Cape Girardeau

Cape Girardeau is the economic center of Southeast Missouri. It is located 100 miles (161 km) southeast of St. Louis and 150 miles (241 km) north of Memphis. The city is named after Jean Baptiste de Girardot, who established a temporary trading post in the area around 1733. The Old Federal Courthouse, located at Broadway and Fountain Streets and built in the late 1940s, was the subject of a U.S. Supreme Court case when it was being developed. In April 1941, 6 years before the alleged Roswell crash, Reverend William Huffman was allegedly called to the site of a crash of a disk-shaped plane without wings whose pilots were small gray creatures 3'6" 4' tall. Two were reportedly dead at the site, and one is said to have expired in his arms. In December 2003, the "Old Bridge" was succeeded by a four-lane cable-stayed bridge crossing the Mississippi River. The official name of the bridge is "The Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge.", honoring former U.S. Rep. Bill Emerson (R-Mo.) The two towers of thebridge reach a height of approximately 91 metres (299 ft) The city was incorporated in 1808, prior to Missouri statehood. It was reincorporated as a city in 1843. The advent of the steamboat in 1835 and related river trade stimulated the development of Cape GirardeAU as the biggest port on the Mississippi river between St.Louis and Memphis.

History

Cape Girardeau is the primary city name, but also Cpe Girardeau are acceptable city names or spellings. The official name is City of Cape Girardeau. The city is named after Jean Baptiste de Girardot, who established a temporary trading post in the area around 1733. The town of Cape Girardeau was incorporated in 1808, prior to Missouri statehood. It was reincorporated as a city in 1843. The Old Federal Courthouse, located at Broadway and Fountain Streets and built in the late 1940s, was the subject of a U.S. Supreme Court case when it was being developed. In April 1941, 6 years before the alleged Roswell crash, Reverend William Huffman was allegedly called to the site of a crash of a disk-shaped plane without wings whose pilots were small gray creatures 3'6" to 4' tall with spindly legs. The Reverend allegedly said last rites over the creature and it was given a Christian burial in the cemetery. In December 2003, the "Old Bridge" was succeeded by a new four-lane cable-stayed bridge crossing the Mississippi River. Its official name is "The Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge." The city is known as "The City of Roses" because of a 9-mile (14 km) stretch of highway that was once lined with rose bushes. Although there used to be many prominent gardens around the community, few of these gardens have been maintained. The largest is a Mississippi River Tales Mural, located on the city's downtown floodwalling. Behind the floodwall lies the Riverfront Park, where 24,000 square feet (1,700 m2) of floodwall spans the length of the downtown shopping district.

Geography

Cape Girardeau is located at 37°1833N 89°3247W (37.309042, 89.546498). According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 28.49 square miles (73.79 km²) The "cape" that the city is named after no longer exists. A rock which remains from the previously existing cape can be seen on a promontory which overlooks the Mississippi River in Cape Rock Park. The average annual precipitation is 47.91 inches (1,220 mm), with the rainiest season being spring. Summer is typically hazy, hot, and humid with a July daily average of 79.3 °F (26.3°C), and there is an average of 47 days a year with high temperatures at or above 90°F (32 °C) Winter typically brings a mix of rain, sleet, and snow, with occasional heavy snowfall and icing. The city averages 12.8 days annually with temperatures staying at or below freezing; the first and last freezes of the season on average fall on October 23 and April 7, respectively. It has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa) with four distinct seasons and is located in USDA Plant Hardiness Zone 6b. It is located on the Missouri River, which is a tributary of the Little Missouri River. The river runs through the center of the city and is a popular tourist destination.

Demographics

As of the census of 2010, there were 37,941 people, 15,205 households, and 8,466 families residing in the city. As of July 2021, it is estimated that the racial makeup of the city was 80.6% White (78.2% Non-Hispanic White), 12.7% Black or African American, 0.00% Native American, 3.0% Asian, and 0.2%. The city is part of the Cape Girardeau-Sikeston-Jackson, MO-IL CSA and as of 2019 had a population of 135,045. The median income for a household in theCity was $36,502, and the median income. for a family was $47,592. The per capita income for the City was $21,877. About 8.5% of those over the age of 18 were below the poverty line, including 16.6 per cent of those who are under age 65. The average household size was 2.24 and the average family size was2.90. The city has a population density of 1,334.5 inhabitants per square mile (515.3/km²). There were 16,760 housing units at an average density of 589.5 per squaremile (227.6/ km²). The city's median age is 32.1 years, with 19.3% of the population under 18 years of age. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 86.9 males.

Economy

St. Francis HealthCare System offers immediate care in Cape Girardeau and Perryville. Landmark Hospital is a 30-bed facility that treats patients with catastrophic or chronic medical conditions. Southeast Health also has a cancer center, heart center, fitness center, breast care and diagnostic center, campus health clinic, diabetes center, pharmacy, and hospice. Additional hospice services, including respite for caregivers and grief & bereavement services, can be found at Crown Hospice, which serves the Cape Girardeau and Poplar Bluff areas. The top employers in the city are: The Cape Girardedeau Chamber of Commerce, which has more than 100 employers who employ at least 100 workers. The city's economy is based on manufacturing, construction, agriculture, and manufacturing. The economy is also based on agriculture, manufacturing, and other low-cost, high-tech industries. It also includes a number of non-profit organizations that provide social services to the community, such as food banks, libraries, and health care providers. It is located in the state of Missouri, and has a population of 1.2 million people. The state's largest employer is Missouri State Bank and Trust, which employs more than 1,000 people. It has an annual revenue of more than $1.2 billion, and employs over 1,200 people in total. The average household income is about $80,000, and the city's unemployment rate is less than 5%. The city has a median household income of about $50,000.

Government

Cape Girardeau is a home rule city that utilizes the council-manager form of government. The city council consists of the mayor and six city council members. The mayor is directly elected at-large (citywide) for a four-year term. In the 2016 Republican presidential primaries, GOP voters in the city backed U.S. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas with 2,802 votes (47.29 percent) over real estate entrepreneur Donald J. Trump who finished second with 2.159 votes (36.44 percent) Clinton carried the city eight years earlier in the 2008 Democratic primaries over former US Senator Barack Obama of neighboring Illinois who received 1,812 votes (45.30 percent) in the City. In 2020, incumbent President Donald Trump clinched 1, 818 votes (97.53%) out of the total 1,864 votes cast in the the city during the 2020 GOP presidential primaries. In 2018, the city elected its first female mayor, Stacy Kinder, in the 2022 Mayoral race. It is in Missouri's 27th Senate District and is currently represented by Republican Holly Rehder. In Missouri's 8th Congressional District, it is in Republican Jason T. Smith of Salem in Dent County and is in the 8th House of Representatives District, which is currently in Republican Barry Hovis. In 2016, Democratic voters in Cape GirardeAU supported Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont over former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York with 1,179 votes (46.53 percent) and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts with 35 votes.

Education

There are over 20 different schools in Cape Girardeau. These range from pre-kindergarten to higher education. Public and private and parochial school systems are present within the city. The city has one public library: the Municipal Library District of the City of Cape Girardeau. The majority of the city is in Cape girardeau Public Schools. Most of Scott County is in the Scott City R-I School District, while a very small section is in Kelso C-7 School District. There are two colleges in the city: Southeast Missouri State University and Metro Business College. There is also a high school, junior high, and senior high school in the town. The town has one high school and two junior high schools. The high school has a senior high and a junior high. The public school has one junior high and one senior high. It also has one elementary and one elementary school. It has one private school and one private high school. The community has one college, Cape Girardoau Partnership for Higher Education, which offers a variety of degrees. The school district has a public library, the municipal library, and two private schools. It is also the home of the St. Vincent De Paul Grade School, which opened in 1912. The local high school is called St. Mary's Cathedral, which was founded in 1883. The state's oldest school is St. Mark's Lutheran School, opened in 1891. It was the first public school in Missouri.

Transportation

The City of Cape Girardeau has established a Transportation Trust Fund that implements a.5% local sales tax. All of that money is used on transportation improvement projects. In 2011, Cape Girardeau launched the Ride the City campaign. This dedicated 16 miles of bicycle lanes in city streets. The city also has a full-service airport that offers flights to and from O'Hare Airport in Chicago, Illinois. It is home to local rideshare service, carGO technologies that provides rides from anywhere in Cape Girardoau to surrounding cities such as, Jackson and Scott city. A general admission is $2, senior citizens are $1, and children ages 6 and under are free. A special pick-up can be made to those who are disabled and live within three-fourths of mile from a designated stop. Greyhound buses are also available for long-distance transit. The Cape Girirda County Transit Authority handles the city's bus and taxi service. The CGCTA now offers transportation to the citizens of Cape girarde, which ultimately benefits the citizens. It also offers rideshare services, car GO technologies, and Greyhound bus service for long distance transit. It has a general admission price of $2 and a special pick up fee of $1 for the disabled and those who live within 3-4ths of a mile of a designated bus stop. It offers flights from the city to Chicago, Chicago, and to other cities in the Midwest such as St. Louis and Springfield.

In popular culture

The novel Killshot by Elmore Leonard is set in this city. The Glenn House, a historical building in downtown Cape Girardeau that is said to be haunted, was featured on Season 2 Episode 8 of A&E's "Ghost Hunters" The city features prominently in Peter Meredith's novel series The Undead World. The traditional folk song, "Hang Me, Oh Hang Me", most notably arranged by Dave Van Ronk, features a singer who has traveled the world. The song was featured in the 2013 film Inside Llewyn Davis, being performed by Oscar Isaac twice in the movie. The 13th episode of the TV series Supernatural, "Route 666", which isSaid to take place in Cape Girardeau. The novel Darkness: A Slave's Story by Jeff Nebeker-Johnson is set. in the city. In the novel Train Man (1999) by P.T. Deutermann, the Thebes bridge spanning the Mississippi River to Illinois is a key plot point in the race by FBI investigators to find persons unknown who are sequentially demolishing all railroad bridges that cross the River, causing mayhem and massive delays for all rail transportation in the contiguous United States. The city is also the setting for the film Gone Girl (2014), set in the fictional North Carthage, Missouri, which was shot on location in Cape. Girardeeau is the home of the fictional town of Carthage in the novel, "Gone Girl" (2014).

Air Quality, Water Quality, Superfund Sites & UV Index

The Air Quality index is in Cape Girardeau, Cape Girardeau County, Missouri = 83. These Air Quality index is based on annual reports from the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The number of ozone alert days is used as an indicator of air quality, as are the amounts of seven pollutants including particulates, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, lead, and volatile organic chemicals. The Water Quality Index is 73. A measure of the quality of an area’s water supply as rated by the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The EPA has a complex method of measuring the watershed quality, using 15 indicators such as pollutants, turbidity, sediments, and toxic discharges. The Superfund Sites Index is 20. Higher is better (100=best). Based upon the number and impact of EPA Superfund pollution sites in the county, including spending on the cleanup efforts. The UV Index in Cape Girardeau = 4.3 and is a measure of an area's exposure to the sun's ultraviolet rays. This is most often a combination of sunny weather, altitude, and latitude. The UV Index has been defined by the WHO (www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/radiation-the-ultraviolet-(uv)-index) and is uniform worldwide.

Employed

The most recent city population of 39,540 individuals with a median age of 35.2 age the population grows by 5.14% in Cape Girardeau, Cape Girardeau County, Missouri population since 2000 and are distributed over a density of 1,351.75 residents per square mile of area (521.91/km²). There are average 2.22 people per household in the 16,488 households with an average household income of $40,012 a year. The unemployment rate in Alabama is 8.00% of the available work force and has dropped -5.50% over the most recent 12-month period and the projected change in job supply over the next decade based on migration patterns, economic growth, and other factors will increase by 22.50%. The number of physicians in Cape Girardeau per 100,000 population = 382.1.

Weather

The annual rainfall in Cape Girardeau = 46.6 inches and the annual snowfall = 9.1 inches. The annual number of days with measurable precipitation (over .01 inch) = 105. The average number of days per year that are predominantly sunny = 216. 92 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily high temperature for the month of July and 24.2 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily low temperature for the month of January. The Comfort Index (higher=better) is 33, where higher values mean a more pleasant climate. The Comfort Index measure recognizes that humidity by itself isn't the problem. (Have you noticed nobody ever complains about the weather being 'cold and humid?) It's in the summertime that we notice the humidity the most, when it's hot and muggy. Our Comfort Index uses a combination of afternoon summer temperature and humidity to closely predict the effect that the humidity will have on people.

Median Home Cost

The percentage of housing units in Cape Girardeau, Cape Girardeau County, Missouri which are owned by the occupant = 54.46%. A housing unit is a house, apartment, mobile home, or room occupied as separate living quarters. The average age of homes = 37 years with median home cost = $97,610 and home appreciation of -0.24%. This is the value of the years most recent home sales data. Its important to note that this is not the average (or arithmetic mean). The median home price is the middle value when you arrange all the sales prices of homes from lowest to highest. This is a better indicator than the average, because the median is not changed as much by a few unusually high or low values. The property tax rate of $6.90 shown here is the rate per $1,000 of home value. If for simplification for example the tax rate is $14.00 and the home value is $250,000, the property tax would be $14.00 x ($250,000/1000), or $3500. This is the 'effective' tax rate.

Study

The local school district spends $4,189 per student. There are 14.1 students for each teacher in the school, 462 students for each Librarian and 371 students for each Counselor. 3.64% of the area’s population over the age of 25 with an Associate Degree or other 2-year college degree, 19.24% with a master’s degree, Ph.D. or other advanced college degree and 9.91% with high school diplomas or high school equivalency degrees (GEDs).