Cape Girardeau, Missouri

History of Cape Girardeau

Founding the City

Cape Girardeau's history predates the formation of the United States. The city is for Jean Baptiste de Girardot, who established an early trading post along the Mississippi River in 1733. This trading post did not mean permanent settlement, however, as a formal white settlement did not begin until Spain took over the Louisiana territory. In 1793, Baron Carondelet began granting land to white settlers and displaced Shawnee, encouraging settlement growth in the area. American settlers established the first English-speaking institutions in 1799. When the United States purchased Louisiana in 1803, Cape Girardeau quickly moved toward incorporation, achieving it in 1808.

The advent of the steamboat fueled the growth of Cape Girardau, as it became the largest Mississippi River port between St. Louis and Memphis.

Scant Traces of Jewish Life

Despite the long history of the city, Jewish life in Cape Girardeau was relatively nonexistent until the 20th century. However, there were some minor traces of Jews in the city during the 19th century.

Ezekiel Block appeared in the original 1803 census of Cape Girardeau, and by the 1820 census of Missouri, Simon Block, along with his wife Susan and their children, had joined Ezekiel. Both Simon and Ezekiel owned slaves, with the inheritance of Simon's slaves, Mary Anne, Charlotte, and Jane, upon his death stirring up a bit of controversy within the family. By the 1850s, only Zalma Block remained in Cape, running the Riverview Hotel before the Civil War and the St. Charles Hotel after the war.

In the first three decades of the 1900s, Cape Girardeau's population boomed, rising from 4,000 in 1900 to over 16,000 by 1930, with Jews being a core reason for this population boom.

Temple B'nai Israel

Opening the Synagogue

Cape Girardeau's longest-lived synagogue, B'nai Israel, opened in 1937. While the community had been meeting in a variety of locations, including the Elks Club building, Sturdivant Bank, a local Presbyterian Church, and finally the Community Building at Fairground Park. The necessity for their own building became realized in February 1937 when a fire in Fairground Park destroyed the community Torah. The Hecht family, local merchants in Cape Girardeau, oversaw construction and gathered donations from the community at-large. At the temple's dedication, Isaac Becker, a merchant from nearby Sikeston Missouri, donated a 450-year-old Torah scroll from Germany. Becker's father, who still lived in Germany, recognized the growing potential for danger in the Nazi antisemitism of the 1930s and decided the Torah would be safer in the United States.

Building Architecture

B'nai Israel was designed by St. Louis architect Thomas P. Barnett, who designed several buildings in Cape Girardeau. Constructed in white stuccoed brick and red mission tiles, the building is in the Spanish Colonial Revival style, with Moorish influences throughout. One of the most notable features is the dome above the temple entrance, which feature ceramic mosaic tiles at the base and recessed Islamic pointed horseshoe arches on three sides. A similar pointed horseshoe design forms the window silhouettes.