Cape Rock Park Cape Girardeau, Missouri

Photo© 1998 by Hal Miller

Cape Rock Park is a well-known Southeast Missouri landmark, on the Mississippi River a few miles north of downtown Cape Girardeau. The Parks & Recreation Department of Cape Girardeau maintains the park. Their plaque at the park reads, "Legend has it that near this location Jean Baptiste Girardot established a trading post approximately 1733. A French map made in 1765 showed this point as Cape Girardot. The present park area became known as 'Cape Rock.' Part of the rock outcrop forming the cape was removed in the late 1800's and the area filled in for the Frisco railroad tracks." The plaque also states that Cape Girardeau is the only inland city in the United States named "Cape."

Photo© 2001 by Hal Miller

At the top of a mound in the park is this stone known as "Cape Rock," with a commanding view of the Mississippi River. The inscription reads, "On this rock promontory, which originally projected into the river and formed a cape, Ensign Girardot, a Frenchman, established a trading post about 1733. From this site Cape Girardeau took its name."

Photo© 2001 by Hal Miller

This is a view of the Mississippi River upstream from Cape Rock Park, which is a popular picnic spot for students attending Southeast Missouri State University ("SEMO") in Cape Girardeau.

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Photo© 2001 by Hal Miller

Also at the park is a beautiful woodcarving, with its plaque: Maj. Louis Lorimier, Native of Canada First settler and commandant of the Post of Cape Girardeau under government of Spain. Age 64 Yrs. 3 Mo. Died 26 June 1812 Woodcarving by August W. Birk, Sep 1997

Sightseers can visit the park by driving north from downtown Cape Girardeau on Missouri Hwy. 177, turning right onto Country Club Drive, and later right onto Cape Rock Drive.

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Photos were taken on Oct. 28, 1998, with a Sony Mavica® MVC-FD7,
or Sept. 10, 2001, with an Olympus® Camedia 2100-UZ,
and were edited with Adobe PhotoShop® 3.0.