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Cape Girardeau is the fastest growing city in Missouri pri marily because of a recent ap preciation of its advantages as a manufacturing center and the gateway for the Southeastern part of the State, and secondarily because of the eight counties in this corner of the state, bounded by the Arkansas line and the Mississippi river, are coming in to their own as one of the most fertile spots in the United States. Intelligent handling of the drain age problem has changed these counties from, generally speak ing a swamp, oan ideal farm ing district. Proof of the growth of Cape Girardeau is shown in the cen sus figures. The gain in popu lation between the census of 1890 and that of 1910 was 76 per cent. This gain was sufficient to raise the city from twenty eighth place in Missouri's list of cities to fourteenth, and in man ufacturing importance from twenty-second to eighth place Old Town, But New City. Cape Girardeau is an old town but a new city. It was the first Anglo-Saxon settlement west of the Mississippi River, and for a century it was content to be an ultra-conservative river town. Then with a revival of business came new ideas and new ways. And while some of the old houses remain and are cherished as landmarks, the chief part is composed of handsome modern homes and fine business build ings. The old military corduroy roads have given way to paved streets and boulevards, miles of granitoid sidewalks stretch out in all directions, a fine sewer system and a modern fire depart ment have been installed. Some of the best mills and fac tories in the state are local in dustries, and these have given the city its high rank in the manufacturing statistics of the state. The Cape is becoming famed as “The Marhie City,” because of the abundance of the most beautiful building atone-and one of the sights always shown vis itors is the quarry within a few rows of the handsome normal school buildings from which the stone was taken to erect those buildings. Not only in the Cape blessed with building stone and raw materials for the making of ce ment and clay products. Init ite nearest to the forests amlow freight rates on raw timber ma terial into the city and on finish ed timber , roavlets in reship ment, give an advantage to manufacturing here. The low freight rates were obtained through an agreement between the city and the Frisco Railroad for the renewal of the railroad’s franchise through the ¢i At ithe same time a coal rate of 60 cents into the city for 3 years was granted. These advantages, coupled with the fact that the city is the natural gateway to eight fertile counties in Southeast Missouri, ‘the population any of which prevented Missouri’s recent cen sus from showing moss, and that headquarters for several branches of the Frisco system are located here, are the causes for the steady growth of the city. The Southeast Missouri net work of Fristo branches center in Cape Girardeau and connec tion is made at various points with the Tron Mountain and Cotton Bell railroads. The Cape Girardeau Thebes railroad ex tends to the Thebes bridge. To the north, the Cape Girardeau ‘Chester Railroad taps the lead ‘belt and granite quarries. And besides these railroads Cape Gir ardeau has the Mississippi River, land is planning a river front that will be the best between, New Orleans and St. Paul. Sea walls are being constructed, the levee paved with stone and the adjoining street with creosoted wood blocks. Although this year has been the quietest of the last five, the city experienced a healthy growth. The Gape Portland Ce ment Co. has opened a factory. Heley's rock crushing plant has increased its facilities, box fac tories and those for manufactur ing lawn furniture have been started, mills, faotories, shops, brick yards and rock quarries have increased their output, schools have increased and the population has grown steadily. And this steady growth con tinues In prospect. The Martell Heater Plant of St. Louis recent ly has closed a contract to move ita business here from St. Louis, two other St. Louis plants are here negotiating, a large coffin factory is seeking a location, a straw board plant is coming and there is room for many more, Land Of Plenty. And the wonderfully rich country lying below the city produces corn, cotton, alfalfa, wheat, clover and watermelona in an abundance that taxes the railroads. Stories that sound like fiction are told of this re gion but farm account books verify them. Persons who have not visited the district since the installation of the drainage ditch es can have no idea of the trans formation. Farmers and farm experts who have not seen this county, Which knows no dreaths, can hardly believe that bumper orn crops were raised this year with not a drop of rain from Planting time until the corn was in the tassel. The explanation is that @00 miles of drainage ditches, dredg ed by the counties, have wrought this transformation and square miles of once swampy low lands have been converted into fertile farms. And the work goes on. In Southeast Missouri the Little River drainage district is inaui rating what is believed here to be the biggest project of its kind in the world. The plan is to dredge 650 miles of ditch to drain 500,000 acres of rich alluvial land. The tract to be strained is 100 miles long, extending from Cape Girardeau to the Arkansas State line and from six to four teen miles wide, extending west to the Ozarks foothills and to Crowley's Ridge. This drainage system, with its diversion channel along the north and to divert the water from Geark mountain streams directly to the Mississippi River, has been promoted to do work impossibly by individual coun tties. It will curb the floods of ‘the mountain streams and check ‘the inundations of the Missis sippi River. The eight counties in the dis trict are being rapidly settled by progressive farmers, who use modern methods and employ knowledge gained by attending ‘agricultural schools and conven tions. Every town and village “in the district is growing stead ‘ily and there is not a farmer in the eight counties whose home is more than five miles from the road. In each of these counties ‘fine highways are being built of ‘gravel and macadam. The ‘streams are being crossed by steel bridges and concrete cul verts, and thousands of auto mobile owners are urging on this movement. Southeast Missouri is covered ‘by a network of railroads. Rural ‘mail routes and telephone sys tems reach everywhere and every town of sufficient size has an accredited high school, and the country district schools rank with the best in the nation.— St. Louis Post Disputch.
Newspaper Details
The Cape County Herald
Cape Girardeau, Missouri, US
Fri, Dec 29, 1911
Page 5
Full Page
Clipped by
Carmen S.
NH, USA 27 Jul 2026
Other Publications Near Cape Girardeau, Missouri
Cape Girardeau Democrat
Cape Girardeau Weekly Argus
The Weekly Tribune
The Cape County Herald
The Cape Weekly Tribune
