ten Mile Garden connects county seat Jackson with Cape Girardeau. El Camino Real or King's Highway, 1789, served Cape Girardeau in early days. Erected by State Historical Society of Missouri and State Highway Commission, 1953

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Trail of Tears State Park — 9.0 mi
  Rugged river hills north of Cape Girardeau where nine of the thirteen Cherokee detachments crossed the Mississippi in the winter of 1838 and 1839, and where floating ice left them camped on both banks.
• Bollinger Mill State Historic Site — 12 mi
  A four-story mill of 1867 on an 1825 stone foundation on the Whitewater River, beside Missouri's oldest covered bridge, where farmers broke down the toll gates in 1906.

More markers nearby

• Scott County — 17 mi
• Altenburg — 20 mi
• Marble Hill — 21 mi