Old Appleton Bridge is a historic Pratt Truss Iron Bridge located at Old Appleton, Cape Girardeau County and Perry County, Missouri. It was built in 1879, and consists of a wrought iron, pin-connected, Pratt through truss main span. It rests on limestone block masonry piers. The total length of the bridge is 161 feet. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2009. Efforts to get this piece of history added to the National Register of Historic Places was many years in the making. Nominations for the bridges date all the way back to 1982 but the original nomination was not submitted. In December of 1982, heavy rains sent a flash flood down Apple Creek, pushing the bridge into the water. It would take several years to finally restore the bridge. Another flash flood in 1986 … [Read more...] about “Bridges are a monument to progress.” -Joseph Straus
Die Kleine Schule (The Little School)
Concordia Lutheran Church of Frohna, Missouri built the Little School in 1898. It was a day school where the children of the parish were taught "reading, 'riting, and 'rithmetic" as well as religion. For the most part, children in the primary grades were taught in this building. Prior to the construction of this school, a number of other buildings were used by the congregation. One of these was the log cabin dwelling on the Bergt farm which is now a part of the Saxon Lutheran Memorial located just a short distance north and east of the Little School on Saxon Memorial Drive. The Rev. Christian H. Loeber taught school in this log cabin in 1850 and 1851. This building is one of the oldest existing buildings used as a parish day school in the Lutheran Church- Missouri Synod. From 1851-1854 … [Read more...] about Die Kleine Schule (The Little School)
Perry County Courthouse
The greatest need of Perry County, when it was created from the Ste. Genevieve District in 1821 was a courthouse. Although there were a few small areas where groups of people lived, there were no towns in the county where a courthouse could be built. Bernard Layton gave the county 51 acres of his 640-acre Spanish Land Grant for that purpose. The land was to be laid out in lots and sold to raise money to build the first Perry County Courthouse. In the meantime, the Perry County Court met four times a year in the home of Bede Moore, a two-story log building about one and a half miles north of Perryville to conduct county business. In 1825, a contract was made for the first courthouse. Funding for the $1,486.25 project came from the sale of 55 lots from the property deeded to the county by … [Read more...] about Perry County Courthouse
The Dirt on Menfro
Perry County was organized May 21, 1821 and named after the naval war hero of 1812, Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry. But it was before that when some of our earliest settlers were already laying down farming roots in Perry County soil. Levi Wiggins was one of many people to request a land grant in Perry County’s Bios Brule Bottoms. On November 30, 1803, by his agent; Robert Anderson, he claimed a one-mile square of land, 640 acres situated on the Mississippi River at the mouth of the Cape St. Come Creek. Wiggins’ sworn to have inhabited and cultivated the land since 1801 by Daniel Thorn and continued to work the property until 1804. Part of the one square mile of land Levi Wiggins owned was referred to as land grant #1328 which eventually became known as the Town of Menfro. The Bois Brule … [Read more...] about The Dirt on Menfro
Map to the Past: Historical Inventory Map
Spring is closer than you think, and that means many of us thaw out, get out and travel the county roads in search of the smallest evidence of schools, churches, and homesteads long forgotten. If you are one of these travelers, you may be interested in a special map supplied by the Perry County Historical Society. This Historical Inventory map of Perry County can direct you to long forgotten areas such as Birmingham, Corners, Giboney, or Seelitz. Maybe you are looking for a common landing situated on the mighty Mississippi River such as Paul Landing, Linnhoff Landing, or Leimbach Landing. Where is Boxdorfer school, Mokey school or Bess school? It’s all on the map and there were over 50 county schools located within the boundaries of Perry County. Each one was named after the landowner … [Read more...] about Map to the Past: Historical Inventory Map
Diaries: Fingerprints of History
Once in a blue moon a treasure surfaces that was never intended to be read by more than its author. A writer that wrote for the enjoyment of his or hers’ own pleasure. Diaries are a family heirloom that sometime only benefits the writer’s heirs, but once in a blue moon an individual will sit down with pen in hand and give us, the outsider, a glimpse of his or her world from that period in time. We have been blessed with a few of those diaries in Perry County. Sister Eugenia Kehoe wrote of her experiences and day to day activities serving as one of the first sisters with the Daughters of Charity in Perryville. Her accounts of the Masses, classrooms, students and daily chores from the early 1900’s are enlightening. Joseph C. Killian wrote of court proceedings and local news during the year … [Read more...] about Diaries: Fingerprints of History
